March of Istria, 1 January 1200

The march of Istria, a march of the Empire, has been held since the 1170s by the Bavarian house of Andechs, and the march of Carniola with it.

On 1 January 1200 the margrave is Berthold IV, count of Andechs and duke of Merania, a Staufen partisan and the father of Philip Augustus's queen Agnes, whose marriage is about to bring an interdict on France. He is rarely in Istria and controls little there. The coastal towns govern themselves as communes (Pola from 1177, Capodistria from 1186, Pirano from 1192, Parenzo with a podestà from 1194) and have been bound to Venice by oaths of fidelity since 1145-1150, and Pola, after revolts in 1149, 1153 and 1193, has taken a Venetian rector since 1198; the bishops of Trieste, Parenzo, Pola, Capodistria and Cittanova hold their cities and estates; the counts of Gorizia hold the county of Pazin in the interior; the patriarch holds Muggia and claims the whole march.

What the margrave keeps is the title, his court of justice, the march's dues where they are still paid, and castles and vassals in the interior that are not pinned one by one. In Carniola his house holds Kranj, the old seat of the march, and Kamnik, inherited from the Weimar-Orlamünde about 1100; the Spanheim dukes of Carinthia hold Ljubljana, the bishops of Freising Škofja Loka and the bishops of Brixen Bled.

Who rules

Name: Berthold IV of Andechs
Title: Margrave of Istria and of Carniola; duke of Merania; count of Andechs; advocate of Tegernsee
Since: margrave from his father Berthold III's death in 1188 at the latest (German Wikipedia's article has him using the title from about 1175); called duke of Merania, a title taken from the coast round Rijeka, from about 1180-1185
Born: not pinned
Family: Andechs, counts of Andechs and dukes of Merania. Widower: his wife Agnes of Rochlitz (of the Wettin), married 1180, died 25 March 1195. Children living on 1 January 1200: Otto (later Duke Otto I of Merania), Henry (margrave from 1204/05), Ekbert (provost of St Gangolf at Bamberg since 1192, bishop of Bamberg from 1203), Berthold (later archbishop of Kalocsa and from 1218 patriarch of Aquileia), Agnes (queen of France, married to Philip II on 1 June 1196), Hedwig (wife since 1188/92 of Henry, son and heir of Duke Boleslaw the Tall of Silesia; Henry becomes duke only in December 1201), Gertrude (married to Andrew of Hungary before 1203, probably not yet on 1 January 1200: not pinned) and Mechthild (a nun, later abbess of Kitzingen). Their ages are not pinned; Agnes was probably born about 1180.
Confidence: high

German Wikipedia (Berthold IV. (Andechs); Markgrafschaft Istrien) and English Wikipedia (March of Carniola).

Overlord

The Empire (the march is held directly of the king). The patriarch of Aquileia holds the 1077 grants of both marches but does not exercise them.

What the realm holds

The margravial title and court for Istria, with whatever dues and services the towns and lords still render (not pinned).
Interior castles and vassals in Istria (not pinned one by one).
In Carniola: Kranj (Krainburg) and Kamnik (Stein) with Motnik, Trojane and Preddvor, Andechs lands since about 1100 and 1156 (see Andechs in Carniola), and whatever margravial rights the house exercises there (thin).
The coastal land called Merania round Rijeka, which gives the ducal title (the Croatian coast itself is on a later sheet).
Off this sheet: Andechs and the family lands in Bavaria and Franconia, Innsbruck and the Inn valley (tre sheet), Windischgraz (Slovenj Gradec) in the Carinthian-Styrian borderland.

How it was acquired

The march of Istria passed to the Andechs in the 1170s (Berthold III, margrave 1173-1188) after the Spanheim margrave Engelbert III died in 1173; Berthold IV succeeded his father in 1188. The patriarch of Aquileia's grants of 1077 were never made good against the margraves. The march will be taken from the Andechs after Henry of Andechs is outlawed over the murder of Philip of Swabia (21 June 1208): Otto IV enfeoffs the patriarchate with Istria in 1208 (Treccani, Istria) and grants Patriarch Wolfger the marches of Istria and Lower Carniola at the diet of Augsburg in 1209 (Treccani, Aquileia), which the church had never effectively held before.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Philip of Swabia and the Staufen party; his son-in-law Henry, heir of Silesia; through Queen Agnes, Philip Augustus of France. Rivals: the patriarch of Aquileia, who claims both marches; the counts of Gorizia round Pazin; Venice, whose treaties with the coastal towns hollow out his authority.

The realm that morning

Berthold IV is margrave on 1 January 1200 and stays so until his death on 12 August 1204. In Istria the coastal communes (Capodistria, Isola, Pirano, Umago, Cittanova, Parenzo, Rovigno) run themselves and owe Venice service under their oaths: Capodistria swore fidelity to Doge Pietro Polani at the Rialto in 1145, and Pola in the same year undertook to protect Venetian merchants, to send one galley to each Venetian expedition and to free Venetians from export duties; Parenzo swore in 1150, when the doge began to style himself lord of all Istria. Pola is the exception: after its revolt of 1193 it accepted in 1198 a Venetian rector, Ruggero Morosini, count of Osor, so it is under Venetian lordship (whether he still governs on 1 January 1200 is not pinned).

Trieste is ruled by its bishop as count with a commune growing beside him. The interior is a patchwork of the margrave's castles and vassals, the bishops' estates and the counts of Gorizia's county of Pazin. In Carniola the Andechs hold Kranj and Kamnik. The patriarch's claim to both marches is dormant until 1208-09.

Wealth

Little from Istria beyond dues, court fees and the interior castles; the family's wealth lies in Bavaria, Franconia and the Inn valley. In Carniola, the road from Ljubljana to Celje through Kamnik and the Kamnik mint (medieval; first date not pinned).

Military

The Andechs host is raised from their Bavarian, Franconian and Tyrolean vassals and ministeriales; in Istria the margrave can call on little. Berthold IV served on Henry VI's Italian campaign in 1186 and on the Third Crusade (battle of Philomelion). No numbers in the sources.

Threats

Venice's hold on the coastal towns through their oaths.
The patriarch's claim to both marches, which needs only a Staufen collapse to be revived.
The interdict on France over Agnes, which makes his daughter the centre of a quarrel between Philip Augustus and Innocent III.

Officers

Not pinned: no margravial officer in Istria is named for 1200.

Vassals

Not pinned castle by castle. The Istrian towns owe him nominal obedience; the lords of Duino are said to have been vassals of the patriarch, then of the margrave, then of Gorizia (dates not given).

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.

In 1200

mid-January 1200The interdict on Philip Augustus's lands over his marriage to Agnes of Merania, the margrave's daughter, is proclaimed (campaign notes).Depends on: Philip refusing to send Agnes away. Stopped by: Philip submitting before the proclamation.
September 1200The interdict on France is lifted when Philip agrees to take back Ingeborg and put Agnes away (campaign notes for the interdict; Agnes dies at Poissy on 29 July 1201, German Wikipedia).Depends on: Philip's submission to Rome. Stopped by: Philip holding out.

Later, on the likely course

before 1203Gertrude of Andechs marries Andrew of Hungary.Depends on: Andrew's reconciliation with his brother Emeric and the match being pursued. Stopped by: Another match.
1208-1209After Philip of Swabia's murder the Andechs are outlawed and the march of Istria (and Carniola) passes to the patriarch of Aquileia.Depends on: Philip's murder on 21 June 1208 and the Andechs being blamed. Stopped by: Philip surviving, or the Andechs clearing themselves.

Places of note

Parenzo (Poreč): Named by German Wikipedia as the march's capital; in practice the bishop's city.
Kamnik (Stein): The Andechs' centre in Carniola.
Kranj (Krainburg): The old seat of the march of Carniola.

Where the sources disagree

German Wikipedia's article on Berthold IV dates his first use of the margravial title to about 1175, while the list of margraves gives 1188-1204; either way he holds the march on 1 January 1200.
The march of Carniola: the margrave lists (German and English Wikipedia) name the Andechs margraves of Istria as margraves of Carniola too, but German Wikipedia (Herzogtum Krain) says the patriarchs stayed nominal margraves of Carniola until 1282 with the land in the hands of noble houses. The map colours only the Andechs' own Carniolan castles and lands as istria; Lower Carniola is shown by its holders (Weichselburg, Spanheim, the church of Aquileia) where known.

Evidence: The margrave, his titles and his children are well documented; what he actually controlled in Istria and Carniola around 1200 is thin, and the castles of the interior are not pinned.

On the map: Istria is drawn as the margrave's ground because it lay in his march, but his authority there in 1200 was mostly nominal; the coastal communes are drawn separately as self-governing towns bound to Venice. In Carniola only the Andechs' own lands are drawn (see Andechs in Carniola); Lower Carniola is left to its holders and anchors.

Primary sources for this realm

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.

History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
Documents on the older commercial and political history of the Republic of Venice, part 1, 814 to 1205 (documents of 814 to 1205, edited 1856). Venice's treaties and privileges in full text. Read online

Sources and studies

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