Counts · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tecklenburg

Simon of Tecklenburg is the strongest lay lord of northern Westphalia.

From his castle on the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest he rules the land between the Ems and the Hunte, holds the high justice of the see of Osnabrück as its advocate, and has married into the house of Altena, so that the archbishop of Cologne is his brother-in-law and the lord of Lippe his son-in-law. He is Otto's man, and his long feud with Ravensberg, the one firmly Staufen count of Westphalia, gives the throne war a local edge.

Who he is

Name
Simon (Simon I)
Title
Count of Tecklenburg, advocate (Vogt) of the see of Osnabrück
Since
1156 by one account, 1170 by another
Born
about 1140, so about 60
Family
Son of Count Henry of Tecklenburg and Eilika of Oldenburg. Wife: Oda of Altena, daughter of Count Eberhard I of Berg-Altena and so sister of Archbishop Adolf of Cologne (one account has her dead about 1198, another living to 1224). Children: Oda (about 1180, married to Hermann II of Lippe), Otto (about 1185, his heir), Henry (about 1186, co-ruler from 1202), Adolf (about 1187, later bishop of Osnabrück), Heilwig (about 1178) and John (about 1181, dead about 1198).
Confidence
high

A veteran of the Saxon wars: captured at the battle of Halerfeld (1 August 1179) and forced to submit to Henry the Lion; with Barbarossa in Italy (1174) and on the Third Crusade. He gave up the advocacy of the see of Münster in 1173 and gained that of Osnabrück after Henry the Lion's fall (1180/82), with the advocacies of Metelen and Malgarten. In 1184 he sold Tecklenburg castle to Archbishop Philip of Cologne and took it back as a fief; in 1189 he acquired Ibbenbüren as a fief of Paderborn.

About 1196 he was at feud with the bishops of Münster and Osnabrück and with the count of Ravensberg. He backed Otto's election in 1198 and stood among his supporters at Aachen. He dies on 8 August 1202.

Overlord

Holds Tecklenburg castle of the archbishop of Cologne (since 1184), Ibbenbüren of Paderborn (since 1189), the Osnabrück advocacy of the bishop; otherwise an old comital house of the region.

What it holds

  • Tecklenburg castle and its county (a Cologne fief since 1184)
  • Ibbenbüren (a Paderborn fief since 1189)
  • The advocacy of the see of Osnabrück, with its high courts (since 1180/82, until 1236)
  • Advocacies of the convents of Metelen (since 1173) and Malgarten
  • Lands between the Ems and the Hunte (extent in 1200 not pinned)

How it was acquired

Inherited; Osnabrück advocacy after Henry the Lion's fall; Ibbenbüren 1189.

Allies and rivals

Allies: his brother-in-law Archbishop Adolf and the Altena counts; his son-in-law Hermann II of Lippe. Rivals: Count Hermann II of Ravensberg (feud, which Ravensberg will lose heavily in 1202, with the loss of many church fiefs); the bishops of Münster and Osnabrück, his former and present wards.

How things stand that morning

On 1 January 1200 Simon holds his county and the Osnabrück advocacy and backs Otto IV. His feud with Ravensberg runs on, though no fighting is pinned to that winter. Across his borders: the bishop of Münster to the south, Osnabrück's own lands to the east, the count of Bentheim and the Twente (nld) to the west, the Emsland and the counts of Oldenburg and Diepholz (nsw) to the north.

Wealth

Comital and advocacy dues, the Osnabrück courts, manors on the Teutoburg ridge and the Ems. No figures.

Military

Tecklenburg castle; vassals and ministeriales; a seasoned commander. No numbers.

Threats

  • Ravensberg and its Staufen friends
  • The bishops' wish to recover their advocacies
  • His age

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. during 1200 (nothing pinned)The Tecklenburg and Ravensberg feud continues; it will end in a heavy Ravensberg defeat in 1202, after which Tecklenburg takes Ravensberg's fiefs from Bremen, Cologne and Paderborn.Depends on: Both counts staying on opposite sides in the throne war. Stopped by: A truce imposed by Cologne, or Ravensberg changing sides.

Places of note

  • Tecklenburg castle: The count's seat on the Teutoburg ridge.
  • Ibbenbüren: Paderborn fief since 1189.

Where the sources disagree

  • Sources differ on Simon's accession (1156 or 1170) and on his wife Oda's death (about 1198 or 1224).
  • de.wikipedia's list of marshals of Westphalia gives 'Simon we of Tecklenburg' in 1207, after his death in 1202.

Evidence: Career well attested; the county's extent in 1200 is not.

On the map: The northern Tecklenburg lands (later Cloppenburg and Lingen) are not pinned for 1200 and are not drawn.

Primary sources for Empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Simon I, Count of Tecklenburg, en.wikipedia
  2. Tecklenburg, Residenzen-Kommission handbook article
  3. Grafschaft Tecklenburg, de.wikipedia
  4. Study of Archbishop Adolf I of Cologne, ch. III: Adolf as author of the double election of 1198 (pp. 20-37), digitised by ULB Düsseldorf

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.