Waldeck

Who he is

Name

Hermann

Title

Count of Waldeck

Since

about 1185

Born

about 1163

Family

Son of Count Volkwin II of Schwalenberg and Luitgard of Reichenbach, heiress of Waldeck; brother of Count Heinrich of Schwalenberg. Dies about 1224.

Confidence

medium

Named 'Hermann of Waldeck' among Otto's supporters at Aachen in July 1198. Lists of the Waldeck counts overlap (Heinrich 1185-1209, Widukind 1185-1189, Hermann 1185-1223); the separate Waldeck line is usually dated from 1219, so Waldeck in 1200 is still a Schwalenberg family holding under Hermann.

Overlord

Waldeck castle was at first a fief of the archbishop of Mainz.

What it holds

• Waldeck castle above the Eder (a Mainz fief)
• Lands on the Eder
• Family claims round Korbach (given up to Paderborn in 1227)

How it was acquired

By marriage, about 1180.

Allies and rivals

His brother at Schwalenberg; Otto's party. Neighbours: the landgrave's Hessian lands and Mainz's Fritzlar (hes), the lords of Itter, Cologne's Medebach.

How things stand that morning

On 1 January 1200 Hermann holds Waldeck and backs Otto. Across his borders: the landgrave of Thuringia (Philip's man since August 1199) round Kassel and Wildungen, Mainz at Fritzlar (hes), the lords of Itter to the west, Cologne's Medebach and Padberg to the north-west, Corvey's Korbach.

Wealth

Manors on the Eder. No figures.

Military

Waldeck castle. No numbers.

Threats

• The landgrave, now on Philip's side
• Mainz's overlordship

Places of note

• Waldeck castle: Castle above the Eder.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1198 naming is reliable; the county's extent and the brothers' shares are not.

On the map: Very rough; the county of Waldeck as later known is not back-projected.

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.