City · Archbishopric of Mainz · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Erfurt

The largest town of Thuringia and the archbishop of Mainz's city, at the crossing of the great east-west road (the later Via Regia) with the roads north to the Harz and south over the Thuringian Forest.

It has been walled since 1066, has an old Jewish community, the Benedictine abbey of St Peter on the Petersberg and the collegiate churches of St Mary and St Severus on the cathedral hill, and royal as well as Mainz coins have been struck here. Kings have used it for great assemblies: the diet of 1181 that broke Henry the Lion, and the court of 1184 when the floor of the Mainz palace collapsed into the latrine pit and many nobles died. The townsmen act as a body (cives, from 1120) but have no council yet.

Who holds it

Name
Archbishop Conrad of Mainz, through his vicedominus (Berthold, named 1192-96) and his ministeriales; Count Lambert of Gleichen holds the city's advocacy of Mainz
Title
Lord of the city
Since
Mainz lordship since about 1000; Gleichen advocacy since 1120
Confidence
medium

Lord in 1200

Archbishop Conrad of Mainz. His vicedominus (Berthold, named 1192-96) and the Mainz household officers of the Apolda kin (the chamberlain Dietrich and the cupbearer Dietrich) run the city; the counts of Gleichen hold the advocacy (high justice) of the city and of St Peter's as a Mainz fief. A royal advocate is also mentioned in the sources (date not given).

How things stand that morning

Mainz's, quiet; Conrad is neutral in the throne war and the landgrave is his niece's husband.

Charter

No town charter. The burgesses appear as a community from 1120. The first council, still dominated by ministeriales, is formed only in 1212, and a council independent of the archbishop's men only in 1255.

Council

None yet: the city is run by the archbishop's officers and the advocate's court.

Communities

A Jewish community with a synagogue whose oldest parts date from about 1100 (the Old Synagogue). Benedictines of St Peter; canons of St Mary and St Severus.

Fairs and markets

Markets at the road crossing; fair dates not pinned.

Walls and castle

Walled since 1066 (among the earliest town walls in Germany). The Mainz court in the town; St Peter's on the Petersberg.

Trade and crafts

Grain of the Thuringian basin, the east-west road trade, crafts of a large town. The woad trade for which Erfurt is later famous is only beginning in the 13th century.

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. after 25 or 27 October 1200Conrad's death leaves the city with two claimant archbishops; Erfurt will be fought over (Philip besieges it in 1203, not yet).Depends on: Conrad's death and a double election Stopped by: A single agreed successor

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Institutions from de.wikipedia (Geschichte der Stadt Erfurt; Vitzthum); the vicedominus is named in charters of 1192-96.

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.

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

Sources and studies

  1. de.wikipedia: Geschichte der Stadt Erfurt
  2. de.wikipedia: Vitzthum (Adelsgeschlecht)
  3. de.wikipedia: Gleichen (Adelsgeschlecht)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.