Margraves and marquises · Duchy of Bavaria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Vohburg and Cham (Diepoldings)

The Diepoldings were the margraves of the Bavarian Nordgau facing Bohemia.

Diepold III (died 1146) held the marches of Cham and Nabburg, Vohburg on the Danube and the Egerland, and founded Reichenbach (1118), Waldsassen (1133) and, with his kin, Kastl; his daughter Adela was Frederick Barbarossa's first wife (married 1147, divorced 1153). The Egerland was taken from the march in the 1140s and is now the king's. What remains in 1200 is the castle of Vohburg and its lands on the Danube below Ingolstadt and the march of Cham on the Regen, the gate to Bohemia over the Furth pass, with the old castle of Cham and its mint.

Margrave Berthold served Henry VI in the conquest of Sicily (sent there in 1192 and granted the county of Molise; in 1193 he married the widow of Count Roberto of Caserta). He is a widower of the duke's sister. When he dies on 25 May 1204 the march of Cham will pass to Duke Louis.

Who he is

Name
Berthold of Vohburg (numbered Berthold III by de.wikipedia, Berthold II by FMG)
Title
Margrave of Vohburg and of Cham
Since
1189 (de.wikipedia genealogy)
Born
Not pinned
Family
Of the Diepoldings (Rapotonen). Son of Margrave Berthold (died 15 September 1185 per FMG). Married first Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, Duke Louis's sister, who died about 1189/90 and was buried at Biburg; married secondly, in 1193, the widow of Count Roberto of Caserta in the kingdom of Sicily (Annales Casinenses). No children are recorded. FMG gives him brothers Diepold, Otto and Siegfried, all serving the Staufen in southern Italy, and identifies this Diepold with Diepold of Acerra, Markward's captain: an identification not accepted by all.
Confidence
medium

de.wikipedia (Diepoldinger; Cham (Oberpfalz)); fmg.ac (Bavarian nobility: Markgrafen von Vohburg)

Overlord

The king; the march lies within the duchy of Bavaria.

What it holds

  • Vohburg castle on the Danube and its lands
  • The march of Cham (Mark Camma) on the Regen and the Chamb: the castle of Cham, its mint (striking since about 1000), and the road over the Furth pass into Bohemia; the new market of Cham is first named in 1210
  • The advocacy of Reichenbach on the Regen, the family's foundation (1118)
  • The advocacies of Seeon (1174) and St Paul (Mittelmünster) in Regensburg, held by his father (not pinned for 1200)
  • Claims in the kingdom of Sicily (the county of Molise, granted 1192; not pinned for 1200)

How it was acquired

Inheritance of the Diepolding margraves; the march of Cham since the eleventh century.

Allies and rivals

Kin by marriage to Duke Louis (his late wife was Louis's sister). Neighbours: the king's Egerland, the Leuchtenbergs, the Bogen counts and the Bohemian castellans across the forest.

How things stand that morning

Berthold is margrave on 1 January 1200 (medium confidence) and backs Philip: the Speyer declaration of 28 May 1199 names 'Berthold III, margrave of Vohburg' among the princes who joined it without being present, which fits a man then in Italy. Where he is that winter is not pinned. His march is at peace so far as the sources show.

Wealth

The Danube at Vohburg; the Bohemian road and the mint at Cham; the abbeys' advocacies.

Military

Vohburg and Cham castles; the march's ministeriales; the family's knights serving in Italy. No figures.

Threats

  • A house without heirs: the Wittelsbach duke stands to inherit

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. 1200 (Italy)If FMG's identification is right, the margrave's brother Diepold of Acerra fights for Markward against the papal party in the kingdom of Sicily through 1200 (he is taken prisoner by Walter of Brienne in 1201).Depends on: Markward's war and the papal crusade against him (campaign notes). Stopped by: A settlement in Sicily.

Places of note

  • Vohburg castle: The margraves' castle on the Danube.
  • Cham castle: Castle of the march (Camma) and its mint.
  • Reichenbach abbey: The family's foundation of 1118.

Where the sources disagree

  • de.wikipedia (Diepoldinger) says in its introduction that the Cham line ended in 1204 with 'Markgraf Berthold II', but its genealogy calls the man who died on 25 May 1204 Berthold III; FMG numbers him Berthold II.
  • de.wikipedia says Vohburg and Cham both passed to Louis in 1204 but also lists a Diepold as margrave of Vohburg from 1205; FMG makes that Diepold (died 26 December 1225) Berthold's brother and identifies him with Diepold of Acerra.
  • Waldsassen and Kastl: their advocacies in 1200 are not pinned; Waldsassen lies in the king's Egerland.

Evidence: The family's genealogy around 1200 is muddled in the sources; Berthold's death date and Sicilian marriage are attested, his acts in Bavaria in 1199-1200 are not.

On the map: The march of Cham is drawn as the Cham basin; its edges in the Bohemian Forest are a raiding frontier of forest rather than a line.

Primary sources for Bavaria

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Diepoldinger (de.wikipedia)
  2. Cham (Oberpfalz) (de.wikipedia)
  3. Medieval Lands: Bavarian nobility (fmg.ac)
  4. Speyerer Fürstenerklärung (de.wikipedia)

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