Charlemagne's city and the coronation place of the German kings, keeper of the shrine of Charlemagne (canonised in 1165), and a royal town with Barbarossa's privilege of 1166.
Held by Philip's knights until Otto's forces took it in the summer of 1198; Otto was crowned here on 12 July 1198.
Who holds it
- Name
- Otto IV
- Title
- King of the Romans (disputed)
- Since
- July 1198
- Born
- About 1175
- Family
- Welf
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia
Lord in 1200
The king, held for Otto IV since July 1198 (see Aachen (king's)); his advocate, Schultheiss and the palace ministeriales are not named for 1200 in the sources used.
How things stand that morning
Otto's; the symbol of his kingship.
Charter
Frederick Barbarossa's 'Karlsprivileg' of 1166 (market and mint rights; later reckoned the root of the town's immediacy under the crown), granted after Charlemagne's canonisation in 1165.
Council
Schöffen under the king's officers (names not pinned).
Communities
The chapter of St Mary's; royal ministeriales.
Fairs and markets
Market rights from 1166; annual fairs not pinned.
Militia
The townsmen held their new wall; no record of resistance to Otto's forces in 1198 beyond the knights' defence.
Walls and castle
The Barbarossa wall, begun 1171 by the citizens in return for the privileges (about 2.5 km, about 45 hectares); the palace.
Trade and crafts
The road from Flanders and Brabant to Cologne, pilgrims, metal and cloth crafts (their 1200 state not pinned).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Capture and coronation well attested; officers not.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.