Great Dortmund feud

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In the great Dortmund feud in 1388 and 1389 , the imperial city of Dortmund faced attacks and a siege by troops from the Archbishop of Cologne , the Counts of Märk and 20 other cities.

prehistory

Germany 1378

The Archbishop of Cologne Friedrich III. von Saar Werden had received liens on Dortmund from King Charles IV in 1346 and from his successor Wenzel in 1375 , but could not let them take effect. Nevertheless, due to internal disputes, there was never an alliance with the Brandenburg counts. When these disputes were over, attempts were made to subdue Dortmund.

procedure

On February 21, 1388, the archbishop of Cologne's feud reached the Dortmund council, and the next day that of Count von der Mark . The archbishop demanded the oath of homage from the citizens. Ten years earlier , the disputed execution of Agnes von der Vierbecke gave the Count von der Mark an occasion for a feud . So began the Great Feud. Numerous sovereigns joined the coalition against Dortmund, among them the archbishops and electors of Mainz and Trier , the bishops of Augsburg , Bamberg , Münster , Paderborn and Osnabrück , the count palatine of the Rhine and the dukes and counts of Jülich-Berg-Ravensberg , Württemberg , Moers , Sponheim , Braunschweig-Lüneburg , Tecklenburg , Rietberg and Holstein-Pinneberg . In addition, there were a few smaller Westphalian towns and around 1,200 members of the rural lower nobility.

This coalition initially appears to be overpowering, but most of the coalition members only took part in this war pro forma. Accordingly, no otherwise usual mercenary army was set up. For its part, Dortmund could rely on the strong city walls. In addition, the city recruited 70  knights , 49  pikemen and 29 English archers and was able to rely on the support of four noble helpers, who provided another 79 riders at their own expense. In contrast, support from the allied cities was rather weak. Only Lübeck , Stralsund , Deventer and Zwolle granted modest loans totaling 2,000 guilders. Apparently the scope of the attack, which, together with the war against the South German Association of Cities, formed the prelude to a series of clashes between a city and a coalition of princes, was not recognized. After the city returned the feud on February 22nd, the first acts of war followed immediately.

The archbishops set up their camp north of the castle gate and built the Rovenburg. In an attempt to cut off the city from the outside world and starve it, the Brandenburg troops settled in the west of the city on the Emscher near the city mill and tore it down to build a tower with the stones. After the first shots on February 24th, the actual bombardment of the city by the Brandenburg troops began on April 17th. Dortmund returned the cannonade and probably caused considerable damage to the attackers. After a first failure of the Dortmund on May 29th, an estimated 110 more failures followed during the entire duration of the feud. In the first attempt at mediation, the archbishops and Märker presented their demands on June 24; but these were flatly rejected by the Dortmunders. There were further mediation attempts throughout the feud. After the first failed negotiations, the bombardment was intensified on June 30; A total of 238 stone balls only destroyed a few buildings and killed a cow and two pigs. A modern powder gun was probably used in the case of heavy counterfire from Dortmund on July 10th. This weapon terrified the attackers to such an extent that they loosened the siege ring so that the Dortmunders could again cultivate the fields in front of the city wall.

Since the city had built up large stocks of grain before the feud, starving the city now seemed hopeless. Despite appropriate provocations, Dortmund did not allow itself to be tempted into an open field battle, but instead concentrated on the abovementioned failures, which were probably also necessary to secure supplies. On October 3rd the Rovesburg was destroyed; on December 12th, the defenders set the Schüren on fire in order to lure the garrison out of Hörder Castle . The Dortmunders then wanted to take the city with a force of around 600 men, but this failed. After no victory for either side or an amicable settlement was in sight, Dortmund tried to end the feud by placing Count von der Mark in front of the Dortmund Freigericht on April 27, 1389 . However, when the latter invited Dortmund to appear in front of the Brandenburg free chair in Kamen , the city withdrew the indictment and called the Royal Court of Justice . However, King Wenceslas only asked the besiegers in writing to refrain from their request. Worn down by the long siege, serious negotiations began on November 4th with the mediation of the city of Soest . At first Dortmund was not prepared to make any concessions; only after pressure from the conduct of the negotiations in Soest did the city agree to a “voluntary payment” of 7000 guilders each to Kurköln and the county of Mark. However, this voluntary payment was not recorded in the peace treaty; Obviously, the Dortmunders were keen to avoid even the appearance of defeat, which would otherwise have become apparent. At least one secured peace with the head held high and was able to resume the vital trade for a trading city.

Conclusion and consequences

The feud ended on November 20, 1389. Immediately after the peace treaty on November 22nd, the siege was lifted, the prisoners exchanged and the previous status restored.

The city had successfully held its own against a force of over 1200 knights. After that the city was heavily in debt, the largest single believers were the Knights of Strünkede . The cost of the feud and the peace treaty, around 60,000 guilders, were so high that it was often assumed that this event triggered the downfall of Dortmund. High city taxes as a result of the indebtedness caused unrest among the citizens of Dortmund in 1400.

After the peace agreement, the city of Dortmund was very careful to avoid the appearance of defeat and even to give the impression of victory. This is how the saying “So fast as Düörpm” (High German “As solid as Dortmund” ) came about, which was used as a self-term to commemorate these events until the 18th century.

literature

  • Claudia Garnier : Symbols of conflict management in the 14th century: The Dortmund feud of 1388/89. In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 151/152 (2001/2002), pp. 23-46.
  • Hans Georg Kirchhoff : The great Dortmund feud 1388/89. In: Ferdinand Seibt (Hrsg.): Forgotten times - Middle Ages in the Ruhr area. Catalog for the exhibition in the Ruhrland Museum Essen, September 26, 1990 to January 6, 1991. Vol. 2. Pomp, Essen 1990, ISBN 3-89355-052-6 , pp. 59–62.
  • Hans Georg Kirchhoff: The Dortmund Great Feud 1388/89. In: Gustav Luntowski (Ed.): Dortmund. 1100 years of city history. Festschrift. Ruhfus, Dortmund 1982, ISBN 3-7932-4071-1 , pp. 107-128.
  • Alexander Mette: The great Dortmund feud of 1388 and 1389 (= contributions to the history of Dortmund and the county of Mark. Vol. 4). Köppen, Dortmund 1886.