Henry, the eldest of the brothers, is Otto's right arm in Saxony.
Raised partly in England, enfeoffed with the Rhine palatinate in 1195 through his Staufen wife, he went on Henry VI's crusade of 1197 and came home to find his brother a king. He raided Philip's Saxon partisans from Brunswick in early 1199 and in summer 1200 defends Brunswick against Philip's great attack. The lands grouped here, Celle (Altencelle), the Welf market of Hanover and Göttingen on the Leine, are the ones he receives in the Paderborn division of 1 May 1202; on 1 January 1200 they are still part of the undivided inheritance.
He goes over to Philip only in 1203-1204.
Who he is
- Name
- Henry the Elder (Henry V as count palatine)
- Title
- Count palatine of the Rhine (since 1195); eldest surviving son of Henry the Lion
- Since
- co-heir since 6 August 1195; Hanover, Celle and Göttingen are his only from 1 May 1202
- Born
- about 1173
- Family
- Welf; married in 1193 Agnes of Staufen (1177-1204), heiress of Count Palatine Conrad and Philip's first cousin; son Henry born 1197; daughter Irmgard dated '1200' (may not yet be born).
- Confidence
- medium
en.wikipedia (Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine); the 1202 share from de.wikipedia (Otto IV.); his defence of Brunswick in 1200 and raids of 1199 from the ADB article on Philip.
Overlord
Welf allods; no overlord. As count palatine he holds the palatinate of the king (the palatinate realm is another sheet's).
What it holds
- Celle (the Welf castle at Altencelle on the Aller)
- Hanover, the Welf market town on the Leine (burned by Henry VI's troops in 1189), with the counts of Roden as Welf vassals in the countship round it
- Göttingen, a Welf village and market on the Leine below the old palace of Grona
- The Welf claims to the county of Stade and to Dithmarschen (nsw sheet)
- The Rhine palatinate in his wife's right: Heidelberg, Stahleck and the palatine lands (palatinate realm, another researcher's)
How it was acquired
Inheritance of Henry the Lion; division of 1202.
Allies and rivals
Otto and William; the Welf ministeriales. Enemies: Philip and the Saxon Staufen princes; on the Rhine, Philip holds the palatine lands' neighbourhood.
How things stand that morning
Undivided Welf lands; Henry is in Saxony with Otto's cause and is the commander who holds Brunswick in 1200. Backs Otto (firmly, until 1203-1204).
Wealth
Rents and tolls of the Leine and the Aller; the palatinate's Rhine revenues are under pressure from Philip's party.
Military
Altencelle castle; the Welf vassals of the Aller and the Leine. No figures.
Threats
- Philip's pressure on the Rhine palatinate
- Hildesheim and the lords of Peine between Hanover and Brunswick
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.
In 1200
- 21 August 1200Defends Brunswick against Philip; the attack fails.Depends on: Philip attacking. Stopped by: Henry being away on the Rhine.
Later, on the likely course
- 1203-1204 (not yet)Goes over to Philip, who confirms him as count palatine.Depends on: Otto's fortunes collapsing. Stopped by: Otto's success.
Places of note
- Altencelle castle: Welf castle on the Aller; the town of Celle is founded only in 1292
Where the sources disagree
- en.wikipedia dates Henry's change of side to 1203; the ADB has the Welf-Thuringian alliance of June 1203 still including Henry. The change falls in 1203-1204 either way, after this map's date.
Evidence: Henry's career is well known; the drawing of 'his' lands anticipates the 1202 division.
On the map: Henry's share is the 1202 division projected back for clarity; in 1200 these lands are held jointly.
Primary sources for Welf
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 Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
- 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
- Annals of Stade, by Albert of Stade, Albert of Stade (about 1240 to 1256). A world chronicle written at Stade in the 1240s from older Stade and Bremen annals. 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
18 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine, en.wikipedia
- Otto IV. (HRR), de.wikipedia
- E. Winkelmann, Philipp von Schwaben, ADB 26 (1887)
- Otto IV.: NDB (B. U. Hucker, 1999) and ADB (1887), via Deutsche Biographie
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.