Berthold V, Count of Merania before his election as Patriarch of Aquileia in 1218, governed one of the most strategically contested ecclesiastical territories in northern Italy — wedged between the ambitions of Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Hungarian crown. His minting activity at Gutenwerth, a fortified island in the Wörthersee, reflects the patriarchate's insistence on exercising regalian rights that secular rivals repeatedly challenged throughout his tenure.
Berthold V, Count of Merania before his election as Patriarch of Aquileia in 1218, governed one of the most strategically contested ecclesiastical territories in northern Italy — wedged between the ambitions of Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Hungarian crown. His minting activity at Gutenwerth, a fortified island in the Wörthersee, reflects the patriarchate's insistence on exercising regalian rights that secular rivals repeatedly challenged throughout his tenure.