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Chapter 110: Kleinstäterrei - A Reality in the Germanies
Germany as a regions remains starkly divided. Apart from Saxony and Bavaria, the other parts of the realm have also split into essentially three parts, Swabia, Franconia and Lotharingia.
View attachment 533648
A map of the Germanies in the late 13th century. Knote that most polities in Franconia were too small to appear on the map. Nevertheless , in still can be seen that the dominant powers in the area remain Saxony and Bavaria, to a lesser extent Swabia as well
Saxony has already established itself as an independent realm in the past century and has been recognized as a kingdom in its own right by the Roman Pope. Saxony controls much of the German lowlands and has wrestled control over Mecklenburg from Denmark. Saxony in the thirteenth century remains a largely stable kingdom consisting of seven duchies: Westphalia, Angria, Ostphalia, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and Holstein. In addition, there are two royal cities which are outside of any ducal control: Bremen and Hamburg. The two cities are highly engaged in the Baltic trade and have been the major proponents of the war against Denmark.
View attachment 533653
Frankfurt am Main was one of the more important cities of medieval Germany
Germany itself, being under the guise of the Holy Empire has continued to fracture and weaken; until Swabia under the House of Welf. The fragmenting of Germany did not end there however. Franconia and the greater Main-Rhine Valley have failed to find a universally acceptable heir, in the contrary, the area fell into what has become to be known as the Kleinstäterei, a status of fragmentation, when each of the landlords is actually independent and rules over his domain almost without any restrictions. Among the prominent entities emerging in this region are the Prince-Archbishopric of Cologne, the Prince-Archbishopric of Trier, the Prince-Archbishopric of Mainz, the Principality of Berg, the Duchy of Hesse, the County Palatinate (whose ruler was the de iure regent, thus King of Germany, with no authority other than the one on paper), the Free City of Frankfurt and the Prince-Bishopric of Wurzburg, controlling most of the lands that are known as Upper Franconia (1).
View attachment 533652
A reenactment of medieval life
This area described, roughly corresponding to the old Frankish Austrasia, has becoming one of the areas of Europe with a high level of population density, especially in the Rhine gorge. While many people are living under the rule of petty counts and dukes, and others are living under the rule of prince-bishops, many others are organized freely, in the so-called Free Imperial Cities, such as Speyer, Worms or Frankfurt. In fact, Frankfurt on the main river was among the most prominent of them. The presence of such a large number of polities on such a small area has had the competitive effect of bolstering innovation.
The Swabian lands (2) in the upper Rhine and uppermost Danube districts have been originally settled by the Germanic Alemanni tribe; later on they have adopted the name Swabians. As such they had become a stem duchy of the Carolingian Empire.
Swabia is a duchy under the rule of House Welf; among their vassals are the counts of Baden, a few free cities in Alsatia, the free city of Augsburg, the House of Habsburg, the counts of Hohenzollern and of Wurttemberg; furthermore the prince-bishops of Constance, Baden and Chur, and finally in the Alpine Valleys, around the Vierwaldstättersee, a number of rural communes, calling themselves the Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, or the Swiss Confederacy. The valleys, also sometimes known as Waldstätte " forest states" have become an important factor, due to the opening of the saint Gotthard Pass, resutling in a new route connecting Swabia with Italy.
Bavaria, the country of sausages and beer, can be found further eastwards. The Bavarian monarchs continue to control the northern slopes of the eastern Alps (3), and have become crowned as kings. Among the vassals of the Bavarian kings are the prince-bishoprics of Salsburg, Passau and Trent, and the free city of Augsburg.
View attachment 533647
An example of medieval German architecture
Beyond the Bohemian Forest, there is the Duchy of Bohemia, a Slavic country with its capital at Praha. Bohemians have taken over Moravia through a marital union, and the area is unified by the Przemyslid dynasty. With this union, the Czech kings have been elevated to the rank of kings, and have managed to get a separate archbishopric , detatched from that of Mayence. The Archbishopric of Prague was to cover also the Moravian lands, to include also Lower Austria.
View attachment 533650
A map of the canonical provinces of the Catholic Church in the thirteenth century. Lands have been detatchd to form the rchbishopric of Prague; furthermore lands were detatched from Cologne and Mayence and transferred to Bremen and Magdeburg
The duality of the Kingdom, composed of Bohemia and Moravia is still evident, and the younger sons of the king hold the Duchy of Moravia as an appanage, with its capital at Olomúc; Moravia maintains a somewhat distinct linguistic identity, compared to Bohemia. The thirteenth century sees also a significant change in the cultural landscape of Bohemia. German settlers, already dominant in Lower Austria and Egerland, continue to settle even further along the western and southern reaches of the kingdom.
On the southern side of the Alps, we have Carinthia, a South Slavic realm. Carinthia has come under significant cultural influences from Italy (4),
As for the Low Countries, these have become largely independent as well: the so-called Frisian Freedom was the official name of the republic in that area and has been a reference to the absence of feudalism over there. However, feudal structures were at least superficially existent in Holland, Brabant, Hainanut, Gueldern, and Luxemburg. Lutych and Utrecht were prince-bishoprics. As for Flanders, the area has effectively become a republic and has enjoyed prosperity, as it was an early industrial area, where wool from England was being processed and the textile manufactories have made the area relatively prosperous; the towns themselves were ruled in the form of aristocratic republics, and the office of the Lord of Flanders was rotating between the cities, out which the most prominent were Anwerpen, Brugges and Ghent. Apart from the prospoerity, given its strategic position, it was however a highly contested battlefield,as the Neustrian kings south to establish their rule over the region
View attachment 533651
Above is the map of the government forms in the Germanies.
It is important to note here, that in what is generally understood as the Low Countries, there exist four linguistic zones during the High Medieval Period. Firstly, the northern coast, very much corresponding to the extent of the Frisian Freedom and including the northernmost tip of Holland, speaks Frisian, a variety of West Germanic actually closer to English than the other Continental Germanic speeches. Secondly, there is Overijsel, which has been briefly part of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, but later on conquered by Saxony; the area itself speaks Low Saxon. Thirdly, we have the area on the Lower Rhine, encompassing Holland, Utrecht, Brabant, Zeeland, Lutych, Flanders, but also the adjacent region of Cologne, Aachen and Berg. These areas form a linguistic whole, a triangle with the corners at Dunkirk, the northern tip of Holland and Cologne (5). The Wallonian speakers are almost fully contained in Hainaut and western Luxexburg (6); eastern Luxmeburg speaks a Germanic variety.
View attachment 533655
The continental West Germanic area in the High Middle Ages. We can see slight hints of the Drang nach Osten, as well as populating the Alpine Valleys in the Vorarlberg and western Tirol regions
View attachment 533648
A map of the Germanies in the late 13th century. Knote that most polities in Franconia were too small to appear on the map. Nevertheless , in still can be seen that the dominant powers in the area remain Saxony and Bavaria, to a lesser extent Swabia as well
Saxony has already established itself as an independent realm in the past century and has been recognized as a kingdom in its own right by the Roman Pope. Saxony controls much of the German lowlands and has wrestled control over Mecklenburg from Denmark. Saxony in the thirteenth century remains a largely stable kingdom consisting of seven duchies: Westphalia, Angria, Ostphalia, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and Holstein. In addition, there are two royal cities which are outside of any ducal control: Bremen and Hamburg. The two cities are highly engaged in the Baltic trade and have been the major proponents of the war against Denmark.
View attachment 533653
Frankfurt am Main was one of the more important cities of medieval Germany
Germany itself, being under the guise of the Holy Empire has continued to fracture and weaken; until Swabia under the House of Welf. The fragmenting of Germany did not end there however. Franconia and the greater Main-Rhine Valley have failed to find a universally acceptable heir, in the contrary, the area fell into what has become to be known as the Kleinstäterei, a status of fragmentation, when each of the landlords is actually independent and rules over his domain almost without any restrictions. Among the prominent entities emerging in this region are the Prince-Archbishopric of Cologne, the Prince-Archbishopric of Trier, the Prince-Archbishopric of Mainz, the Principality of Berg, the Duchy of Hesse, the County Palatinate (whose ruler was the de iure regent, thus King of Germany, with no authority other than the one on paper), the Free City of Frankfurt and the Prince-Bishopric of Wurzburg, controlling most of the lands that are known as Upper Franconia (1).
View attachment 533652
A reenactment of medieval life
This area described, roughly corresponding to the old Frankish Austrasia, has becoming one of the areas of Europe with a high level of population density, especially in the Rhine gorge. While many people are living under the rule of petty counts and dukes, and others are living under the rule of prince-bishops, many others are organized freely, in the so-called Free Imperial Cities, such as Speyer, Worms or Frankfurt. In fact, Frankfurt on the main river was among the most prominent of them. The presence of such a large number of polities on such a small area has had the competitive effect of bolstering innovation.
The Swabian lands (2) in the upper Rhine and uppermost Danube districts have been originally settled by the Germanic Alemanni tribe; later on they have adopted the name Swabians. As such they had become a stem duchy of the Carolingian Empire.
Swabia is a duchy under the rule of House Welf; among their vassals are the counts of Baden, a few free cities in Alsatia, the free city of Augsburg, the House of Habsburg, the counts of Hohenzollern and of Wurttemberg; furthermore the prince-bishops of Constance, Baden and Chur, and finally in the Alpine Valleys, around the Vierwaldstättersee, a number of rural communes, calling themselves the Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, or the Swiss Confederacy. The valleys, also sometimes known as Waldstätte " forest states" have become an important factor, due to the opening of the saint Gotthard Pass, resutling in a new route connecting Swabia with Italy.
Bavaria, the country of sausages and beer, can be found further eastwards. The Bavarian monarchs continue to control the northern slopes of the eastern Alps (3), and have become crowned as kings. Among the vassals of the Bavarian kings are the prince-bishoprics of Salsburg, Passau and Trent, and the free city of Augsburg.
View attachment 533647
An example of medieval German architecture
Beyond the Bohemian Forest, there is the Duchy of Bohemia, a Slavic country with its capital at Praha. Bohemians have taken over Moravia through a marital union, and the area is unified by the Przemyslid dynasty. With this union, the Czech kings have been elevated to the rank of kings, and have managed to get a separate archbishopric , detatched from that of Mayence. The Archbishopric of Prague was to cover also the Moravian lands, to include also Lower Austria.
View attachment 533650
A map of the canonical provinces of the Catholic Church in the thirteenth century. Lands have been detatchd to form the rchbishopric of Prague; furthermore lands were detatched from Cologne and Mayence and transferred to Bremen and Magdeburg
The duality of the Kingdom, composed of Bohemia and Moravia is still evident, and the younger sons of the king hold the Duchy of Moravia as an appanage, with its capital at Olomúc; Moravia maintains a somewhat distinct linguistic identity, compared to Bohemia. The thirteenth century sees also a significant change in the cultural landscape of Bohemia. German settlers, already dominant in Lower Austria and Egerland, continue to settle even further along the western and southern reaches of the kingdom.
On the southern side of the Alps, we have Carinthia, a South Slavic realm. Carinthia has come under significant cultural influences from Italy (4),
As for the Low Countries, these have become largely independent as well: the so-called Frisian Freedom was the official name of the republic in that area and has been a reference to the absence of feudalism over there. However, feudal structures were at least superficially existent in Holland, Brabant, Hainanut, Gueldern, and Luxemburg. Lutych and Utrecht were prince-bishoprics. As for Flanders, the area has effectively become a republic and has enjoyed prosperity, as it was an early industrial area, where wool from England was being processed and the textile manufactories have made the area relatively prosperous; the towns themselves were ruled in the form of aristocratic republics, and the office of the Lord of Flanders was rotating between the cities, out which the most prominent were Anwerpen, Brugges and Ghent. Apart from the prospoerity, given its strategic position, it was however a highly contested battlefield,as the Neustrian kings south to establish their rule over the region
View attachment 533651
Above is the map of the government forms in the Germanies.
It is important to note here, that in what is generally understood as the Low Countries, there exist four linguistic zones during the High Medieval Period. Firstly, the northern coast, very much corresponding to the extent of the Frisian Freedom and including the northernmost tip of Holland, speaks Frisian, a variety of West Germanic actually closer to English than the other Continental Germanic speeches. Secondly, there is Overijsel, which has been briefly part of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, but later on conquered by Saxony; the area itself speaks Low Saxon. Thirdly, we have the area on the Lower Rhine, encompassing Holland, Utrecht, Brabant, Zeeland, Lutych, Flanders, but also the adjacent region of Cologne, Aachen and Berg. These areas form a linguistic whole, a triangle with the corners at Dunkirk, the northern tip of Holland and Cologne (5). The Wallonian speakers are almost fully contained in Hainaut and western Luxexburg (6); eastern Luxmeburg speaks a Germanic variety.
View attachment 533655
The continental West Germanic area in the High Middle Ages. We can see slight hints of the Drang nach Osten, as well as populating the Alpine Valleys in the Vorarlberg and western Tirol regions
- Or Bavarian Franconia to most of us.
- Roughly Baden-Wurttemberg, Alsace and Bavarian Swabia
- Including Salsburg and Austria.
- Given the country´s position on the southern slopes of the Alps, and its inclusion in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Aquilea, I believe this makes more sense, than continued Bavarian dominance. Linguistic influence is going to be in not only Furlan and Venetian, but also some Latin as well. Continued influence from Romance languages will thus make *Slovene* much similar to Croat than Czech.
- The northern parts of the Rhineland speak a dialect of Meuse-Rhenish, which can be counted as very similar to the varieties of the Netherlands and northeast Belgium. It is thus likely that the people of Berge and Aachen will embrace a common identity, especially if they are not politically separated from the Netherlands as happened in OTl. To make this happen, we might see the United Duchy of Julich-Cleves-Berg, inclufing the Gueldernland, become unified a little earlier than expected, and become a dominant power in the Lower Rhine.
- Which is now in Belgium
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.4k