The primatial city between the kingdom and the Empire.
Frederick Barbarossa's golden bull of 1157 gave the archbishop all rights over the city, and the Permutatio of 1173 ended the count of Forez's claims, so there is no lay count of the Lyonnais in 1200. The citizens have only an accord of 1193 limiting arbitrary dues.
Who holds it
- Name
- Renaud of Forez, archbishop and count of Lyon
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
Renaud of Forez, archbishop of Lyon since 1193 and count of Lyon; the canons of Saint-Jean share the lordship
How things stand that morning
Under its archbishop, neutral between France and the Empire (campaign notes).
Charter
Accord of 1193 between the burgesses and the archbishop limiting arbitrary rights and taxes (repeated in a charter of 1206); no commune.
Council
None of its own; the burgesses will form a sworn association in 1208.
Communities
The Poor of Lyon (Waldensians), expelled by Archbishop John Bellesmains in 1183, have spread abroad.
Fairs and markets
No fairs yet.
Walls and castle
A stone bridge over the Saone (finished 1070) and a wooden one over the Rhone (damaged by crusaders in 1190); a rampart round the canons' quarter of Saint-Jean and a new wall on the north of the peninsula.
Trade and crafts
Mostly local trade in 1200; the 1193 tolls are on everyday goods. River traffic on the Saone and Rhone.
Where the sources disagree
- COMMON brief asks for 'the counts of the Lyonnais if any': there are none in 1200; the archbishop is count of Lyon since the 1173 Permutatio with Forez.
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.