Port on the Schwinge near the Elbe, the old seat of the counts of Stade, with a harbour developed about 1000 (now the Old Hanseatic Harbour).
Henry the Lion united the settlements and fortified them with rampart and ditch. After his fall the town was disputed between the archbishops and the Welfs, which it turned to its own advantage.
Who holds it
- Name
- Archbishop Hartwig II (market, mint, toll); Count Adolf III holds the county and castle as his fief
- Title
- town lord
- Since
- 1194/95
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The archbishop of Bremen as lord of market, mint and toll (since 1038); Count Adolf III of Holstein holds the comital castle and county as the archbishop's fief.
How things stand that morning
The archbishop's market town with Adolf III's men in the castle; both back Philip.
Charter
No town charter yet: Otto IV grants Stade town law in 1209, confirmed by the archbishop in 1236 with the staple right and freedom from army service.
Walls and castle
Henry the Lion's rampart and ditch; the castle on the Spiegelberg.
Trade and crafts
Elbe shipping, the North Sea and English trade (not pinned for 1200), the archbishop's mint and toll.
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.
- 1202 (after this year)The Welf Count Palatine Henry takes Stade.Depends on: Adolf's defeat in 1201
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: de.wikipedia Stade for the charters; the holder of the castle in 1200 is inferred (see Stade (county)).
Primary sources for Bremen
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 Stade, by Albert of Stade, Albert of Stade (about 1240 to 1256). A world chronicle written at Stade in the 1240s from older Stade and Bremen annals. 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
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Helmold of Bosau, Helmold of Bosau (about 1167 to 1172). Background only. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- Charter books of Lübeck and of Hamburg (documents to 1226 (Lübeck vol. 1) and to 1300 (Hamburg vol. 1)). The charters of the two north German towns and of the archbishops of Bremen and Hamburg. Read online
- Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (de): Stade
- Wikipedia (de): Grafschaft Stade
- NDB (Maybaum 1953) and ADB (Jansen 1875): Adolf III., Graf von Holstein
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.