Editing Cologne (section)

===Middle Ages===
Early medieval Cologne was part of [[Austrasia]] within the [[Frankish Empire]]. Cunibert, made bishop of Cologne in 623, was an important advisor to the Merovingian King Dagobert I and served with domesticus Pepin of Landen as tutor to the king's son and heir Siegebert III, the future king of Austrasia. In 716, [[Charles Martel]] commanded an army for the first time and suffered the only defeat of his life when [[Chilperic II]], King of [[Neustria]], invaded Austrasia and the city fell to him in the [[Battle of Cologne]]. Charles fled to the [[Eifel]] mountains, rallied supporters and took the city back that same year after defeating Chilperic in the [[Battle of Amblève]]. Cologne had been the seat of a bishop since the Roman period; under [[Charlemagne]], in 795, bishop [[Hildebold of Cologne|Hildebold]] was promoted to [[archbishop]].<ref name="Cologne History"/> In the 843 [[Treaty of Verdun]] Cologne fell into the dominion of [[Lothair I]]'s [[Middle Francia]] – later called [[Lotharingia]] ([[Lower Lorraine]]).

In 953, the archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power when bishop [[Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne|Bruno]] was appointed as duke by his brother [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]], [[Kingdom of Germany|King of Germany]].<ref name="Morley-1856">{{Cite book |last=Morley |first=Henry |url=http://archive.org/details/corneliusagripp03morlgoog |title=Cornelius Agrippa: The Life of Henry Cornelius Agrippa Von Nettesheim |date=1856 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |others=New York Public Library |pages=4–6 |language=English |chapter=Born in Cologne}}</ref> In order to weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his archiepiscopal successors with the prerogatives of secular princes, thus establishing the [[Electorate of Cologne]], formed by the temporal possessions of the archbishopric and included in the end a strip of territory along the left Bank of the Rhine east of [[Jülich]], as well as the [[Duchy of Westphalia]] on the other side of the Rhine, beyond [[Berg (state)|Berg]] and [[County of Mark|Mark]]. By the end of the 12th century, the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor. Besides being prince elector, he was [[Archchancellor]] of Italy as well, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803.

Following the [[Battle of Worringen]] in 1288, Cologne gained its independence from the archbishops and became a [[Free Imperial City|Free City]]. Archbishop [[Sigfried II von Westerburg]] was forced to reside in [[Bonn]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">Harry de Quetteville. "[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04116a.htm History of Cologne] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805024052/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04116a.htm |date=5 August 2011 }}". ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', 28 November 2009.</ref> The archbishop nevertheless preserved the right of capital punishment. Thus the municipal council (though in strict political opposition towards the archbishop) depended upon him in all matters concerning criminal justice. This included torture, the sentence for which was only allowed to be handed down by the episcopal judge known as the greve. This legal situation lasted until the French conquest of Cologne.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}

Besides its economic and political significance Cologne also became an important centre of medieval pilgrimage, when Cologne's archbishop, [[Rainald of Dassel]], gave the relics of the [[Three Wise Men]] to Cologne's cathedral in 1164 (after they had been taken from [[Milan]]). Besides the three magi Cologne preserves the relics of [[Saint Ursula]] and [[Albertus Magnus]].<ref>Joseph P. Huffman, ''Family, Commerce, and Religion in London and Cologne'' (1998) covers from 1000 to 1300.</ref>

Cologne's location on the river Rhine placed it at the intersection of the major [[trade route]]s between east and west as well as the main south–north Western Europe trade route, Venice to Netherlands; even by the mid-10th century, merchants in the town were already known for their prosperity and luxurious standard of living due to the availability of trade opportunities.<ref name="Morley-1856" /> The intersection of these trade routes was the basis of Cologne's growth. By the end of the 12th century, Archbishop [[Phillip von Heinsberg]] enclosed the entire city with [[Defensive wall|walls]].<ref name="Morley-1856" /> By 1300 the city population was 50,000–55,000.<ref>''The Population of European Cities'', Bairoch</ref> Cologne was a member of the [[Hanseatic League]] in 1475, when [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick III]] confirmed the city's imperial immediacy.<ref name="Cologne History"/> Cologne was so influential in regional commerce that its systems of weights and measurements (e.g. the [[Cologne mark]]) were used throughout Europe.<ref name="Morley-1856" />

[[File:Cologn1411.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|Cologne {{Circa|1411|lk=no}}]]