Prince-bishopric of Utrecht

Who rules

Name

Dirk II of Are (Dietrich van der Aare, Dietrich von Ahr)

Title

Bishop of Utrecht, prince of the Empire

Since

Elected late 1197 or 1198 (the German Wikipedia says 1197, the ADB and the English Wikipedia 1198), after both rivals of the double election of 1196 had died

Born

Not pinned

Family

Of the counts of Are on the Ahr in the Eifel; his parents are not pinned. Before his election he was a provost at Maastricht (Blok; which chapter is not pinned). The ADB says he owed his election to Otto IV and kept his favour.

Confidence

medium

The election: Bishop Baldwin of Holland (Count Dirk VII's uncle) died at Mainz in 1196 while seeking the emperor's help. Holland put up the cathedral provost Dirk of Holland, another uncle of the count, backed by Emperor Henry VI and recognized in the Nedersticht; Guelders put up Arnold of Isenburg, provost of Deventer, backed by the archbishop of Cologne and the pope, recognized in the Oversticht. Arnold was consecrated by Celestine III in 1196 and died soon after; Dirk of Holland then got his confirmation but died at Pavia on 28 August 1197 on his way home.

The chapters then chose Dirk of Are 'by surprise' (Blok). Dirk VII had governed the see's temporalities in 1196 and lost them to the new bishop. On 1 January 1200 the election is settled and unchallenged.

Overlord

The king (regalia); the archbishop of Cologne is his metropolitan.

What the realm holds

• The city of Utrecht with its five chapters (the cathedral chapter of St Martin and the chapters of Oudmunster, St Peter, St John and St Mary), which elect the bishop
• The Nedersticht: the bishop's estates and castles round Utrecht, Amersfoort and Eemland, Rhenen, Wijk bij Duurstede, and the vassal lands of the Amstel and Woerden families and the Lopikerwaard
• The toll at Muiden on the Vecht mouth and the bishop's river tolls and mint at Utrecht and Deventer
• The Oversticht: Deventer, the bishop's second seat; Salland with the young settlements at Zwolle and Kampen; the land of Vollenhove; Twente with the chapter of Oldenzaal
• The county of Drenthe (granted in the early eleventh century), held for the bishop by the hereditary castellans of Coevorden
• Groningen, granted with mint and toll by Henry III in 1040, ruled for the bishop by a hereditary prefect
• Claims and old grants: half the comital rights in Oostergo and Westergo (granted 1086, shared with Holland since 1165); the Veluwe, disputed with Guelders; Teisterbant (1026), the land on the east shore of the Zuiderzee (1042), Hamaland (1046), West Frisia (1064) and Stavoren (1077), all long since lost to lay lords

How it was acquired

Royal grants of the eleventh century (Drenthe, Teisterbant, Groningen, Hamaland, West Frisia, Stavoren, Oostergo, Westergo and the IJsselgau). Since the early twelfth century the county of Guelders has cut the see into two separate halves.

Allies and rivals

Patron: Otto IV and the Welf party of Archbishop Adolf of Cologne. Rivals: Count Dirk VII of Holland, who governed the see in 1196 and holds lands taken from it; Count Otto I of Guelders, over the Veluwe, Salland and the advocacies; the prefect of Groningen and the castellan of Coevorden, who are hard to control. Neighbours: Otto of Bentheim, burgrave of Utrecht at some point and brother of the late Bishop Baldwin; the bishop of Münster beyond Twente and Drenthe.

The realm that morning

Dirk of Are holds the Nedersticht, the Oversticht, Drenthe and Groningen, through officers who are half vassals and half rivals. He backs Otto IV, to whom he owes his see (ADB; the campaign notes put Utrecht among the north-western sees that lean Welf or waver). Holland and Guelders are allies since 1197 and both press on his lands.

Wealth

River tolls on the Rhine, Lek, Vecht and IJssel; the markets, mints and fairs of Utrecht and Deventer; Groningen's market and toll; the cattle and peat of the Nedersticht; the cens of Drenthe; the tithes and estates of the five chapters.

Military

The bishop's castles against Holland and Guelders, credited to the twelfth-century bishops (Woerden and Montfoort in the Nedersticht, Ter Horst by Rhenen, Vollenhove in the Oversticht; building dates not pinned here), and Coevorden in Drenthe, held by ministeriales and castellans who make them hereditary; the knights of the Sticht; the townsmen of Utrecht and Deventer. Record: Bishop Baldwin's war in Drenthe and Groningen in the 1180s and 1190s, in which his brother Otto of Bentheim was beaten near Rolde. No numbers are recorded.

Threats

• Holland, which wants the see's lands and revenues back under its control
• Guelders over the Veluwe and the advocacies
• The castellans of Coevorden and the prefects of Groningen, who make their offices their own
• A papal decision for Philip, or Otto's defeat, would leave a Welf bishop exposed

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

1. 1200 (month not pinned)Otto IV comes to Utrecht with Archbishop Adolf of Cologne to arbitrate between Holland and BrabantDepends on: Otto free to come down the Rhine, and the bishop hosting him Stopped by: War on the Middle Rhine keeping Otto away

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202, after 7 SeptemberWith Dirk VII a prisoner of Brabant, a draft peace between Holland and Utrecht sets six ministeriales on each side to settle disputes, with the duke and duchess of Brabant and the count of Dachsburg as arbiters; Brabant had come to the bishop's help against HollandDepends on: The Holland and Brabant war of 1202 Stopped by: Peace with Brabant holding
2. 1203-1206In the Loon War the bishop backs Ada and Louis of Loon against William and burns DordrechtDepends on: Dirk VII dying without a son Stopped by: A settled Holland succession

Places of note

• Bishop's court at Utrecht: The bishop's palace by the cathedral of St Martin
• Deventer: The bishop's second seat and mint
• Castle of Woerden: The bishop's castle facing Holland, held by the lords of Woerden
• Castle of Montfoort: The bishop's castle on the Hollandse IJssel facing Holland
• Ter Horst by Rhenen: The bishop's castle facing the Veluwe; William of Holland was taken by treachery at Horst (Blok)
• Vollenhove: The bishop's castle on the Zuiderzee in the Oversticht
• Muiden toll: The bishop's toll at the Vecht mouth
• Coevorden: Castle of the castellans of Drenthe

Where the sources disagree

• Election date: 1197 (German Wikipedia, de-academic) against 1198 (ADB, English Wikipedia, Van der Aa). Since Dirk of Holland died on 28 August 1197 and the ADB credits Otto IV (king from June 1198) with the election, 1198 is the better reading.
• The campaign notes (Part 6 D) have Utrecht 'Welf-leaning or wavering [thin]'; the ADB says the bishop owed his election to Otto IV, which supports Welf.

Evidence: The election and the royal grants are well attested; the bishop's castellans and officers in 1200 are known mostly from the later Quedam narracio and from thirteenth-century charters, and their names that winter are not pinned.

On the map: Dutch land units are whole modern municipalities, so borders follow them. The Veluwe, which the bishop claims, is drawn under Guelders, which holds it; the Frisian claims are left to the Frisian provinces.

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.

• Annals of Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
• Chronicle of the abbots of Wittewierum (Bloemhof), Emo of Wittewierum (from 1219 to 1237, continued by Menko to 1273). The chronicle opens only in 1204 with the founding of Emo's Premonstratensian house in the Groningen Ommelanden, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online