The bishop's town on the Hunze, an island of Utrecht lordship in the middle of the Frisian lands, with its market and toll granted to the see in 1040.
Its townsmen trade with the Frisian lands round them and with the Drents, and they joined the Drents against the bishop in his last war.
Who holds it
- Name
- Bishop Dirk II of Are; the prefect not pinned
- Title
- The bishop of Utrecht, through his hereditary prefect
- Family
- The prefects descend from Leffard, enfeoffed with Groningen in 1141; Egbert is prefect in the 1220s.
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The bishop of Utrecht, through a hereditary prefect (praefectus) descended from Leffard (1141); the prefect that winter is not pinned
How things stand that morning
The bishop's town under its prefect; quiet that winter as far as the sources show.
Charter
The see's royal grant of 1040 (with mint and toll); no town charter: the town acts with city rights by 1245 without a known grant
Council
Not pinned for 1200
Militia
The townsmen fought in the Drenthe rising against Bishop Baldwin
Walls and castle
Town wall built in the thirteenth century; not pinned for 1200
Trade and crafts
Market of the Frisian lands and Drenthe: cattle, horses, grain, peat, cloth
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The 1040 grant and the 1141 enfeoffment are known; 1200 is not.
Primary sources for Utrecht
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
- Chronicle of the abbots of Wittewierum (Bloemhof), Emo of Wittewierum (from 1219 to 1237, continued by Menko to 1273). The chronicle opens only in 1204 with the founding of Emo's Premonstratensian house in the Groningen Ommelanden, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.