The metropolitan city of the county of Burgundy in its loop of the Doubs: an imperial city held by its archbishop, not by the count.
The count palatine Otto I dies here on 13 January 1200 and is buried in the forecourt of Saint-Etienne.
Who holds it
- Name
- Amedee de Dramelay
- Title
- Archbishop of Besancon, lord of the city
- Since
- 1193-1194
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Of the Dramelay family of the county
- Confidence
- high
campaign notes; fr.wikipedia Richard III de Montfaucon
Lord in 1200
Archbishop Amedee de Dramelay, Staufen; seized and held prisoner by Richard and Walter of Montbeliard in 1199, freed by the peace of that year.
How things stand that morning
Archbishop's city, Staufen.
Wealth
The archbishop's money (estevenant) is the coin of the county. No figures.
Military
Walls.
Threats
- The count's death on 13 January in the city.
- The Montbeliard counts' violence.
Charter
No commune; the archbishop holds the regalia. The citizens' bid for a commune comes in the 13th century.
Council
Archbishop's officers; citizen institutions for 1200 not pinned.
Communities
Two cathedral chapters (Saint-Jean and Saint-Etienne); abbey of Saint-Vincent.
Walls and castle
The Doubs loop and walls; Saint-Etienne on the height (later the citadel).
Trade and crafts
Doubs crossing; roads to Switzerland, Alsace and the Saone.
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.
- 13 January 1200Otto I dies in the city (murder in most accounts).Depends on: No change in his movements. Stopped by: A warning.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Archbishop attested; town institutions not pinned.
On the map: City and close villages.
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.