Kings and their demesnes · Philip of Swabia: Staufen and royal lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Welf inheritance

Duke Welf VI, uncle of Barbarossa and of Henry the Lion, sold his lands north of the Alps to Barbarossa shortly before Christmas 1178 (handed over at Worms in January 1179) after Henry the Lion failed to pay for an earlier promise, and held them back as fiefs for life.

When Welf VI died at Memmingen on 15 December 1191 the inheritance fell to the Staufen: Ravensburg (the Welf seat, the Veitsburg) and Altdorf with the Welf family abbey of Weingarten, the Schussen valley, Memmingen (raised to a town by Welf VI in 1158), Kaufbeuren (Buron, which Welf VI took in 1167), the Lechrain round Schongau and Peiting with his own foundation and burial church of Steingaden, the advocacy over the Augsburg church's lands at Füssen, and the imperial fief of Mertingen. The Welf ministeriales, among them the Waldburg and Tanne families, became Staufen ministeriales.

Who he is

Name
Philip of Swabia
Title
Duke of Swabia and king
Since
1196 (on Duke Conrad's death; the inheritance fell to the Staufen on 15 December 1191)
Born
1177
Family
Staufen; Welf VI was Barbarossa's maternal uncle
Confidence
high

de.wikipedia (Welf VI., Ravensburg, Memmingen, Kaufbeuren, Schongau, Füssen).

What it holds

  • Ravensburg castle (later called the Veitsburg) and the settlement below it
  • Altdorf and the advocacy of Weingarten abbey, the Welf family monastery
  • Memmingen, Welf VI's town (raised to a town 1158)
  • Kaufbeuren (Buron), the court of the extinct lords of Buron
  • Schongau, Altenstadt and Peiting on the Lech; the advocacy of Steingaden
  • The advocacy over the Augsburg church's lands at Füssen (from 1191)
  • Mertingen, an imperial fief granted to Welf in 1151

How it was acquired

Inheritance contract and sale to Barbarossa (1178-1179); fell in on Welf VI's death, 15 December 1191; passed to Duke Conrad and on his death in 1196 to Philip.

Allies and rivals

The Waldburg stewards and the Tanne ministeriales keep the Schussen valley; the margraves of Ronsberg and the abbot of Kempten are neighbours in the Allgäu; the bishop of Augsburg is lord of Füssen's church lands.

How things stand that morning

Held for Philip on 1 January 1200 without challenge. Otto IV, a Welf by blood, has no hold here: the Swabian Welf line's lands were sold to the Staufen, not to Henry the Lion's sons.

Wealth

The salt road from Bavaria to Lake Constance through Memmingen; the road to Italy along the Lech by Schongau and Füssen; the Schussen valley's farms; Weingarten's and Steingaden's lands under advocacy.

Military

Ravensburg castle; the ministeriales of the Schussen valley (Waldburg, Tanne, Ravensburg). No figures.

Threats

  • None pressing in 1200; in the long run the Lechrain is coveted by the Wittelsbach (they gain it in 1268)

Places of note

  • Steingaden abbey: Welf VI's foundation (about 1147) and burial place.
  • Weingarten abbey: The Welf family monastery at Altdorf.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The transfer and the places are well documented in general; the status of each place on 1 January 1200 is inferred from the transfer of 1191 and the later Staufen tenure.

On the map: Drawn as the centres of the inheritance; the Welf estates in between (many villages and forests of Upper Swabia) are not drawn.

Primary sources for Staufen

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.

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

Sources and studies

  1. Welf VI. (de.wikipedia)
  2. Ravensburg (de.wikipedia)
  3. Memmingen (de.wikipedia)
  4. Kaufbeuren (de.wikipedia)
  5. Schongau (de.wikipedia)
  6. Füssen (de.wikipedia)

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