The town at the meeting of the Rhine and the Moselle, inside its late Roman walls, is the core of Trier's lower lands, with the archbishop's market, mint and toll and the castle of Ehrenbreitstein facing it across the Rhine.
Conrad III was elected king here in 1138. It sits on the front line of the throne war: in October 1198 Philip forced the Moselle crossing near Koblenz against Otto and Archbishop Adolf after a brief fight, and in July 1199 Otto marched up the Rhine through Trier's lands, punishing them for the archbishop's defection. John I rebuilt St Castor's church, damaged in the throne war.
Who holds it
- Name
- John I
- Title
- Archbishop of Trier, lord of the town
- Since
- 1189/1190 (Trier's since 1018)
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia Geschichte der Stadt Koblenz
Lord in 1200
The archbishop of Trier, lord since Henry II's gift of the royal estate to Archbishop Poppo in 1018, through his Schultheiss. The advocacy of Koblenz is not yet the archbishop's (Arnold II acquires it in 1253); who held it in 1200 is not pinned.
How things stand that morning
Held for the archbishop, Staufen. Andernach, Cologne's town and Otto's fallback in 1198, is a few hours downstream.
Charter
No town charter; market, mint and toll belong to the archbishop by the grant of 1018. Oldest town seal 1214; council first named 1272; town rights only in the later Middle Ages.
Council
None attested in 1200.
Communities
The collegiate churches of St Castor (being rebuilt) and St Florin; the Liebfrauenkirche (begun about 1180); the ministerial family von der Arken in its Alte Burg tower (about 1185).
Militia
Not attested.
Walls and castle
The late Roman castle wall (still the town's circuit until about 1250); the Alte Burg tower; Ehrenbreitstein across the Rhine.
Trade and crafts
The Rhine and Moselle toll (a Koblenz toll list of 1104 is known from general literature); the river trade between Cologne, Mainz and Trier; wine.
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.
- Late 1200Bishop Wolfger of Passau's peace meeting between Koblenz and Andernach with the archbishops of Cologne and Trier; no result.Depends on: The truce and the mediation after Conrad of Mainz's death Stopped by: Renewed fighting
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Lordship and the throne-war episodes are attested; the town's own institutions in 1200 are not.
Primary sources for Trier
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.
- 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
- Deeds of the archbishops of Trier, continuations (continuations written in the 13th century). The Trier house history for Archbishop John I (1190 to 1212), who held the Moselle between the two kings. Read online
- Regesta Imperii V: calendar of the acts of Philip, Otto IV and Frederick II, 1198 to 1272 (calendar of documents of 1198 to 1272, published 1881 to 1901). A dated calendar of every known act of King Philip and King Otto IV, with the acts of popes and princes that bear on the Empire. Read online
- Register of Innocent III on the affair of the Roman Empire, Innocent III and the papal chancery (1198 to 1209, compiled as a separate register at the curia). The pope's own file on the German throne war: letters to and from Philip, Otto, the German princes and bishops, and the famous Deliberatio of late 1200 or early 1201 in which Innocent weighs the claims of Frederick, Philip and Otto before deciding for Otto. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
- Constitutions and public acts of the emperors and kings, volume 2, 1198 to 1272 (documents of 1198 to 1272, edited 1896). The public documents of the throne war in full text: the election notices of 1198, the princes' declaration of Speyer of 28 May 1199 to Innocent III, the pope's replies, Philip's and Otto's letters and promises, and the imperial acts of 1200 and 1201 including Otto's promises at Neuss in June 1201. Read online
- Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online
Sources and studies
- Geschichte der Stadt Koblenz (de.wikipedia)
- Johann I. (NDB), on St Castor
- Study of Archbishop Adolf of Cologne's politics 1198-1202 (University of Duesseldorf digital library)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.