Editing Celle (section)

=== Middle Ages ===

Celle was first mentioned in a document of <small>A.D.</small> 985 as ''Kiellu''<ref>Adolf Bach: ''Deutsche Namenkunde.'' Band II, 1: ''Die deutschen Ortsnamen''. Heidelberg 1953, p. 36</ref> (which means ''Fischbucht''<ref>Heinrich Wesche: ''Unsere niedersächsischen Ortsnamen.'' o. O. 1957, S. 38</ref> or fishing bay). It was granted the right to mint and circulate its own coins under the [[minting rights]] during the 11th century and several coins were found in the [[Sandur hoard]] in the [[Faroes]]. In 1292 Duke [[Otto II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Otto II the Strict]] (1277–1330), a [[House of Welf|Welf]] who ruled the [[Principality of Lüneburg]] from 1277 to 1330, left [[Altencelle]], where there had been defences in the form of a [[circular rampart]] (the ''[[Circular rampart of Burg|Ringwall von Burg]]'') since the 10th century, and founded a rectangular settlement by the existing castle (''Burg'') {{convert|4|km|mi}} to the northwest. In 1301 he granted Celle its [[town privileges]]<ref>Heinrich Gottfried Gengler: ''Regesten und Urkunden zur Verfassungs- und Rechtsgeschichte der deutschen Städte im Mittelalter'', Erlangen 1863, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NdkcAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA479 S. 479–482]; see also [https://books.google.com/books?id=NdkcAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA982 S. 982–983].</ref> and in 1308 started construction on the town church.

In 1378 Celle became the ''[[Residenz]]'' of the dukes of [[Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg|Saxe-Wittenberg]] and in 1433 the [[princes of Lüneburg]] took up residence in the castle (''Schloss''). The ducal palace was situated on a triangle between the Aller and its tributary, the Fuhse. A moat connecting the rivers was built in 1433, turning the town centre into an island. In 1452 Duke [[Frederick the Pious]] of Lüneburg founded a [[Franciscan]] monastery. In 1464 the [[grain trade|grain shipping]] monopoly generated an economic upturn for the town.