An important City?
((Late August 1468))
Lüneburg in 1468
Charles Frederick sat on the bag of his horse. The way from Cologne/Köln to Lüneburg was long and so Charles tried to get it as fast as he could.
The horizon colored red, pink and golden, the sun was rising up. The clouds looked great in the morning light, the first birds began to sing their song. He rode alone. Or at least what alone meant for a rich merchant: Two guards, a servant and guide were riding beside him.
The group traveled through a small forest, dark trees, some deers and birds, taking close looks towards the newcomers. Then the light fell in the forest, then the trees disappeared. The look Charles had was great:
The gates of the city were still closed, big crowds of people awaiting entrance. The newly built Castle of Lüneburg, with its Renaissance Palace, on the Kalkberg, looked over the St John, St Michael and St Nicholas Church. The “Old harbor” at the Ilmenau, with its old but beautiful brick buildings. At the southwest corner of the wall were craftsmen working on a new tower. The new wealth which came with the inheritance of Lübeck changed the city's surface.
The small group rode to the Kalkberg. At the feet of the hill a smaller tower with a
stable next to it. Charles and his escort left their horses, and made their way to the gate. Two Landsknechte stood at the gate, the coat of arms of Lüneburg at their doublet, the pike in their right hand. The gate tower was stout and two arquebusiers were leaning at the battlements.
Charles was impressed by the architecture of the building, he never had seen such a building, neither in England nor in Cologne nor in Trier.
He began to speak to the Landsknecht at the right side of the gate: “My name is Charles Frederick Dorsey, merchant for our all duke, and I’m here to meet him to an audience. Could you show me the way in?” Charles tried to stay kind.
The Landsknecht gave Dorsey a grim look. He was a guard, not a guide. “The ducal palace is further down the path beyond this gate. It is difficult to miss. I cannot leave my post here though to guide you through the city.” The second guard nodded in agreement. Leaving the gate undefended would have severe consequences for them.
“I fully understand your concerns. And I think I don’t need you as a guide. The description you gave me was enough. Thank you!” Charles and his escort made their way through the gate.
“Farewell.” The guard saluted the stranger and let him pass.
Charles was the first inside the castle. At the left and right side of the main way the armory, the barracks for the garrison, a kitchen and several rooms for servants were placed. He searched for a while, then he saw the white building, with its red roof and the small towers at all four corners. He made quicker steps towards the palace. Some steps, the stairs up- and a pike blocked his way. Or… two pikes crossed blocked his way. Two guards stood in the shadow of the gate. They asked who he was and what his business was and eventually brought him to the throne room where Heinrich I received him after an hour of waiting.
The throne room was quite impressive. Four big stone pillars hold the roof, the walls were covered with many paintings. Some gobelins hang behind the wooden throne. Charles bowed his knee and head. The manners of the court were teached him since he was four years old: “My duke, I thank you for your grace to welcome me to an private audience.”
And Charles didn’t just said that, he meant what he had said.
“Welcome to Lüneburg”, said Heinrich. He was surprised that Charles didn’t bow as was customary but he ignored that. “Your letters were very vague, Mr. Dorsey. What is this urgent business?”
Charles wanted to say:” is this room the right to talk”, but he knew how men with power thought.
“ I lived in Cologne now for almost ten months, and please be aware that I’m still not the man who knows Cologne the best, but I know it pretty well, and so I saw what happened after the feud between Münster and Cologne. One prince-bishop against another, and Münster won. In these difficult times Cologne is surrounded by enemies: Cleve in the North, Aachen in the West, Münster in the East and Trier in the South. I had several discussions with magistrats of the city, as well as a private audience with the prince-bishop and what i heard can just be good for us. The city is weak, as well as the prince-bishop. The troops are beaten, their only ally left is Frankfurt.”, Charles took breath and prepared for questions from the duke. He was sure there were some.
“I wasn’t aware that Cologne is now in such a precarious situation. Thank you for your information. Did the war between Cologne and Münster affect the trade in the Rhineland much?” Heinrich was concerned mostly about the trade situation in Cologne, not so much about the feud between the prince-bishoprics themselves. Feuds were common throughout the Holy Roman Empire.
Charles nodded: “I thank you for your question! The situation has changed considerably: Many merchants especially from southern Germany or the Low lands changed their trade seat from Cologne to Aachen! And while Aachen is growing, Cologne is in decline. But they still have strategic advantages over Aachen.”, Charles waited another seconds to let the Duke ask questions.
“I see.” Heinrich was concerned. “It seems that we must consider Aachen’s growing importance then when it comes out our trade endeavours in the Rhineland. I suggest you inform the newly appointed Lord High Steward, Johann Bärnstein, about these changes so that he can take appropriate actions.”
“I think this matter is too important for an minister to decide, it must be you, our Duke, yourself to decide. We both know that Cologne has both sides of the Rhine under control. The current Prince-bishop didn’t take advantage out of it. But a prince-bishop, working together with the merchants of the city, could make his city great and big again. But for this they need support. And this support can be given by us! When they join the trade league, we can protect them from Munster or Cleve, Aachen shouldn’t be a problem. And so we could have a strong ally in the Rhineland which gives us more value of this hotspot of trade!”
“I suggest we move this meeting to one of the chambers. I don’t want to make a hasty decision.” Heinrich stood up from his throne and walked with Charles Dorsey to a chamber to the left of the throne room where they had access to maps, other documents and refreshments.
Köln in 1531
“Now, you are suggesting that we invite Cologne to our trade league but wouldn’t it be more logical to move our operations from Cologne to the Free Imperial City of Aachen and support them instead of siding with a prince-bishopric that is in decline?” The Duke had to ask this question because he wanted to look at the topic from all angles. Heinrich took a sip of wine from the cup in front of him. A servant had given one also to Dorsey.
“My duke, if we take a closer look on this map”, Charles looks on a map of the Rhineland, and thanks the servant: ”We see that Cologne lies at the most important route for trade in Germany: The Rhine! Almost every trader has to use this river for his trading. And if we search for Aachen we see it lies at the almost unknown River Wurm. Aachen has just a small river to move one with ships, while Cologne has, the biggest river of the Holy Roman Empire. The men who reign over Cologne can destroy the economy of enemies by closing the Rhine for their ships. Cologne is also well-protected by the river in its back, and great fortifications to the lands.” Charles took also a sip of wine. It tasted great.
Heinrich was deep in his thoughts after he had listened to Charles Dorsey. “Wouldn’t it be a gamble though to support Cologne? If they are so weak as you said earlier then what makes you so sure that none of its rivals would invade and conquer it? Aachen seems to be protected by Emperor Ludwig II and so any operations set up there would thereby not be destroyed in the event of war for Cologne. Of course, I understand that the Rhine is much more significant than the River Wurm. Nevertheless, we should consider Aachen as an option.”
“But who lies in the west of Aachen? Castille! For the moment it is the better place to live in, but what about in twenty or forty years? A weak emperor could reign over the Holy Roman Empire, a Emperor who couldn’t withstand an Castilian ambush. Also as I already said Cologne can survive for long. The river gives the city a supply route, the walls can withstand two years or longer. Not a single state has some warships for the rhine. Nobody could blockade the river. And as soon as we show our support to Cologne, many merchants will rethink their decisions. They will see that a strong state, our state protects Cologne. They’ll see where it is better to trade. And in the meantime we can strengthen our position in the Rhineland.”
Heinrich was quite amused that Dorsey considered Ludwig II to be a strong emperor. “I see you have thought this through. I have one more question though.” Heinrich drank some wine before continuing. “What would we gain by supporting Cologne? If they are attacked we have to protect them so Lüneburger soldiers might die. I hope we would profit from such an investment?”
“I already prepared a document. They would join our trade league, but not just that they would give us better trade rights. As already said, we could strengthen our position in the region.”
“Very well. Contact High Steward Bärnstein and inform him of this plan. I want to know his opinion. Should he have objections towards your proposal we must reconsider. Thank you for coming over.”
“My duke I thank you once more for your grace to meet me and that you heard me out.” Charles left with a bow of his head.
((Thanks @delpiero1234 that he took his free time to write this IC with me. The announced letter to Bärnstein will be posted tomorrow))
((EDIT: The year is 1468 not 1486
))
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