City · Duchy of Austria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Vienna

The ducal capital on the Danube since Henry II Jasomirgott moved his residence here in 1155, on the ruins of the Roman camp of Vindobona.

Under the Babenbergs the town was systematically extended in the 12th century to about three times its old area, and about 1200 it is being walled anew with the silver of Richard I's ransom (the English king was taken at Erdberg, just outside, two days before Christmas 1192), which also set up a ducal mint here. St. Stephen's, begun after the bishop of Passau and the margrave settled their exchange at Mautern in 1137 and consecrated in 1147, is Passau's parish church: Vienna has no bishop of its own.

The Irish ('Scottish') Benedictines from Regensburg have kept the Schottenstift since 1155.

Who holds it

Name
Duke Leopold VI, through his officers (the town judge's name that winter is not pinned)
Title
Lord of the town
Since
1198
Confidence
high

Geschichte Wiens (de.wikipedia); Mautern (de.wikipedia) for the 1137 exchange that founded St. Stephen's.

Lord in 1200

Duke Leopold VI, through his officers (the town judge's name that winter is not pinned)

Allies and rivals

Passau holds the parish; the Regensburg merchants compete with the Viennese for the Danube trade.

How things stand that morning

Held by Leopold VI; the court, the mint and the new walls make it the political and money centre of both duchies.

Charter

No town charter yet: the town is under the duke's law. Leopold VI grants the first written town law, with the staple right that forces passing merchants to sell in Vienna, on 18 October 1221.

Council

None attested before the 1221 charter.

Communities

A young Jewish community: the first Jew on record, Schlom, the dukes' mint master (attested from 1194, close to the court of Leopold V and Frederick I, with four houses near the later Seitenstettengasse), was killed by crusaders in 1196 with fifteen members of his household after one of his servants who had taken the cross was jailed for theft; Duke Frederick had two of the crusaders executed. Jews settle round the later Judenplatz from about 1200. The Irish Benedictines of the Schottenstift; merchants from Regensburg and the upper Danube.

Fairs and markets

Weekly markets; no fair dates found for 1200.

Militia

Not recorded.

Walls and castle

The duke's court on the square Am Hof; the new ring of walls built about 1200 with the ransom silver round the enlarged town.

Trade and crafts

The Danube trade between Regensburg and Hungary, the road south over the Semmering towards Venice, wine; the Regensburg merchants are the leading foreign traders; Flemish dyers are privileged by Leopold VI only in 1208. The ducal mint strikes the Vienna penny (Wiener Pfennig) from the ransom silver.

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.

  1. Pentecost, 28 May 1200 (ADB: Pentecost 1200, in the Schottenkirche at Vienna)The duke's knighting festival brings the court and the lords of both duchies to the town.Depends on: peace Stopped by: war with Hungary

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Residence, ransom, mint, walls and the Jewish community from de.wikipedia; the town officers in 1200 are not documented.

Primary sources for Austria

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Geschichte Wiens, de.wikipedia
  2. Mautern an der Donau, de.wikipedia
  3. Geschichte der Juden in Wien, de.wikipedia

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.