The archbishop's cathedral city on the Rhine opposite the Main mouth, the stage of Frederick I's great court festivals (Pentecost 1184 on the Maaraue; the 'court of Jesus Christ' of March 1188 that launched the Third Crusade) and of Philip's coronation on 8 September 1198.
Since the burghers murdered Archbishop Arnold of Selenhofen in 1160 the city has had no liberties: Frederick I razed its walls and its privileges were cancelled. Conrad has rebuilt the walls and is renovating the cathedral. Its Jewish community is one of the three great ones of the Rhine.
Who holds it
- Name
- Archbishop Conrad of Wittelsbach
- Title
- Lord of the city
- Since
- 1183
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
The archbishop, through his officers: the chamberlain (Kämmerer), the Schultheiss, the burgrave or city count (Stadtgraf, an archiepiscopal appointment since Willigis), the Walpode and the vicedominus of Mainz. Holders on 1 January 1200 not pinned.
How things stand that morning
Quiet under Conrad on 1 January 1200; owes him obedience and has no party of its own in the throne war that the sources show.
Charter
Archbishop Adalbert I's privilege for the burghers (early 12th century) was lost after 1160. None in force in 1200: Frederick II restores rights like Adalbert's in 1236 and Archbishop Siegfried III grants the city charter of 13 November 1244 (an elected council of 24, war service limited to the city's defence).
Council
No recognised council in 1200; the leading burghers, the later patricians, appear as judges and witnesses of the archbishop's courts (detail not pinned).
Communities
The Jews of Mainz, one of the three communities of the Rhine with Speyer and Worms: attacked in February 1188 before the crusade, when much of the community fled to Kuno of Münzenberg's castle. The cathedral chapter and the collegiate churches (St Peter, St Gangolf, St Stephen, St Victor and others) and the abbey of St Alban.
Fairs and markets
A Rhine market; no great fair recorded. Frankfurt's fair overtakes Mainz as the region's trading place in the 13th century.
Militia
The burghers owe the archbishop war service (until 1244). No record of the city's men in the field in 1198-1199.
Walls and castle
Walls razed by Frederick I after 1160 and rebuilt by Conrad (how far finished on 1 January 1200 not pinned); the cathedral of St Martin under renovation; the archbishop's palace by the cathedral.
Trade and crafts
Rhine and Main shipping, wine from the Rheingau and Rheinhessen, grain and timber; the archbishop's mint; crafts serving the court, the cathedral and the many collegiate churches.
Quarrels
The memory of 1160 and the lost liberties; in late 1200 the city will be fought over in the double election.
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 1200After Conrad's death the city is contested between Lupold of Worms (Philip) and Siegfried of Eppstein (Otto); Siegfried and Otto take it about Christmas 1200.Depends on: Conrad's death; the double election. Stopped by: Conrad living or a single candidate.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Events of 1160-1188 and 1244 dated; the officers and the walls' state in 1200 not pinned.
Primary sources for Mainz
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
1 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.