Volmarstein

Who he is

Name

not pinned for 1200 (Heinrich I is the first of the family, documented 1134)

Title

Lords (Herren) of Volmarstein, ministeriales of the archbishop of Cologne

Since

the castle was built about 1100 and given to the family as a fief

Family

Herren von Volmestein, Cologne ministeriales

Confidence

low

Archbishop Frederick I built Volmarstein about 1100 to strengthen Cologne's hold in Westphalia and gave it to the family as a fief. It guards the archbishop's escorted road from the Ennepe valley to Soest and is the centre of the lordship of Volmarstein, which included Hagen. No member is named around 1200.

Overlord

The archbishop of Cologne

What it holds

• Volmarstein castle above the Ruhr
• The lordship of Volmarstein, with Hagen
• Escort of the archbishop's road from the Ennepe to Soest

How it was acquired

Fief of the archbishop since about 1100.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the Altena counts (Mark and Isenberg) and the count of Berg (lrh).

How things stand that morning

Held for the archbishop, and so on Otto's side; the family's head that winter is not pinned. The counts of the Mark will take and destroy the castle only in 1324.

Wealth

Escort dues on the Soest road; manors round Wetter and Hagen.

Military

A strong castle with ministerial castle men. No numbers.

Threats

• Altena ambitions on the Ruhr

Places of note

• Volmarstein castle: Cologne castle above the Ruhr.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The castle's foundation is known; the family's members around 1200 are not.

On the map: The district's extent in 1200 is not pinned.

Primary sources for Cologne

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 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 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
• 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
• Register of Innocent III on the affair of the Roman Empire, Innocent III and the papal chancery (1198 to 1209, compiled as a separate register at the curia). The pope's own file on the German throne war: letters to and from Philip, Otto, the German princes and bishops, and the famous Deliberatio of late 1200 or early 1201 in which Innocent weighs the claims of Frederick, Philip and Otto before deciding for Otto. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online

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