Würzburg joins the first Rhenish city union

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Würzburg's accession to the first Rhenish city union can be determined in November 1255, at least before March 12, 1256. The aim of joining the federal government was to strengthen the city's position with regard to the disputes between the citizens and the then bishop .

background

Decisive for the accession of Würzburg to the Rheinischen Städtebund were primarily disputes between the citizens and the then bishop of the city. The originally royal city turned into an episcopal city by transferring royal power to the bishops. The citizens accepted this change and the complete dependence on the bishop with difficulty. In the middle of the 13th century, the citizens of Würzburg sought autonomy and take control of the city.

In 1247, the Würzburg bishop Hermann I von Lobdeburg switched from the side of Emperor Frederick II to that of Pope Innocent IV and the anti-king Heinrich . The Staufer-friendly citizens, however, remained loyal to the emperor. Belonging to two different camps led to fierce conflicts between the parties.

In addition, the question of the city budget motivated the disputes. The clergy in Würzburg had been freed from the city burdens up to now. The citizens saw this as a point of attack; the clergy should also pay taxes. In the course of the dispute, the citizens held up the tithe levies. Threats of ban and interdict followed .

The conflicts became more violent and bloody. Bishop Hermann withdrew to the Marienberg Fortress for protection . A story handed down by Micheal de Leone illustrates the extent of the disputes:

In 1254, the bishop concluded a secret alliance to ward off civil attacks. There was a surprise attack with the help of the nobility to bring Würzburg under their control. The citizens who had been warned took episcopal followers prisoner and killed them. The bishop was forced to hand over the fortress. His supporters succeeded in liberation and the citizens had to resign. The consequences of the anger over this defeat have been looting, destruction and attacks on clergy. The main motive on the part of the citizens from then on was revenge.

On January 9, 1254, another spiritual alliance was formed to counteract this: no public worship services, no sacraments, no church funerals. These measures led to the disillusionment of the citizens and the violence stopped.

The death of Bishop Hermann von Lobdeburg on March 3, 1254 did not solve the problem. Even before the bishop's death, Pope Innocent IV had forbidden the election of a new successor in the event of the vacancy of the bishopric and spoke out in favor of Count Heinrich von Leiningen . He was the chancellor of King William of Holland , who was favored by the Pope . Despite a ban, the cathedral chapter held a new election and voted unanimously for Bishop Iring von Reinstein-Homburg . In April he was ordained a priest by the Mainz Metropolitan and the day after, without having received the royal investiture, he was ordained bishop. Regardless of this, the citizens kept to Heinrich von Leiningen, who was chosen by the Pope. They received him at Pentecost 1255 in Würzburg after they had driven Bishop Iring from the city. Pope Innocent IV died at the end of 1254 and his successor Alexander IV no longer adhered to the decisions of his predecessor. After Bishop Iring had presented his claims personally, the Pope decided on him as Bishop of Würzburg. The reaction of the citizens to the dismissal of Bishop Heinrich was to join the Rhenish League of Cities, which took place during the negotiations at the Curia.

Further course

Bishop Iring also became a member of the covenant in the summer of 1256. Whether of one's own free will or because of the federal policy at the time to exclude everyone from peace who did not join the covenant is not known. The accession of Iring did not reduce the tension between him and the citizens.

With Iring's membership in the Rhenish region, the effect desired by the citizens of Würzburg to strengthen the city's position vis-à-vis the bishop was not achieved. A broader basis for the citizens' ability to act was also not achieved. Two papal privileges that the city obtained through the federal government should be mentioned: protection from episcopal interdicts and from summons before foreign courts. The federal government could not provide the citizens with any more advantages because of its early dissolution and because of Iring's support from neighboring territorial lords.

Membership in the Rhenish Association of Cities gave Würzburg only limited advantages, but in the long run it represents an important and valuable step in the struggle for civil autonomy.

literature

  • Engel, Evamaria: The German city of the Middle Ages . CH Beck, Munich 1993. ISBN 978-3-406-37187-5 .
  • Fries, Lorenz: Chronicle of the Bishops of Würzburg 742-1495 , Volume II., Würzburg 1994.
  • Henner, Theodor: Bishop Hermann I of Lobdeburg and the fortification of the sovereignty in the Wirzburg bishopric (1225–1254) . Wuerzburg 1875.
  • Insenmann, Eberhard: The German city in the Middle Ages 1150–1550. City shape, law, constitution, city government, church, society, economy . Böhlau, Vienna 2012. ISBN 3-412-20940-6 .
  • Schäfer, Dieter: History of Würzburg, from the beginnings to the present . Munich 2003.
  • Schäffer, August: Würzburg's struggle for independence until 1357, Würzburg 1887.
  • Schulz, Knut: municipality, council and Rheinischer Städtebund. The preliminary result of the process of communalization and urbanization around 1250 , in: Freitag, Werner (Hrsg.): Bünde, Cities, Municipalities. Balance sheet and perspectives of comparative state and city history . Böhlau, Cologne 2009. ISBN 978-3-412-20293-4 .
  • Töpfer, Bernhard (ed.): City and urban bourgeoisie in German history of the 13th century . Berlin 1976.
  • Trüdinger, Karl: City and Church in late medieval Würzburg Stuttgart 1978.
  • Wagner, Ulrich (ed.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume I. From the beginning to the outbreak of the Peasants' War . Stuttgart 2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schäffer, August: Würzburg's struggle for independence up to 1357, Würzburg 1887, p. 4ff.
  2. ↑ Fries, Lorenz: Chronicle of the Bishops of Würzburg 742-1495, Volume II., Würzburg 1994, p. 158.
  3. ^ Herde, Peter: Würzburg in the 12th century (approx. 1130-1250), in: Wagner, Ulrich (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume I. From the beginnings to the outbreak of the Peasants' War, Stuttgart 2001, p. 83 f.
  4. ↑ Schäffer, August: Würzburg's struggle for independence up to the year 1357, Würzburg 1887, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Schäffer, August: Würzburg's struggle for independence until 1357, Würzburg 1887, p. 8.
  6. ↑ Scherzer, Walter: Das Hochstift Würzburg, in: Kolb, Peter (Ed.): Unterfränkische Geschichte, Volume 2, From the high Middle Ages to the beginning of the denominational age, Würzburg 1992, pp. 25f.
  7. ^ Trüdinger, Karl: City and Church in the late medieval Würzburg, Stuttgart 1978, p. 24.