The Walpoten are an old ministerial family of the upper Main, seated at Zwernitz on the Jura plateau between Bamberg's lands and the Andechs country round Kulmbach and Bayreuth.
Little is known of them about 1200 beyond their castle.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned for 1 January 1200
- Title
- The Walpoten, lords of Zwernitz
- Since
- the family is named in charters from 1015
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- An old family of royal ministeriales close to the king beside the counts of Schweinfurt (Walpoto, royal envoy, 994; Hemmo and Reginolt run the Michelsberg monastery at Bamberg for Bishop Eberhard I in 1015); last named in 1300
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Walpoten: core lands round Zwernitz castle in Wonsees; no member is named for about 1200 and their ties to the Andechs are not described.
Overlord
not pinned (the bishop of Bamberg and the Andechs dukes are the powers round them)
What it holds
- Zwernitz castle (at Wonsees) and the land round it
How it was acquired
Old family land and service fiefs; dates not known.
Allies and rivals
The Andechs dukes (Andechs-Merania, Andechs (Bavaria)) and the bishop of Bamberg surround them.
How things stand that morning
They hold Zwernitz; nothing is recorded of them in the throne war.
Wealth
Plateau farms and pasture.
Military
One castle.
Threats
- Absorption by the Andechs or Bamberg
Places of note
- Zwernitz castle: Seat of the Walpoten
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The family and its seat are attested; no member or holding is dated near 1200.
On the map: Only the castle district is drawn.
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.