A royal market town on the Neckar, Staufen since the late 11th century, administered by the king's deputy since at least 1181, its wealth in wine and the river crossing.
St Dionysius church will be given to the Speyer chapter by Frederick II on 30 December 1213.
Who holds it
- Name
- Philip of Swabia
- Title
- The king as town lord
- Since
- The Staufen hold Esslingen probably since 1079
- Family
- Staufen
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia (Esslingen am Neckar).
Lord in 1200
The king (Philip), through his deputy: in 1181 Barbarossa gave his deputy political and legal duties for the town and its surroundings. The Schultheiss is first recorded in 1229.
Overlord
The king.
How things stand that morning
Held for Philip on 1 January 1200.
Charter
Market confirmed by Louis the German in 866 (the old cell of the abbey of Saint-Denis); a royal town by 1181 at the latest; town law and Schultheiss first recorded 1229; earliest seal 1232.
Council
Not recorded before 1260.
Militia
Not recorded for 1200.
Walls and castle
Not described for 1200.
Trade and crafts
Wine, exported in the high and late Middle Ages to Alsace and Bavaria; the Neckar crossing (the stone bridge is of the 13th century).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Status by 1181 documented; institutions first appear in 1229-1232.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.