City War 1387–1389

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The city ​​war was a war between the Swabian League of Cities and the Bavarian dukes from 1387 to 1389.

The city war was triggered by a pact between the Swabian League of Cities and the Salzburg Archdiocese of 1387, which challenged the Bavarian dukes. Duke Friedrich von Bayern then captured Salzburg's Archbishop Pilgrim and demanded that the contract with the Swabian Association of Cities be terminated in order to be released.

On January 8, 1388, King Wenzel (1378–1400) declared the Imperial War against Bavaria, which the League of Towns had decided against Bavaria on December 15, 1387 in Ulm . Count Palatine Ruprecht's attempt to avert the impending war through an arbitration tribunal in Neumarkt ended on March 15, 1388 with a settlement that largely corresponded to the demands of the cities. The clarification of the questions concerning the Archdiocese of Salzburg was postponed to April 12, 1388 in Heidelberg because the bishop stayed away from the arbitration tribunal. The disputes could not be finally settled in Neumarkt. The cities had complied with the provisions of the settlement, but the Bavarian nobility continued to attack the cities.

The negotiating parties met in Heidelberg under this negative guideline to bring about a final clarification. The Union of Cities now represented its own delegation, including factions from particularly badly damaged cities - e.g. B. also a delegation from Nuremberg . The premature departure of the city council representatives from Heidelberg prevented a final legal verdict this time as well. The city union representatives first demanded that the Neumarkt settlement be fulfilled, Count Palatine Ruprecht, however, a new legal ruling whose advantageous content was not known to the city union representatives and which they therefore rejected.

Snubbed by the attitude of the city union representatives, many nobles and Ruprecht joined the war against the cities on the side of the Bavarian princes. This threatened the outbreak of war in Franconia. The Nuremberg Council tried to settle the conflict through diplomatic channels, but nevertheless ordered the mobilization of the population and began to recruit mercenaries. The French King Charles VI prevented the cities on the border with France from intervening . , who warned Strasbourg and other cities in his sphere of influence against the Bavarian dukes and especially against his father-in-law Stephan III. proceed.

During the war in the Franconian region, the Nuremberg Council tried to find a peaceful solution through diplomatic channels. There were some unsuccessful negotiations before the land peace reached in Eger on May 5, 1389 ended the war between cities. The peace treaty was a defeat for the Swabian Association of Cities, the cities were denied the compensation claimed. The main goal of the peace was to break the influence of the city union on the development of the imperial order.

At the same time, with the victory of Württemberg in the Battle of Döffingen on August 23, 1388, the dispute there between aspiring sovereigns and the cities in south-west Germany ended in favor of the sovereigns.

literature

  • Adalbert Erler : Ingelheim trials after the city war of 1388 . Historischer Verein Ingelheim, Ingelheim 1981 (contributions to Ingelheim history, 32).
  • Alexander Schubert : Is the city useful or necessity? The imperial city of Nuremberg and the city war of 1388/89 . Matthiesen, Husum 2003, ISBN 3-7868-1476-7 (also dissertation, Bamberg 2001/2002, review by H-Soz-u-Kult ).

Web links

  • Alexander Schubert: City War, 1387/1389. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. October 10, 2011, accessed May 5, 2014 .