The castle on the Geul and its land between Maastricht and Aachen, held by a branch of the Heinsberg house; the castle was first fortified about 1115 and besieged by Henry V in 1122.
Its lords sit across the road from Maastricht to Aachen.
Who he is
- Name
- Goswin IV of Valkenburg (died 1217)
- Title
- Lord of Valkenburg
- Since
- Not pinned
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- The Valkenburg branch of the house of Heinsberg. Goswin IV is married to Judith (died 1202), daughter of Duke Henry III of Limburg; another Limburg daughter, Isabella, marries Dietrich (Dirk), lord of Heinsberg and Valkenburg (1192-1227 in de.wikipedia). Otto of Valkenburg was an archdeacon of Liege in 1194.
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia Heinrich III. (Limburg); nl.wikipedia Land van Valkenburg
Overlord
Not pinned: a free lordship between Limburg, Jülich, Brabant and Liege
What it holds
- Valkenburg castle on the Geul
- Villages of the Geul valley and toward Heerlen (Heerlen's rights are later bought by Brabant in 1378)
How it was acquired
Inherited.
Allies and rivals
Limburg (father-in-law); Heinsberg (kin, lrh); the king's Aachen; Liege (Otto of Valkenburg in the chapter).
How things stand that morning
Held by Goswin IV, son-in-law of the duke of Limburg; his side in the throne war is not pinned (his father-in-law is Philip's man).
Wealth
The Geul valley, marl stone, the Maastricht-Aachen road.
Military
Valkenburg castle.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The lord is identified through his marriage in de.wikipedia's list of Henry III of Limburg's children; generations of Goswins and Dirks are easily confused.
On the map: Core of the later Land of Valkenburg; its 13th-century growth northward is 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.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Heinrich III. (Limburg) (de.wikipedia)
- Land van Valkenburg (nl.wikipedia)
- Valkenburg Castle (en.wikipedia)
- Albert de Cuyck (fr.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.