Herford grew round the great imperial convent of noble women founded about 800, which has held market, mint and toll rights since the 9th century (confirmed in 973).
About 1170 the burghers formed a community with a town law modelled on Dortmund's. A council appears about 1220 and a Neustadt in 1224; cloth and the Flanders trade make it rich in the 13th century.
Who holds it
- Name
- The abbess of Herford (the abbess on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: the lists jump from Luitgard I, after 1170, to Eilika, about 1212)
- Title
- Town lord
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The abbess; the Schwalenberg counts as sub-advocates under Cologne.
Overlord
The abbess of Herford, a princess of the Empire (the abbey under the king directly since 1147, confirmed by Frederick I in 1152); the counts of Schwalenberg are sub-advocates for the archbishop of Cologne since 1180
How things stand that morning
An abbey town in the middle of the Ravensberg lands; its advocates are Otto's men, its neighbour the count of Ravensberg is Philip's.
Charter
Town law modelled on Dortmund law, about 1170 (town rights about 1170/1180).
Council
About 1220 (later).
Communities
The abbey's ladies and canons; the burghers.
Walls and castle
Not pinned for 1200.
Trade and crafts
Abbey market and mint; cloth and Flemish trade (13th century).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Abbey status and the 1170 town law are known; the abbess of 1200 is not.
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.