Ecclesiastical territories: the palace of the prince-bishop of Würzburg

A good example of a middle-ranking ecclesiastical principality is the prince-bishopric of Würzburg, situated on the river Main right in the middle of the Empire. 

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Image 1: Würzburg in 1493. Already in 1493, the earliest engraving of Würzburg shows the bishop’s impressively fortified palace on a hill overlooking the city from the opposite side of the Main.  

Image 2: Festung Marienberg, 1525 and 1635. Located atop a steep hill at a bend in the River Main, the spot now occupied by the Marienberg Fortress has hosted fortifications since the bronze age.  The state of the fortifications in the early 16th century is indicated by the model depicted to the left.  When tested by the armies of Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, at the climax of the Thirty Years War in 1631, however, these essentially medieval curtain wall defences were found wanting, and the magnificent library assembled during the past half-century was carted off to Sweden, together with other treasures. After the Swedes were expelled and the prince-bishops restored in 1634, the original medieval walls were surrounded by modern walls and trace italienne bastions to create the citadel still clearly visible today.

Image 3: Würzburg in 1648.  The situation of the palace and the scale of the city are well represented in Matthäus Merian's superb engraving of 1648. 

Image 4: Marienberg then and now. In the eighteenth century, the prince-bishop built a new palace as principal residence on another site.  As a consequence, the Marienberg has remained essentially unchanged since the seventeenth century.

Credits: Howard Hotson (February 2023)