Zollern

Who he is

Name

Frederick of Zollern

Title

Count of Zollern (Frederick III) and burgrave of Nuremberg (Frederick I)

Since

Count by inheritance; burgrave probably from 1191, by Henry VI's enfeoffment

Born

About 1139 (de.wikipedia)

Family

Married 1184 Sophia of Raabs (died about 1218), heiress of the Nuremberg burgraviate. Sons Konrad (later burgrave, founder of the Franconian line) and Frederick (later count of Zollern, the Swabian line), who divide the lands later; daughter Elisabeth (married Gebhard III of Leuchtenberg).

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia (Friedrich I. (Nürnberg)).

Overlord

The duke of Swabia and the king.

What it holds

• Zollern castle
• Hechingen and the lands at the foot of the Jura
• The burgraviate of Nuremberg (fra's record)

How it was acquired

Inheritance; the burgraviate by marriage and royal grant.

Allies and rivals

Their cousins of Hohenberg; the Staufen.

How things stand that morning

Holds Zollern on 1 January 1200. Throne war: Staufen, medium confidence (a Staufen supporter since 1171 and Henry VI's burgrave; no charter of 1199-1200 seen).

Wealth

Family lands on the Jura and the Franconian burgraviate.

Military

Zollern castle; the burgrave's castle at Nuremberg.

Threats

• His death (14 July 1201 in de.wikipedia; other accounts give 1200 or later) and the division between his sons

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.

1. 1200 or 1201 (14 July 1201 in de.wikipedia)Death of Frederick; his sons share Zollern and Nuremberg, later dividing them.Depends on: Natural death of a man about sixty. Stopped by: Play that changes his circumstances.

Places of note

• Zollern castle: The family castle.

Where the sources disagree

• Death date varies: de.wikipedia gives 14 July 1201 while also listing his son as burgrave from 1200; other accounts give 1200 or soon after. He is alive on 1 January 1200 in all versions seen.

Evidence: Genealogy fair; allegiance in winter 1199-1200 inferred.

On the map: Rough core of the county.

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.

• 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
• Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online

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