00:00:00: Just imagine you are Siegfried von Westerburg, angbüscher with Cologne in the year twelve eighty eight.

00:00:07: You are regarded as one of the most powerful rulers in The Empire.

00:00:11: and now you sit here In the dim light of a single oil lamp in your sparsely furnished little private chamber at Brauwale Abbey located in what is now Pullheim where monks would Normally.

00:00:23: you walk silently through the corridors, everything in and around the monastery is now filled with your warriors.

00:00:29: And those of your allies.

00:00:31: Despite a large army of three-and-a-half thousand knights alone The pausing site can muster only two point four thousand.

00:00:38: You are faced with a bitter realization Tomorrow...you would go into battle!

00:00:44: ...And one of the main opponents?

00:00:46: The citizens of your own capital city Cologne.

00:00:50: What had you not done to appease the self-assured citizens of Cologne and win them over to your side?

00:00:57: Privileges restored, peace preserved.

00:01:00: You had sworn to one another never to stand against each other in opposing camps.

00:01:04: just a year earlier In twelve eighty seven you have even renewed the treaty of friendship with the citizens of cologne.

00:01:11: They had sworn before God To uphold it.

00:01:14: yet The last few days had shown that the citizens Of Cologne has broken their words and had joined the opposing side out of pure opportunism.

00:01:26: Tomorrow, on fifth June, a Saturday it would be decided who was in right with this conflict that has been smouldering for years – The Limbuk War of Succession in the north west of the empire!

00:01:39: This battle is a trial by combat.

00:01:41: whoever won will surely have God at their side.

00:01:44: Moreover, this fifth June was the feast day of St Boniface the postal of the Germans, as he was called.

00:01:52: Could therefore be a more significant day than tomorrow to decide who would gain or retain power on the Rhine?

00:02:00: And with that welcome back to The History Of Cologne.

00:02:02: my name is Willem and I'm leading you through two thousand years of Cologne's history from the Roman sub-until our present day.

00:02:11: in this podcast we can listen as the city grows.

00:02:16: The perspective I've just outlined may seem unusual to some.

00:02:20: For the battle of Woglian, well known here in the region is always viewed from the opposing side – the city of Cologne and citizens who were under the rule of Arkbishop & now striving for freedom through this battle!

00:02:33: As you heard right at the start that wasn't quite how it was despite what's still widely believed in popular culture today….

00:02:40: Dear listeners Ever since began six years ago.

00:02:46: I've been waiting for this event in Cologne's history to happen, and now the time has come!

00:02:52: To set off for the Fühlinger Heide near Warringen on that fifth of June in the year twelve eighty-eight.

00:03:00: let's go out there together to have a lasting impact on the northwest of the empire and this part of Europe.

00:03:23: And at that very last minute, Cologne got involved too!

00:03:28: Here you'll find out why it wasn't just any ordinary battle.

00:03:32: Historians love to draw the big picture – some even seek their starting point.

00:03:37: Historian Wehr-Turinsky seized the tipping point for his conflict in the year eleven eighty… That is almost exactly hundred years before The Battle of Warring took place.

00:03:47: Remember, this is the year when Cologne began building a new city wall.

00:03:51: But the Archbishop of Cologne also had something to celebrate – he was granted the Duchy of Westphalia by The Emperor!

00:03:58: And with that… He finally arrived in the top tier of Empire.

00:04:03: Much due to his pleasure for all other secular rulers precisely those we discussed in our last episode.

00:04:09: For the opposing side it wasn't just about Limburg.

00:04:14: Ultimately, if the Cologne were all intent on weakening once and for all the immense power and supremacy of the Archbishop of Cologne as a secular ruler along the rivers Rhine & Weser.

00:04:25: And it is precisely this conflict that has now been going on over a century.

00:04:34: Remember Engelbert of Berg who constantly strove to expand his rule and even paid for it with his own life in twelve twenty-five.

00:04:43: This brings us full circle, viewing Cologne's city history as a microcosm of European History or in this case super regional history.

00:04:52: The people of Cologne were fed up off the Arkbishop.

00:04:55: great power!

00:04:56: This is the local level at the narrative arc we have already covered in dozens episodes.

00:05:02: on a superegional level however...the same thing happening over the Limburg War of Succession.

00:05:08: Other rulers and nobles, nominally and the Jewish subject to the Archbishop of Cologne are rebelling against the archbishop.

00:05:17: Why am I telling you all this?

00:05:19: Well historians like me like spoilsports because particularly in cologne the story is often reduced.

00:05:35: It is like almost every armed conflict in human history, a struggle among the powerful for yes power of course.

00:05:47: it's not a conflict of good versus evil.

00:05:50: what did that matter to one now?

00:05:52: forty thousand average inhabitants of medieval cologne whether they were rude by a bishop or few dozen wealthy merchants.

00:06:00: but history right up until the twentieth century was almost exclusively a history.

00:06:09: Despite many conflicts, the Arkbishop and the wealthy citizens of Cologne often lived a good life.

00:06:15: They had benefited immensely from each other.

00:06:18: The fact that Cologne was the largest city in the empire at this time would not have been possible without the other... ...the Arkbishops waged wars in region and put castles all these to expand his territory which ultimately benefitted the worthy citizens as well.

00:06:32: But wagging wars and building castles cost a lot great deal money money that the archbishop had to borrow, and who was happy to lend it to him?

00:06:42: The citizens of Cologne with interests.

00:06:46: And yet here they were facing each other in opposing camps.

00:06:51: Literally!

00:06:52: The Archbishop fought on this side of Luxembourg & Gilden – the citizens of cologne on the sides of Brabant and Berg.

00:07:00: Why this happened is because I've been keeping from you so far….

00:07:04: So let's finally get into what all this has to do with Cologne.

00:07:09: And the fact that the battle wouldn't have happened at all without Cologne, yes I admit i've been beating about the bush a bit but I hope I've learned thing or two since the German throne dispute here on the podcast and wanted to gently introduce you.

00:07:43: City of Cologne did the following.

00:07:46: Absolutely nothing, they stayed completely out of it!

00:07:50: The Archbishop for his part was fighting in his camp against the force of Pawan den Berg off course – They adhered to a treaty between the city and the archbishop which stipulated that neither party joined an alliance hosted through another.

00:08:07: This alliance maintained right up until almost the very end mere moments before battle.

00:08:13: On july twelfth twelve eighty seven, less than eleven months before the massacre on the Fühlingheide, The corporation that treaty was reaffirmed.

00:08:22: And there were more!

00:08:23: The Alkbysche bet some attractive incentives in store to win over this city of Cologne.

00:08:28: new custom duties which Siegfried von Westerbock had additionally levied into his domain for finance His participation at Limburgwof succession did not apply to people from Cologne.

00:08:39: they were exempt form it.

00:08:41: Other Custom duties already enforced would be automatically suspended as soon the war was over.

00:08:46: This met with general approval among powerful figures within Cologne's citizenry, both the jurors and the emerging Cologne city council voted in favor And yet less than a year later they found themselves on opposing sides.

00:09:03: What happened?

00:09:05: The Year twelve eighty eight?

00:09:06: let us begin that it just around corner and conflict was clearly heating up.

00:09:11: The year began with an initiative by the Archbishop of Cologne who invaded the territory of Berg in late at waste.

00:09:18: Virtually every ruler, great or small and not west-of-the-empire had by now joined one of two warring parties – all except Jülich!

00:09:40: That was only half of the truth.

00:09:42: I had deliberately withheld something from you, until at least twelve eighty-seven.

00:09:48: Jürlich was still in a camp for the Archbishop – and Luxembourg and Geldern!

00:09:53: But….

00:09:53: In a stroke of diplomatic genius, Brabant managed to perzoate Jürlisch to switch sides.

00:10:00: A bitter blow for the archbishop of Cologne Siegfried von Westerburg.

00:10:03: previously the county of Clever declared itself neutral.

00:10:08: old ally of the archbishop of Cologne was therefore missing.

00:10:11: Don't get me wrong, The Archbishop Of Cologne is still a powerful man and leads a powerful alliance into battle.

00:10:19: He himself fielded several thousand knights alone but the strategic momentum was swinging in opposite direction.

00:10:27: And In Cologne the realization slowly dawning that renewing the Treaty of Friendship A year earlier in twelve eighty seven might have been mistake Had they backed their own horse?

00:10:38: Let us run through this thought experiment from the perspective of Cologne's wealthy citizens.

00:10:44: Two scenarios were possible for the outcome, first The Archbishop Of Cologne won the Limburg War of Succession.

00:10:51: The Luxembourg's would take over Limburg.

00:10:54: For the city of Colognes This Would Not Have Any Direct Negative Consequences But The Knock-On Effect That This Outcome Of The Conflict Would have Waited All The More Heavily.

00:11:05: A victory for Siegfried von Westerbox Alliance would mean that he, the Archbishop had successfully defended his power in the northwest of The Empire.

00:11:13: All his immediate neighbours would be defeated and checkmated for several years – perhaps even decades!

00:11:20: Among them were many with whom the city of Cologne often had successfully allied itself against an overpowering lord of the City.

00:11:32: Cologne, for its part would scarcely be able to rely on regional allies from outside the region.

00:11:37: and Would the archbishop really then reduce the customs duties?

00:11:41: And taxes he had introduced during the war as yet promised?

00:11:46: What would prevent him in their event of victory for From simply retaining them?

00:11:51: after all.

00:11:52: He has not allowed the archbishops custom castling worrying to be demolished four years despite his promise through The people of cologne.

00:11:59: so that was scenario number one.

00:12:02: The second scenario that might happen after the war ended was, the Archbishop Luxembourg and Gerdan lose the Limbochor of Succession.

00:12:10: If this were to happen it would trigger an upheaval in the north-west of the Empire!

00:12:14: The entire regional power & governance structure would be rebalanced above all by the victors under the Alliance of Provence and Berg.

00:12:23: if one were to side with their city's lord, the archbishop of Cologne That would be extremely bad, because the city then would hardly in a position to play an active role in shaping events.

00:12:35: And if the archbishop was no longer successful abroad his attention might turn back into his old sphere of influence above all to

00:12:45: Cologne.".

00:12:46: So you can see that conflict does not actually affect Cologne directly – their citizens couldn't care less who wrote The Limburg.

00:12:55: But everything surrounding it, the scenario that goes hand-in-hand with it – namely the reorganization of power along the Rhine, Meuse and Wieser River naturally affects Cologne.

00:13:06: At the end of May twelve eighty eight just a few days before the battle A delegation of cologne citizens arrives in Brühe today a direct suburb of Cologne The town which belonged to the Archdiocese that time being conquered by the troops of John of Brabant, had the Cologne delegation travelled to Bruland's own initiative or had Duke John of brabant requested this meeting?

00:13:32: Opinions are divided on these.

00:13:34: Ultimately it doesn't matter!

00:13:37: We know how their meeting ended though.

00:13:39: Cologne shifted from its previous neutral position into the Braband Berg camp for Duke John Of Brabante made an offer which could not be refused.

00:13:52: He said something like, Yes.

00:14:13: The decision could not have come at a more critical time, but the very same moments Count Henry of Luxembourg had ordered his army towards Cologne to join forces with that of Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg.

00:14:36: It was thus clear to everyone involved once all armies of both warring parties were assembled in the Cologne area it.

00:14:46: On the twenty-seventh of May, twelve eighty eight, Cologne and Brabant formed an alliance.

00:14:53: The army of Duke and his allies such as Bergmarck and Udich marched into this city at Cologne's explicit invitation!

00:15:02: The fact that Brabante now had Cologne in its base right on a middle area full of archipelago possessions was a huge success for Brabants – it was modern metaphor as if John of Brabantes had parked large aircraft carriers which was otherwise under the rule of the Archbishop of Cologne, and Cologne delivered in the truest sense money provisions.

00:15:26: And Cologne craftsmen built siege engines.

00:15:29: The largest and at times wealthy city-in-the-empire had conspired now against its own City Lord.

00:15:36: This is also where opinions differ.

00:15:39: They often overlooked.

00:15:40: change of heart by Cologne shortly before the Battle of Worringen is recurrently forgotten or conveniently overlooked in popular historical accounts, it does not fit the otherwise convenient narrative that Cologne always rebelled against the archbishop as a direct line from ten seventy-four under the second right up to Waringen nearly two hundred years later in twelve eighty eight.

00:16:03: But as I said until just a moment ago The city and its patricians had still been in agreement.

00:16:12: Many historians describe the actions of the city of Cologne as what, in my opinion they clearly appear to be.

00:16:19: As treason!

00:16:21: For in doing so The City Of Cologne had broken a friendship treaty recently concluded with Archbishop Sigurd Tom Westerbroek.

00:16:27: yet there are also dissenting voices.

00:16:30: historian Hugo Stehkamper emphasized throughout his life that it was the archbishop who always disappointed Cologne and thus was a break off oaths.

00:16:41: Who's to blame?

00:16:43: Which side is

00:16:43: it?".

00:16:44: That's for you, too.

00:16:45: On the twenty ninth May twelve eighty eight The army led by Brabant marched out of Cologne.

00:17:01: Joining them were their citizens who set off for Worringen carrying their own banner A white banner still blank at that time below etched on top with a red bar bearing three golden crowns.

00:17:15: You know why.

00:17:16: Cologne, the city that possessed the Radix of the Three Magi.

00:17:21: Upon arriving in Warringen they set up camp.

00:17:24: The army led by Brabant had around four thousand eight hundred fighters making it several hundred men stronger than the army lead by the Luxemburgs and the Archbishop of Cologne.

00:17:32: on their opposing side however the latter had significantly more knights...in their ranks.

00:17:39: Upon arrival at Warringend Brabants allies began this siege and the siege engines made in Cologne were at the forefront.

00:17:49: The besieged fighters of the Archbishop of Cologne could only hope that, in a few days ,the archbishop's army along with his allies would arrive to rescue them... A perfect transition!

00:18:01: How did people actually fight those days?

00:18:04: Don't worry we'll go into details about this battle another time.

00:18:09: You know classic film scenes too many evil armies stand face-to-face.

00:18:13: The leaders mounted on their horses deliver a rousing, heroic speech-reach.

00:18:18: Realistically speaking reaches only the first three rows whilst the five thousand men at the backs onsite probably struggle to suppress their calves or even hear a thing but then appears in scream.

00:18:33: The mass is breaking to a full sprint.

00:18:35: On foot, on horseback – thousands tremor!

00:18:37: The fronts collide in the center like two gigantic tidal waves of iron and flash.

00:18:43: And at next moment all tactics above chaos breaks out.

00:18:47: No formations no master plan just a gigantic deathly brawl In which even the proud kings in their purest tunnel vision hack mindlessly At opponents in a fight for survival without really having a strategy.

00:19:03: This is how we know and love it from film and television, medieval battles... And let's be honest these images have been etched deep into our memories.

00:19:12: Dramaticly.

00:19:13: such scenes are an absolute masterpiece.

00:19:15: they make our hearts race the problem with at all.

00:19:19: They have nothing to do absolutely Nothing to do with historical reality.

00:19:24: A quick word of warning I am no military expert Let alone in Medieval military expert.

00:19:31: But I have read through Ulrich Lenard's work on warfare of that era, although it dates from nineteen ninety-three It still seems relevant as is still cited widely in the subject today.

00:19:40: There are two things we can state straight away about warfare in the thirteenth century.

00:19:47: Firstly this Is The Age Of Armored Horsemen.

00:19:51: These Could Be The Knights Themselves Squires Or So Called Sarjans.

00:19:56: I Can't Speak French You Know That Guys.

00:20:00: So, three types of horse warriors.

00:20:03: The knights are the highest elite among the armoured horsemen.

00:20:07: They own several horses on campaigns One for travelling one as a means of transport For equipment and of course the warhorse itself which was used only in battle and trained for that purpose.

00:20:19: Strictly speaking Only those who had previously received the sword bearing ceremony were considered real knights.

00:20:26: This was a very demanding and above all costly process to become a knight.

00:20:30: Even among the high nobility, it was usually only the first born son who became knights.

00:20:35: The rest remained squires for life.

00:20:38: this brings us to the second category-the Squires mostly young men or noble armoured horsemen Who had not yet received Or would never receive the sword bearing ceremony whether because they could not afford It's or For whatever other reason.

00:20:54: Militarily however, they were usually just as well equipped as knights who had received the sword-bearing ceremony.

00:21:03: The final group of armoured horsemen are so called Sojantns – I have no idea how to pronounce that!

00:21:12: This could be anyone, lesser nobles, mercenaries or armquities….

00:21:17: They too had almost this same equipment to offer as knights and squires though there's was usually of somewhat lower quality.

00:21:25: Nevertheless, I'll be damned if i'm going to differentiate between them all at the time here when The second is the way in which wars are waged.

00:21:56: So, whoever owns land holds power back into it and that's also costly for them as they form economic bases to their nobility.

00:22:06: This true of all pre-industrial eras.

00:22:09: An open field battle was however an exception.

00:22:12: In those times Usually a war consisted of succession of sieges raids and minor skirmishes.

00:22:19: Clash between two armies remained rare and the exception.

00:22:24: That is what makes The Battle of Voringen so special, that event itself as an open-field battle had a large number mounted combatants including nobility from the north west of the empire.

00:22:37: but why was direct confrontation in open field battles avoided?

00:22:42: Nobles whether knights, squires or even sergeants trained constantly practically their whole lives.

00:22:50: Natalie tournaments did indeed exist back then, but the most common form was not as portrayed in films and TV series The Jaws that is one-on-one combat on a field using alarms know it was collective group combat information.

00:23:05: So they would meet to practice fighting together as knights of formation those termites In other words exact opposite of what we know from popular culture the knight who fights alone heroically.

00:23:20: I don't want to go into further detail here regarding equipment, weapons and tactics.

00:23:27: There are certainly better sources in literature or on the internet that cover all of this.

00:23:51: After all, there were no standardized uniforms yet.

00:23:54: The most important tool here was the banner!

00:23:58: The banner served as a leadership symbol visible from afar and rallying point for the scattered fighters like large flag fluttering above heads of combatants As the knights where partly or completely unrecognizable due to their helmets also served to distinguish friend from foe.

00:24:22: In the heat of battle, it was therefore always essential to stay close to one's own banner in order to maintain formation.

00:24:30: and how did they communicate with each other?

00:24:32: an issue orders two individual units?

00:24:35: You are no doubt familiar with this form.

00:24:38: large crowds whether at concerts in busy squares or on a packed public transport often you can no longer hear.

00:24:48: In this context acoustic signals were used such as with musical instruments like trumpets, drums or the collective shouting of commands.

00:25:00: Just Like a captain in football stadium whips up to crowd with chant which is then repeated by everyone until it can be heard on furthest corner of their stance.

00:25:11: It might something like stick together, stick together , stick together.

00:25:14: similar You may recognize from movies too but there It's usually just the main character shouting and everyone, all of a few thousand soldiers understand some straight away.

00:25:26: And it's not happening.

00:25:27: as I've just presented There were commands to change formations To call for an orderly retreat Or indeed to attack information.

00:25:37: No messing about on your own Anyone who fought like that alone wouldn't survive for long than us now.

00:25:45: But if you had ALL THATS well equipped and trained knights, means of communications during large-scale battles.

00:25:53: Why then were open field battles so rare in those days?

00:25:58: Well it was a strategy... ...of risk & avoidance or to put it more simply ways.

00:26:07: It's just too risky to costly.

00:26:10: Wars in the middle ages including feuds that is private wars waged by their nobility against one another usually followed the same pattern.

00:26:19: They would declare war on each other and then set out to ravage their territory.

00:26:25: I'm putting rather bluntly here, but for the local civilian population caught up in this it was a nightmare – they were bystanders simply used as pawns.

00:26:44: So again, armies mainly would plunder and make rich whole.

00:26:49: As I said at the expense of the rural civilian population – The aim was to drive them into economic distress in order then force a peace settlement upon them which would end conflict.

00:27:04: For five years, each side had been plundering the Animas territory.

00:27:16: Both the countryside around Cologne and that of Limburg itself were

00:27:19: ravaged.".

00:27:20: Now put yourself in shoes for a medieval warrior who has made a fine haul – stolen livestock, plant valuables etc….

00:27:30: What would happen if one were to attack an enemy directly?

00:27:34: Anyone decided go into battle risks not only material possessions but also their own death or costly capture.

00:27:43: Since the decision was often only considered final once their leader had been killed, or had fled ,the main rivals in particular were personally at great risk .

00:27:53: We shall see this all too clearly in Waringen.

00:27:57: An open battle simply entails enormous personal risks.

00:28:01: beyond its military and political aspects a battle is also regarded as judgment of God.

00:28:08: One had achieved up to the point where suddenly put at stake.

00:28:12: The idea was that whoever won the battle, they have God's favor.

00:28:15: and since the victor is regarded as a rightful owner of the disputed territory one tried to avoid or delay the battle As long as one did not feel absolutely militarily superior And will be the case again.

00:28:30: Both warring parties feel capable of defeating other directly by military means.

00:28:36: As I said, i would like to emphasize this again.

00:28:39: It is not mass armies of nation states fighting each other here.

00:28:44: rather it's the warring bands the least possible personal risk.

00:29:08: I really want to emphasize that again.

00:29:11: and this was achieved not primarily through pitched battles but through sieges, these are quite typical.

00:29:18: however they did not usually end as in films with an assault on a fortress by gradually starving off defenders.

00:29:27: just as easily though attackers could run out of steam too due to the lack of sufficient food supplies, a lack of funding or an army from outside coming into besieged aid so that their siege was abandoned and the besieges withdrew in time before the reinforcement arrived.

00:29:44: But Varian-twelfth eighty eight is therefore extremely atypical fail.

00:29:49: please allow me just one final point to conclude.

00:29:53: many evil field battles when they did take place were of course no pleasant thing there where naturally dead and wounded Many died of the injuries and from infections even after the battle.

00:30:05: Nevertheless, we are a long way here from entire armies or units being wiped out as we know it in the two world wars for example.

00:30:14: The noble knights had quite comfortable.

00:30:17: In battle they would certainly have endured terrible hardships – one era gone astray but you could die off course!

00:30:24: But the capture of a knight had economic political Death and mounted combat was the exception, even in fiercely fought battles.

00:30:34: The capture of a wealthy knight or betterman was extremely lucrative financially as high ransoms could be demanded for their release.

00:30:42: A prisoner was considered valuable booty.

00:30:44: For many nobles raising such sums Was an enormous burden.

00:30:49: Just think of Richard the Lionheart who's released from captivity.

00:30:53: virtually whole England was blood-dry.

00:30:56: Furthermore, means of pressure were also needed to be able make peace.

00:31:01: After hostilities prisoners served as hostages in peace negotiations to force political concessions on the enemy – that too would happen in Varian and vice versa.

00:31:12: but more on this in our next episode.

00:31:17: So let us return to Siegfried van Westerbroek from the early morning of June.

00:31:20: the fifth day is breaking at Baalverde Abbey.

00:31:24: it's a proverbial calm before storm.

00:31:27: Whilst the clergy hold a final service in the dim light of church and bless the warriors, there is already a bustle.

00:31:36: The clan of weapons are armies and snorting of horses in their cool morning mist – the Warriors from the Alliance of Deluxenburgs and Jakbyshev are now setting out to rescue the besieged castled warrior which has been surrounded for days by the Alliance.

00:31:53: Large sections of deranged nobility stand as enemies against the archbishop of Cologne this day, a menacing scenario in theory.

00:32:01: Yet Siegfried von Westerberg feels no fear – on the contrary!

00:32:06: As he lets his gaze wander over at the ranks of his men He sees a seemingly endless splendor of banners and lances…he has far more knights than the opposing side.

00:32:23: For him, the coming battle is a trial by combat.

00:32:26: And the archbishop does not doubt for a second that it will go in his

00:32:31: favor.".

00:32:32: His certainty of victory goes so far.

00:32:34: he has hundreds of iron chains and shackles carried along with his retinue – his plan is called recalculated!

00:32:41: Once this battle's over… as one, he intends to have enemy nobles immediately put into chains in order to extort an astronomical ransom... Keep those change please in mind.

00:32:53: It's going to get extremely interesting later on.

00:32:56: the only question is for whom?

00:33:00: Dear readers, The time has come!

00:33:03: Next Time... this inheritance dispute in a dachi far beyond cologne city limits ultimately changes the fate of cologne forever.

00:33:31: Thank you for listening and recommend me further, and auf Wiedersehen!