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Middle Ages

    It takes a precise recipe for a cathedral to be built; the ingredients are complicated and depend on certain factors. There are five elements to Cathedral building, economics, politics, religion, nationalism, and society. Each of these will be thoroughly explained throughout this paper.

    The economic situation of Cologne goes all the way back to its beginning during Roman times. Around 38 B.C. the Romans relocated a Germanic tribe called the Ubii to a location along the Rhine River. Here the people lived in harmony with the Romans, and by the year 50 AD it became a Roman colony. It was named Cologne, after a Roman Empress who was born there named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. In this same year, a wall was built around it with nine gates. In 90 AD the colony was made Roman Capital of lower Germania. Roman Emperor Constantine further improved its defenses in 310-315 AD by adding a fort on the other side of the river, with a bridge connecting the city and the fort (Cologne History 137). The Roman Colony was a trading center, with a diverse economy. It traded such goods as wine, metals, furs, and leather goods. The Franks took control of the city by the 4^th century AD, and its economic prosperity declined rapidly. The city wall, and the ecclesiastical (church) structure was all that was left of Roman culture (Strait 481). In 881 Viking raiders destroyed the city and the people were forced to rebuild. Out of this, the city began to look like a distinctively medieval city. Under the rule of Archbishop Bruno I, Cologne prospered greatly. In 950 AD the port at Cologne was fortified down to the river, and a new mercantile sector of the city began to flourish (Strait 481). The textile manufacturing, trade, and crafts began to form what are called Guilds. “A guild was an association of people who worked at the same occupation.” (Krieger 226). Merchant guilds were the first to appear. Guilds formed what are called guild halls, which met regularly to decide the rules of their trade. Only a member of a guild could practice a certain trade in town (Krieger 226).

    Trade in Cologne was very important. Cologne was the largest city, with 40,000 people by 1300 AD, and it was the richest city on the Rhine (Strait 481). Cologne had a vast network of trade. The city relied on the flow of trade to the north and northwest. Trade moves along its main route, the Rhine, to England. Cologne sold a lot of its goods at Antwerp. It dominated wine trading in the Rhine, and also silk trade (Scribner 218). Cologne made sure its political ties with its trading partners was very good, otherwise it would lose its trade, the bloodline of the city. The city had two main trade arteries, Eastern trade of the lower Rhine was to “Denmark, Sweden, Livonia, Prussia, Pomerania and Mecklenburg, followed the water route to Kampen, by sea to the Elbe river, to Stade and Hamburg and then overland to Lubeck.” (Scribner 219). The other trade route was the Northern trade from Cologne to Antwerp to England, with multiple markets in the Netherlands. If these trade routes were disrupted, Cologne would be forced to resort to a costly land route that would loose them valuable markets in the Netherlands. Cologne was haunted constantly by disturbances in its trade routs. War, trade competition with the Hanseatic League, and Political relations between England and Netherlands disrupted Colognes trade network on a regular basis (Scribner 219). The government of Cologne did everything in its power to create a stable trade network. The Cologne trade network included a few other cities under its control, in a sense. This was called the Westphalian League. Between the years 1000-1300 Cologne’s economic prosperity was great (Huffman 68).

During the later part of the 14^th century, Cologne experienced a period of economic decline due to multiple reasons. A coalition of cities in east Germany, lead by Lubeck created what is called the Hanseatic League. Cologne fought continually against the Hansa for trading rights in England, but eventually lost the battle. In 1258 Cologne gave up fighting with the Hansa, and joined the League in order to preserve its wealth. Cologne was not the economic powerhouse of the league, and was made second rate. The League survived until the 1600’s around the time of the 30 years war (Huffman 72).

Religion was also a key element in Cologne. Long since Roman times Cologne was a religious center of Germany. Some historians even went so far as to call it the “German Rome” or even “the faithful daughter of the Roman Church” (Scribner 217). Cologne was a city with multiple churches, and even a cathedral. A cathedral was a church with a Bishop that presided over it. Bishops were a part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the church. Bishops were the head of the church in a certain region or city/town. An archbishop was a bishop that presided over other bishops in his lands (Hollister 54).
In Cologne, when the Roman army left in 457 AD, the Franks took control of the town. The Franks converted to Christianity in 496 AD. During and after this time the bishop of Cologne (later appointed archbishop by the Frankish king Charlemagne) ruled the city of Cologne and the lands surrounding it, and even the small fief (piece of land) of Lorraine (Cologne History 139). The population of Cologne was devoutly Roman Catholic, and remained this way throughout its history. When the old Romanesque Cathedral was burned down in the early 1240’s the people decided to build a new cathedral. This new cathedral was to be Gothic style. The people, and the Archbishop set out to build such a splendid cathedral, it would rival all Germany, and even Its French predecessors (Nussbaum 57).
Cathedrals had two styles, Romanesque and Gothic. Romanesque was the first style, and had a heavy stone roof, and heavy stonewalls to support it. A fairly basic design compared to the Gothic style. The Gothic style was much more complex. It had more emphasis on glorifying God. Builders wanted to make the roofs reach up to the heavens, and to have more windows to shine the light of God into the church. To do this, many new design techniques aroused which included pointed vaults, flying buttresses, and pointed arches. These new cathedrals were built with but one purpose, to glorify God and the city it was built in (Krieger 231).
The people began construction on this new cathedral in 1248. The new cathedral drained money from Colognes large economy. In 1322 the choir was complete, and the cathedral was in use. At this time also, the construction project ran out of money to finance the rest of the building process. The people labored away on the cathedral for another 238 years before construction finally stopped. The cathedral was not completed when construction stopped, but simply came to a halt. The 238 years prior to this accomplished little. Some sculpting, and the two massive towers were all that was completed during this time (Nussbaum 58)
What should now be clear is the definite link between economics and religion. As the economy in Cologne picked up, the people built a splendid cathedral. Another key element is the national/city spirit that went into building the cathedral. People of a certain city felt a very deep sense of pride in their city, and they competed continuously with other cities. This sense of city spirit goes deep into the roots of society and Religion. The cathedral in Cologne had relics, which gave the city a sense of pride. Society during the middle ages had multiple levels of class. There was the church clergy, and the layman (not of the church) nobility; these two formed the land owning aristocracy. At the bottom were the peasants and surfs. Peasants and serfs were people that worked on the land of the aristocracy. Serfs were slaves and owed lifetime service, but peasants were free to come and go as they please. The middle class was called the burghers. The burghers were the town dwellers of the time. A burgh was a walled city, and the people inside became known as burghers (Krieger 224).

The middle class developed as food production increased, and trade revived due to lasting peace. Urbanization is the process of rural populations moving into smaller developed areas called cities. The people in cities during the middle ages had a deep sense of pride because they were exempt from serfdom. Cities like Cologne began to govern themselves slowly over time, and because of their vast wealth (remember the guilds) they became powerful enough to have their freedom (Krieger 226). Cities like Cologne, however, had a tough time achieving this freedom. There is a long history of conflicts between the three classes of the societal system. This is better known as politics.

As said before, the Archbishop of Cologne ruled the city for an extended period of time after the Roman army left. Problems began to arise between the population, and the ecclesiastical power. The first reported disturbance was in 1074 when Archbishop Anno II tried to requisition a merchants ship. Many townspeople were outraged by the oppressive leaders actions, and started a revolt. The revolt was quickly quelled (Strait 481). In the years to come, the city would gain more power in governing itself. Its first step towards this came in 1106 when the town was under siege by Charles V. The city defended itself, and from this point on was in charge of its own defense and collected taxes to support it (Strait 481). Another disturbance in 1180 allowed the city more control of itself. While the Archbishop was away on imperial duties, the people began construction on a new wall without the bishop’s permission. This added to the cities ability to defend itself, giving it more power. Also during this time, the royal courts, called the scabini, were being replaced by townspeople. Soon the town was in control over civil disputes. Guilds also began to form, and they soon controlled all the trade. By 1200, wealthy burgher families began to take control of the town themselves. These families were known as Geschlechter. In 1288 the Archbishop was defeated in battle, and the citizens of Cologne were finally free of his rule. The Archbishop soon resided in the city of Bonn (Strait 481).

Cologne, however, was never fully free from the Archbishop. The threat of his return always haunted Cologne. The citizens did have another crisis. The Geschlechter had taken power, and was not much different from the Archbishop. The Geschlechter ruled for a long period of time, until around 1370 when factional differences weakened the families and allowed for the guilds to rebel. The Geschlechter did not lose power after this, but simply shared power with the guilds. Not until 1396 was the Geschlechter completely overthrown. At this time, a constitution was made, and it resembled a democratic government. Under their own rule, the city’s nationalism was high (Strait 482). By 1475 the Holy Roman Emperor himself declared Cologne a free imperial city (Cologne History 139).

Cologne was the wealthiest, and largest city during the Middle Ages. The five elements have been explained in detail as to what happened. The importance is in how they relate to the building of the cathedral itself. The economy had to be excellent just to finance it, religion had to be devoutly practiced for the desire to build such a building in gods name, and the other three depend on the two majors. Politics, Society, and Nationalism all work together. The one thing that these elements can be traced to is the middle class. The middle class is the part of society that built the cathedral, were the ones who fought the aristocracy for their freedom, and as a result of these they had a patriotic feeling towards their independence.

It is the idea of freedom that drives the people to excel. The free market economy allowed for the wealth of such a project. The great economy too can be attributed to the middle class. There is one discrepancy, however, and that is the relationship between politics, religion, and the middle class. The burghers in Cologne fought the Archbishop for their freedom and independence. The archbishop is a symbol of the church. Why did the people build a cathedral if they were so opposed to the church? On top of this, during the time that the guilds had power in Cologne, the economy declined, leaving the church unfinished.

Christianity was a religion that appealed to the poor people. Jesus was liked by the common people for a few reasons. He was a carpenter, he surrounded himself with social outcasts, and he was crucified by imperial authorities (Hollister 15). This idea was felt amongst the people throughout the rest of Christian history. During the Middle Ages, and towards the end of the Roman Empire, the church became more powerful. Its bishops controlled lands, and the church became very wealthy. Over time people began to feel indifferent towards the church, but still remain devoutly religious. The people in Cologne opposed the archbishop, not the church. The archbishop had become nobility instead of a spiritual leader.

What about the fact that the economy in Cologne declined after the burghers took control? The fact of the matter is that there is little correlation between their economic decline and independence. The archbishop just so happened to rule under circumstances that allowed the city to create a vast trade network. Like stated before, outside conflicts caused the city to decline, and therefore the middle class within the city suffered. The free market economy is what allows for mercantile expansion to begin with. More independence was given to Cologne, and it just so happened that its economy struggled due to outside influences.