The decline of the King's Power

Already the last emperor of the Hohenhaufen dynasty, Frederick II., had ceded major powers to the German Dukes, so that they could become lords of their territories. A great part of the Empire's own territories, once the base of the kings' wealth and power, now belonged to the Dukes. From now on, the Royal power declined more and more, giving way to a period of political instability, and shortly afterwards a monarchy in which the true power was with the Dukes.

The time "between reigns" (1254-1273)

This period is known by its Latin name "interregnum", a period between one king and his successor. Nonetheless, there were kings, even several at the same time, but none of them managed to prevail throughout the country. During this period of insecurity, the Archbishop of Cologne had the castle on top of the Wolkenburg mountain fortified.

After the death of great Count Heinrich III. von Sayn, the castle on top of the Löwenburg mountain fell into the hands of another line of the Sayn family. In the second half of the XIII. century, the old tower was destroyed. At that time, the castle whose ruins we see today was built.

The time of the "Count Kings" (1273-1347)

Thus chaos ruled in the Empire until it was enough even for the Dukes: in 1273, they elected Rudolph of Habsburg (1273-1292). He became a very popular king because he fought to restore order and justice in the country. He also tried to regain former imperial territories (in German Reichsgut), and obtained the territories in Austria that a bit later formed the base of the power of the house of Habsburg.

Yet, from the Dukes' point of view, Rudolph hat become too powerful, and they refused his son Albrecht as successor. After the Rudolph's death, they looked for a lesser known candidate, and after promising incredible things to them, Adolph of Nassau (1292-1298) got to the throne. A few years later, though, he had made enemies among the dukes, they dismissed him - without any legal base - and elected Albrecht I. of Habsburg instead (1298-1308). In this election, for the first time the fixed college of seven electors, in German Kurfürsten, was mentioned. A war broke out between Adolph and Albrecht, ending with the Adolph's death in battle in 1298. But ten years later, also Albrecht was murdered (1308).

Whereas in the Empire the true power was with the Dukes, powerful monarchs without scruples ruled abroad. Edward I. "Longshanks" of England, who fought the "Bravehearts" of Scotland, and Philip IV. "the Fair " of France, who destroyed the Order to the Temple and even gave orders to assassinate the Pope. Soon, under the influence of the French King, the Popes left Rome and took their seat in Avignon (1309-1379).

After the death of Albrecht I., the Kurfürsten elected the Count of Luxembourg, Henry VII. (1308-1313). As first king since Frederick II. of Hohenstaufen, he traveled to Italy to be crowned Emperor - by a cardinal, because the Pope already was in Avignon. Henry followed the same idea of a universal empire as the Hohenstaufen, but so many years later, with nation states getting stronger around, it seemed overcome, and most of all he made enemies. Although he did not want it, he got involved in wars in Italy, and died shortly afterwards of malaria.

In the next election, a part of the Kurfürsten elected Louis IV. of Bavaria (1313-1346), others Frederick "the Fair" of Habsburg. Also the Archbishop of Cologne voted for Frederick, and he crowned him in the cathedral of Bonn (right). Another war broke out, and it even split the family of the Lords of the Löwenburg. Louis won and reconciled with Frederick, but the Pope refused to recognize him as King and to crown him Emperor. A fight between the Pope and the King began. Luis traveled to Rome and obtained the Emperor's crown from the hand of a representative of the city of Rome, something outrageous at that time. In 1338, the Kurfürsten met in the city of Rhens and declared that to be King, one needed no other legitimization than their votes.

Nonetheless, the ongoing fight against the Pope overshadowed Louis' reign, and it strengthened his enemies. One of them was Charles of Luxembourg, later King Charles IV. He started a very dirty propaganda campaign against Louis, and finally, with a lot of money and the Pope's support, he convinced the Kurfürsten to elected him as anti-king. The same year, Louis died, and Charles IV. got on the throne.

The dynasty of Luxembourg

The Hundred Years' War raged between England and France. In the East, the Ottoman Turks advanced more and more.

It is said that Charles IV. (1346-1378) was the outstanding King of the Late Middle Ages. His name is associated with his capital Prague, the Golden City; his high education and his diplomatic skills are praised. Yet, a lot of doubts about his character remain.

Under Charles IV., the house of Luxembourg raised to be the most powerful in the Empire because he increased the lands of his own family (in German Hausmacht). In 1356, the King legislated the so-called Golden Bull, in which he stipulated that the seven Kurfürsten elected the King, and guaranteed them the sovereignty and integrity of their territories. Because of its importance until the Modern Age, the Golden Bull is often called the "fundamental law of the Empire". From then on, the duality between Emperor and Empire, that had begun already in the High Middle Ages, was a matter of fact.

In the XIV. century, the Black Plague stroke large parts of Europe, a third of the population died. There was no remedy, people were lost and thought that God had abandoned them. They had no more trust in the clergymen, because many of them led a life of luxury, even excesses, and they did not know what to answer the people in pain. In those apocalyptic times, the "flagellants" appeared, people who walked through the streets flagellating themselves, asking God for forgiveness and salvation from the black plague. With time, the authorities felt threatened by the flagellants and persecuted them.

Again they the Jews were accused, persecuted and many people were killed. In the Middle Ages, the Jews were forbidden to do any business except lending money. Many people owed an enormous amount of money to them, debts that became null and void with the death of the Jewish lenders. A contemporary commented that "if the Jews had been poor, people would not have killed them". Charles IV. knew what happened, but he did not protect them, although he was obliged to do so because the Jews paid an enormous amount to the emperor for their safety.

The year that Charles IV died, the Western Schism occurred (1378-1417): there were two, later even three Popes, all with their obediences and political alliances, who fought one another.

The elder son of Charles IV., Wenceslaus (1378-1400), was incompetent and tyrannical. The Kurfürsten deposed him and put the Palatine elector Ruprecht I. (1400-1410) on the throne. He was a constraint king, but he had neither money nor luck and died shortly afterwards.

His successor was Sigismund of Luxembourg (1410-1435), who had already fought against the Turks. Sigismund managed to summon the Council of Constance to solve the Western Schism. But they did not manage to reform the Church, and moreover, they accused the reformer priest Jan Hus of Prague of heresy, found him guilty and burned him on the stake. That caused a rebellion in Bohemia, and for some twenty years, the Hussite wars devastated the country.

The dynasty of Habsburg

After the Sigismund's death, his son-in-law, Albrecht II. of Habsburg (1438-1439) was elected. From that day on, the crown remained with the house of Habsburg. Albrecht II. himself died already two years later in combat against the Turks. The Ottoman Empire continued expanding, in the battle of Kosovo 1389 they had defeated the Serbs, in 1396, in the battle of Nicopolis, had overcome a Christian army under Sigismund.

Finally in 1453, the city of Constantinople fell to the Turks, and the Byzantine Empire disappeared, giving way to the consolidation of the great Ottoman Empire. Only Hungary remained between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. At that time, the name of Holy Roman Empire of German Nation became popular.

The long reign of Frederick III. (1440 -1493) was marked by little activity of the king and political stagnation. Nevertheless, he was quite a successful king, because he lived very long and could see his enemies die before him, obtaining by inheritance what he had wanted. So in the case of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who refused his approval to the marriage of his daughter Maria and Frederick's son Maximilian. In 1477, Charles died in the combat, Maximilian could marry Maria, and with her he gained Burgundy's rich territories including the Netherlands. In the interior, the Empire was shaken by fights between the nobles, for a long time already the Kings had not been able to maintain order and rule of law, giving way to free courts.

After his father's death, Maximilian ascended the throne (1493-1515). His reign is a time of transition between the Late Middle Ages and the Modern Age. As first king, he became Emperor in 1508 without be crowned by the Pope.

Under the house of Habsburgs, the Empire reached its greatest extension, very often by very favorable marriages, that is why it is said "Tu Felix Austria nube". At its peak, under the successors of Maximilian I., the Empire included most of present-day Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as the East of France, North of Italy and the West of Poland. Besides German and its dialects, Italian, French and Slavic languages were spoken.

The Seven Mountains in the Late Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Archbishops of Cologne were important political actors. Yet, after a terrible defeat in 1288, the Archbishops of Cologne lost their predominance in the region. Only the mountains Wolkenburg and Drachenfels with the castles on top as well as the villages Königswinter and Ittenbach remained in their possession.

The Drachenfels was involved into various conflicts, particularly in the Late Middle Ages. Also the Counts of Drachenfels lived through heights and depths.  The best known among them, Godart, was a very rich man, he had made a fortune with the trachyte from the Drachenfels. The Archbishop of Cologne was highly indebted to him, and in 1425 he had to pawn the Wolkenburg mountain with the castle on its top and the village of Königswinter to him.

In 1493, Claus Count of Drachenfels was killed by his cousin Heinrich. Still today, a stone cross stands at the scene of the crime, the Kuckstein (in front of the Nibelungenhalle).

The most powerful men in the region were the Counts, from 1380 onwards the Dukes of Berg. In 1363 they obtained Blankenberg, in 1472/1484 the Löwenburg and towards 1500 they controlled almost the whole region.

References