#62 How England made Cologne’s merchants rich in the 12th century

From 1169 to 1178 Flemish cities in what is today Belgium were in a dispute with the city of Cologne about trade and the use of the Rhine River. At first, Cologne seems to lose this economic dispute but then they get help from the English king Henry II.

English King Henry II saves Cologne in 1176 from an economic dispute the city was going to loose. Why and how? Learn more about it in this episode!

Gerhard Unmaze

Von © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palace of the Archbishop of Cologne

Drawing from 17th century. Sadly I couldn’t find a better version.

Map of the Palace Area at the Old Cathedral

There are no maps of Cologne from the 12th century. So I chose the Mercatormap from 1570 which is one of the oldest and most detailed city maps of Cologne. The gothic Cathedral nor the city hall tower (left) existed at that time.

The Archbishopric of Cologne

“Köln” in the middle is Cologne. All in the red area belongs to the Archbishopric of Cologne.

Philipp of Heinsberg

Tomb of Archbishop Philipp of Heinsberg in Cologne Cathedral. Why are there walls around him? You’ll find out pretty soon!

Duchy of Westphalia

Von Duchy_of_Wesphalia_and_other_states,_circa_1645.svg: MapMasterderivative work: NNW (talk) – Duchy_of_Wesphalia_and_other_states,_circa_1645.svg, CC BY 3.0.

Duchy of Westphalia around 1645. The borders didn’t change since 1180 though for the duchy. Köln stands for Cologne. Westfalen for Westphalia.

English King Henry II

Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine

King Henry II ruled a lot of today’s France and was a competitor for dominance in France. See that the County of Flanders (upper right) is under French dominion. Now you might understand why the English king supports Cologne.