The richest market of the land between the Saale and the Elbe, where the Via Regia from the Rhine to Silesia and Poland crosses the road from the Baltic to Nuremberg and Italy.
A Slav stronghold ('urbs Libzi', 1015) grew into a merchants' town, and Margrave Otto the Rich gave it its town letter (Stadtbrief) about 1165 with town law and market rights; the letter is undated and survives in a later copy. The Easter and Michaelmas markets were confirmed in 1190: they are the root of the later Leipzig fairs. St Nicholas, the merchants' parish church, has been building since 1165.
The margrave keeps a castle in the town (attested 1216). Leipzig's townsmen will fight Dietrich over their rights in 1215-1217, but that quarrel has not yet broken out.
Who holds it
- Name
- Margrave Dietrich of Meissen
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Since
- 1198
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
Margrave Dietrich of Meissen, through his officers; the town's own officers (a reeve, Schultheiss) appear in the 13th century.
How things stand that morning
The margrave's town; quiet.
Charter
Town letter of Margrave Otto the Rich, about 1165 (undated; likely written down later), granting town law and market rights.
Council
No council yet; the council governs only from 1301.
Communities
German merchants and craftsmen beside a Sorb population in the surrounding villages; a Jewish community is not attested this early.
Fairs and markets
Easter and Michaelmas markets, confirmed 1190.
Walls and castle
The margrave's castle (attested 1216); the town is enclosed by ditch and walls that Dietrich will slight in 1217.
Trade and crafts
Long-distance trade on the Via Regia and the Via Imperii: cloth, furs, salt from Halle, silver from Freiberg; local crafts. A mint is first named about 1220.
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.
- 1200Grimma and Borna are first named in documents of this year; in Leipzig nothing of note is recorded for 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Town letter, market confirmation of 1190 and churches are documented; the institutions of 1200 are thin.
Primary sources for Meissen
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 Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
- Annals of Pegau; Annals of Magdeburg (12th and 13th centuries; Pegau continued to 1227). The annals of the Wettin lands and of Magdeburg. Read online
- Chronicle of the Lauterberg (Petersberg near Halle), Konrad of Lauterberg (about 1225). The house chronicle of the Wettin foundation on the Lauterberg, sharp-tongued and well informed on Saxony, Meissen and Magdeburg. 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
- 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 Magdeburg (main text to 1142, continued in the 13th and 14th centuries). The Magdeburg house history, with a continuation covering Archbishop Ludolf of Kroppenstedt (1192 to 1205), a firm supporter of Philip who hosted the king's Christmas court at Magdeburg on 25 December 1199. Read online
- Charters and letters of the kingdom of Bohemia, volume 2, 1198 to 1230 (documents of 1198 to 1230, edited 1912). The critical edition of every Bohemian and Moravian charter and letter from Ottokar I's accession to 1230.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.