Mainz's town at the meeting of the Nahe and the Rhine, at the head of the narrows (the Binger Loch) where Rhine boats must be guided through, with the Mäuseturm in the river and Hildegard's convent of the Rupertsberg across the Nahe.
The burghers' repeated bids for freedom ended when the town was destroyed in 1165 in the quarrel between the emperor and the archbishop. In late 1200 Bingen will be the Welf party's foothold in the Mainz schism.
Who holds it
- Name
- The archbishop of Mainz (Conrad of Wittelsbach)
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Since
- 983
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
The archbishop of Mainz, through his officers (not pinned).
How things stand that morning
Quiet under Mainz.
Charter
None; independence attempts ended in 1165.
Communities
The Rupertsberg convent across the Nahe (Hildegard, died 1179).
Walls and castle
The Mäuseturm (10th century); the castle of Klopp is mid-13th century.
Trade and crafts
Rhine and Nahe traffic, wine, the Binger Wald forest; the Nahe crossing by the Drusus bridge.
Quarrels
None recorded for 1200.
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.
- late 1200The Welf minority of the Mainz chapter elects Siegfried of Eppstein at Bingen; Lupold of Worms drives him out with Philip's help; Siegfried retakes Bingen with Otto's army.Depends on: Conrad's death; the double election. Stopped by: Conrad living or a single candidate.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Dates from de.wikipedia and the Siegfried II articles; officers not pinned.
Primary sources for Mainz
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
- 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
- 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
- Regesta Imperii V: calendar of the acts of Philip, Otto IV and Frederick II, 1198 to 1272 (calendar of documents of 1198 to 1272, published 1881 to 1901). A dated calendar of every known act of King Philip and King Otto IV, with the acts of popes and princes that bear on the Empire. Read online
- Register of Innocent III on the affair of the Roman Empire, Innocent III and the papal chancery (1198 to 1209, compiled as a separate register at the curia). The pope's own file on the German throne war: letters to and from Philip, Otto, the German princes and bishops, and the famous Deliberatio of late 1200 or early 1201 in which Innocent weighs the claims of Frederick, Philip and Otto before deciding for Otto. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
1 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.