The answer to who holds the coast east of Nice.
Past the Paillon the count of Provence's lordship gives way to the counts of Ventimiglia, who hold the mountain country of the Roya and the coast at Roquebrune and Gorbio under the superior lordship of Genoa, which also holds an imperial grant of the rock of Monaco (1191) that it will fortify only in 1215. The city of Ventimiglia itself is a commune under Genoese overlordship.
Who he is
- Name
- The comital house of Ventimiglia (Count Otto III is attested in 1185; the count on 1 January 1200 is not pinned)
- Title
- Counts of Ventimiglia
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Otto III's nephew Guglielmo II is podesta of Ventimiglia in 1222.
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia Contea di Ventimiglia.
Overlord
Genoa, whose superior lordship the counts and the commune of Ventimiglia were forced to accept in 1146; the emperor above
What it holds
- Roquebrune, Gorbio and Castillon above the coast
- The Roya valley: Sospel, Breil, Saorge, Tende, La Brigue (as listed for the county in 1258; their state in 1200 is not pinned)
How it was acquired
Hereditary counts of an old Ligurian county; under Genoa since 1146.
Allies and rivals
Genoa (overlord and rival), the commune of Ventimiglia, the count of Provence in Nice.
How things stand that morning
Hold their mountain and coastal castles under Genoa; Menton's lord in 1200 is not pinned.
Wealth
The salt road from the coast over the Col de Tende to Piedmont; olive and pasture.
Military
Mountain castles.
Threats
- Genoa
Places of note
- Monaco: Genoa's by imperial grant of 1191; unfortified until 1215
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Places from the county's list of 1258; their state in 1200 inferred, not pinned.
On the map: Rough; based on the county's later list.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.