Barbarossa's town: his palace on the island of the Moder, where the imperial regalia were kept, and the town he chartered in 1164, at the edge of the great Holy Forest.
The Staufen capital of Alsace.
Who holds it
- Name
- Philip of Swabia
- Title
- King of the Romans (disputed) and duke of Swabia
- Since
- 1198
- Born
- about 1177
- Family
- Staufen
- Confidence
- high
en.wikipedia Philip of Swabia; Staufen Alsace record
Lord in 1200
Philip of Swabia, through his Staufen officers.
How things stand that morning
Staufen-held.
Wealth
Forest, market, toll. No figures.
Military
Palace-castle.
Charter
Frederick Barbarossa's charter of 1164, the oldest town law in Alsace.
Council
Staufen officers (Schultheiss); burgher institutions of 1200 not pinned.
Fairs and markets
Market rights; fairs not pinned.
Walls and castle
Imperial palace on the Moder island; town walls.
Trade and crafts
Timber and game of the Holy Forest, road from Strasbourg to the Palatinate.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Palace and 1164 charter are standard.
On the map: Town and forest edge.
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.