One of the four hereditary household offices of the Ludowingian court (the court offices were recognised in 1178), held by ministeriales seated at the castle of Vargula near Salza.
They are among the landgrave's most important men; their later great holdings (Tautenburg, Saaleck) come after 1200.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned (Rudolf I is first named with the full title in 1178; Walter, died 1215, is cupbearer under Louis IV)
- Title
- Hereditary cupbearer (Schenk) of the landgraves
- Family
- Ludowingian ministeriales of Vargula on the Unstrut; kin of the marshals of Eckartsberga and Ebersburg (Kunemund of Vargula, the landgrave's marshal, died before 1199, married Hedwig Schenk of Vargula).
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Schenken von Vargula
Overlord
The landgrave.
What it holds
- Vargula castle and village
- Office of cupbearer at the landgrave's court
How it was acquired
Ministerial office.
Allies and rivals
The landgrave; their kin the marshals.
How things stand that morning
In the landgrave's service; Staufen with him.
Wealth
Office and fiefs.
Military
Knights of the household. No numbers.
Where the sources disagree
- The de.wikipedia article mixes the landgrave's cupbearers of Vargula with Mainz's cupbearers of Apolda (Dietrich, named 1192-96 in Erfurt charters); they may be one stock but served different lords.
Evidence: Office certain; holder that winter not pinned.
On the map: One cell.
Primary sources for Thuringia
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.
- 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
- 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
- Annals of Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg. Read online
- Chronicle of the Lauterberg (Petersberg near Halle), Konrad of Lauterberg (about 1225). The house chronicle of the Wettin foundation on the Lauterberg, sharp-tongued and well informed on Saxony, Meissen and Magdeburg. Read online
- Regesta Imperii V: calendar of the acts of Philip, Otto IV and Frederick II, 1198 to 1272 (calendar of documents of 1198 to 1272, published 1881 to 1901). A dated calendar of every known act of King Philip and King Otto IV, with the acts of popes and princes that bear on the Empire. Read online
- The political songs of Walther von der Vogelweide, 1198 to 1201, Walther von der Vogelweide (about 1198 to 1201). Three stanzas of the Reichston, composed between 1198 and 1201 after Walther left Vienna, lament the disorder of the double election and call on Philip to take the crown. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.