Siege of Godesberg
Siege of Godesberg | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Cologne War | |||||||
Capture of Godesberg in 1583, Inname van Godesberg [1] | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ernest of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach | Gebhard von Waldburg | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Felix Buchner Eduard Sudermann | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
400+ infantry 5 squadrons of cavalry | ~180 infantry[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown killed and wounded | 178 killed, wounded and captured[3] |
The siege of Godesberg, 18 November – 17 December 1583, was the first major siege of the Cologne War (1583–1589). Seeking to wrest control of an important fortification, Bavarian and mercenary soldiers surrounded the Godesberg, and the village then of the same name, now Bad Godesberg, located at its foot. On top of the mountain sat a formidable fortress, similarly named Godesburg, built in the early 13th century during a contest over the election of two competing archbishops.
Towering over the
The Godesburg came under attack from Bavarian forces in November 1583. It resisted a lengthy cannonade by the attacking army; finally, sappers tunneled into the basalt core of the mountain, placed 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of powder into the tunnel and blew up a significant part of the fortifications. The explosion killed many of the defending troops, but the resulting rubble impeded the attackers' progress, and the remaining defenders continued to offer staunch resistance. Only when some of the attackers entered the castle's inner courtyard through the latrine system were the Bavarians able to overcome their opponents. The Godesburg's commander and some surviving defenders took refuge in the keep; using prisoners held in the dungeons as hostages, the commander negotiated safe passage for himself, his wife and his lieutenant. The others who were left in the keep—men, women and children—were killed. Nearby Bonn fell to the Bavarians the following month.
Background
The Cologne War, 1583–1589, was triggered by the 1582 conversion of the
Initially, troops of the competing
At its most fundamental, it was a local feud between two competing dynastic interests—the
Controversy of conversion
Agnes of Mansfeld-Eisleben was a Protestant
With two competing archbishops, both claiming the see and the Electorate, the contenders and their supporters gathered the troops. In numbers, Ernest had the advantage. The Pope hired 5,000 mercenaries from the
With the support of
Fortress
The Godesburg foundation stone was laid on 15 October 1210 upon the order of Dietrich of Hengebach, the Archbishop of Cologne, who was himself in disputed possession of the Electorate and fighting to keep his position.[9] Although his competitors deposed Dietrich in 1212, his successors finished and enlarged the fortress;[10] it featured in chronicles of the subsequent centuries as both a symbolic and physical embodiment of the power of the archbishop of Cologne in his many struggles for regional authority in secular and ecclesiastical matters. Furthermore, by the late 14th century, the fortress had become the repository of the Elector's valuables and archives. By the mid-16th century, with the inclusion of residential facilities, the castle was popularly considered the Lieblingssitz, or the favorite seat (home), of the Electors.[11]
The fortification originally had been constructed in the medieval style. In the reign of
Fortifications such as this, and the star-shaped fortresses more commonly found in the flatter lands of the Dutch Provinces, increasingly made 16th-century warfare both difficult and expensive; victory was not simply a matter of winning a battle over the enemy's army. Victory required traveling from one fortified and armed city to another and investing time and money in one of two outcomes. Ideally, a show of extraordinary force convinced city leaders to surrender. If the show of force did not intimidate a city, the alternative was an expensive siege that reduced the city to rubble and ended with storming the ruins.
Investment of the Godesburg
On 13–14 November, Ferdinand of Bavaria (Ernest's brother) and the Count of Arenberg took the Elector's castle at Poppelsdorf; on 18 November, they moved to attack the Godesburg. This fortress was considerably stronger than the one at Poppelsdorf and of supreme strategic importance for the projected attack on Bonn, the capital city of the Electorate.[16]
The Godesburg was defended by Lieutenant Colonel Felix Buchner, Captain of the Guard Eduard Sudermann, a garrison of soldiers from the Netherlands, and a few cannons. To besiege the fortress, Ferdinand brought more than 400 Fussvolk (foot soldiers) and five squadrons of mounted soldiers, plus a half dozen heavy caliber cannons, called culverins.[22] His soldiers, among them Spanish and Italian mercenaries, took up quarters in neighboring villages, a process accompanied by pillage, arson, murder and rape.[23] On 18 November, the first day of the siege, Ferdinand sent a trumpeter and formally asked the fortress to surrender; the defending garrison replied that they had sworn their allegiance to Gebhard and would fight to the death for him.[19]
Cannonade (18–28 November 1583)
In response, Ferdinand took control of the village at the foot of the mountain and encircled the site. He surveyed the locale for two days to identify the most promising angle of attack.[19] The customary equipage of siege warfare—the siege tower, the trebuchet, and the crossbow[25]—would be ineffective. The distance between the curtain wall and the valley floor and the angle of the hill placed the Godesburg out of range. The besiegers had no choice but to use expensive artillery, although the angle would decrease its effectiveness. Ferdinand initially placed three cannons at the foot of the mountain, in Godesberg village.[19] Daily, cannonballs and mortar shells smashed against the castle's walls. Nightly, the defenders repaired the damage. At the following sunrise, the assault began anew. Ferdinand's cannons were ineffective against the fortification, as were his mortars; in the course of the cannonade, return fire even managed to destroy a few of his own pieces.[26] From his place of safety in the north, Gebhard understood well the potential of the loss of the Godesburg, yet he was relatively helpless to help his garrison. In an effort to garner financial support from the Protestant states, in November 1583 he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in London: "Verily, the Roman Antichrist moves every stone to oppress us and our churches ..."[27]
Although financial help from the English was not forthcoming,
Sapping (completed 16 December 1583)
Ferdinand reluctantly ordered saps to be dug into the side of the mountain.[33] The sapping was difficult and dangerous and the sappers worked under continuous attack from the castle's defenders, who fired on them with small arms and the castle's artillery and dropped rocks and debris on their heads. The forced labor of local peasants minimized losses among Ferdinand's own troops, but many of the peasants perished in the effort.[34]
On 6 December, the sappers reached the south-eastern side of the fortress's outermost wall and then spent another ten days undermining the basalt on which the castle stood; they completed their work on 16 December and placed 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of powder into the mine.
Destruction of the fortress (17 December 1583)
On 17 December, Ferdinand again asked the castle's defenders to surrender.[36] They replied that they did not know the meaning of the word and would hold the Godesburg to the last man.[36] A report dated 23 December 1583 relates that, having given Ferdinand a rude reply, the defenders went back to lunch.[37]
Ferdinand ordered 400 men to enter the saps; these men would storm the castle once the mine had been detonated.[38] The remainder of his cavalry and foot soldiers were to wait in the fields below.[38] Some sources assert that the fuse was lit at around 1:00 pm, although the 19th-century local historian Heinrich Joseph Floß argued that these sources are mistaken, and that the explosion clearly occurred in the morning.[39] All sources agree that the explosion, with a dreadful crack, propelled chunks of the towers and walls high into the air. Almost half the Godesburg collapsed instantly.[36] According to a newspaper report dated 13 January 1584, debris raining on the valley below damaged several houses, and destroyed some of them completely.[40]
Amidst the flames and rubble, Arenberg's and Ferdinand's troops tried to storm the castle, but found their way blocked by masses of debris created by their own explosives.[38] Furthermore, although close to half of the garrison had perished in the explosion and subsequent collapse of the fortifications, those who remained offered staunch resistance by throwing rocks on the approaching attackers, causing a large number of casualties.[38] In frustration, 40 or 50 of the attackers tied together two ladders and crawled through the sluice-ways of the garderobe (latrines) that emptied on the hillside, thus gaining access to the interior of the castle.[38] There they killed around 20 of the defenders in fierce fighting; the remaining defenders, approximately 70 men, among them Buchner and Sudermann, the garrison commander and his lieutenant, sought refuge in the castle's keep.[38] In this way, Ferdinand's infantry at last gained unopposed access to the fortress.[36] Storming the castle had taken about two hours.[41]
Out of options, Buchner opened negotiations, using those interned in the castle as hostages. Presenting them at the keep's door, he made clear that they would be killed unless Ferdinand promised to spare his, his wife's and Sudermann's lives.[42] Ferdinand acceded to Buchner's demand; some sources maintain that the Abbot of Heisterbach, one of the prisoners, had been treated decently by Buchner throughout his imprisonment in the castle and himself asked for Buchner's life to be spared.[43] The prisoners were released. With much difficulty, given the state of mind of the besiegers, Ferdinand and Arenberg brought the Buchners and Sudermann out of the castle alive.[42] Once the Buchners, Sudermann, and the hostages were clear of the fortress, Ferdinand released his troops, who were in an ugly mood and hungry for blood and plunder. All those who remained in the keep—soldiers, men, women and children—were killed, some inside the keep, some in the courtyard below; the slaughter lasted well into the night.[44] The castle's 178 dead were buried in two mass graves whose locations remain unknown.[45] Among those who perished in the destruction and storming of the castle was also one of the prisoners, a vicar from Hildesheim.[46] The Hildesheim suffragan, too, was not among the rescued prisoners; he had died during his incarceration, a short while before the castle was stormed.[47]
Gebhard lost an important stronghold in the Oberstift and Ernest's forces had acquired a ruin. The residence was unusable, and the fortifications were mere rubble. The keep had survived the blast and various armies used it as a watch tower in the Thirty Years' War.[48] Ernest's troops, under his brother's command, saturated the region, and the 7.3 kilometers (4.5 mi) between Godesberg and Bonn bore a greater resemblance to a military camp than to a road. Walloon riders and squadrons of Italian cavalry, paid for by the pope, galloped back and forth. Forty companies of infantry trudged toward Bonn, including Walloons and Bavarians. They looked forward to besieging Bonn, the Elector's capital city, to which they laid siege on 21 December 1583, and which they took on 28 January 1584.[22]
Aftermath
The siege of the Godesburg and its subsequent destruction were a mere taste of things to come. It was the first of many sieges in the Cologne War, and the castle's fall eventually led to the fall not just of Bonn, but of several other principal towns and cities in the Electorate of Cologne:
Advances in military architecture over the previous century had led to the construction or enhancement of fortresses that could withstand the pounding of cannonballs and mortar shells. For both Gebhard and Ernest, winning the war required mobilizing enough men to encircle a seemingly endless array of enemy artillery fortresses. These could be protected with relatively small garrisons, but taking them required both expensive artillery and enough men to storm the battlements. Furthermore, the victor had to maintain and defend all his possessions as they were acquired. Even the ruin of the Godesburg required a garrison and a defensive strategy; as a strategic point on the north–south road from Bonn to Koblenz, it came under siege in 1586 and again in 1588. The Cologne War, similar to the
The destruction of so prominent a fortress was also news. When Frans Hogenberg and Georg Braun compiled their Civitates Orbis Terrarum, a collection of important scenes and locales, they included Hogenberg's engraving of its destruction as not only an important sight, but an important event. Hogenberg lived in Bonn and Cologne in 1583, and likely saw the site himself.[51] After overwhelming the Godesburg, the Bavarians found a large marble slab in the ruins: the castle's foundation stone, which had been displaced by the explosion. The stone is a block of black marble with a Latin inscription commemorating the construction of the fortress by Dietrich I von Hengebach in 1210: Anno · D(omi)ni · M·C·C·X · Gudensburg · Fundatum · E(st) · A · Teoderico · Ep(iscop)o · I(n) · Die · Mauror(um) · M(a)r(tyrum).[52] A gold inscription was added to the back of the stone, noting that it had been found "on the very top of the blasted wall".[53] Ferdinand took the stone to Munich, where it was kept in a museum beside a fresco painting in an arcade commemorating the siege.[54] Today, the foundation stone is in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn.[55]
Long-term consequences
Gebhard's eventual defeat changed the balance of power in the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1589, Ernest of Bavaria became uncontested Prince-elector of Cologne, the first
Gebhard's defeat also changed the religious balance in the northwestern states. Although the Peace of Augsburg (1555) had addressed earlier the problem of religious pluralism, the solution potentially converted simple, and usually local, legal disputes into dynastic and religious warfare, as the Cologne War itself demonstrated. The result of the Cologne War gave the
Finally, the German tradition of local and regional autonomy created structural and cultural differences in the Holy Roman Empire, compared to the increasingly centralized authority of such other European states as France, England, and Spain. The unabashed intervention of Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, English and Scots mercenaries in the war, as well as the influence of papal gold, changed the dynamic of internal German confessional and dynastic disputes. The great "players" of the early modern European political stage realized that they could enhance their own positions vis-a-vis one another by assisting, promoting or undermining local and regional competition among the German princes, as they did in the feud between Gebhard and Ernest. Conversely, German princes, dukes, and counts realized that they could acquire an edge over their competitors by promoting the interests of powerful neighbors.[61]
The scale of involvement of such external mercenary armies as Spain's Army of Flanders set a precedent that internationalized contests of local autonomy and religious issues in the German states, a problem not settled until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.[62] Despite that settlement, German states remained vulnerable to both external intervention[63] and religious division, as they were in the Cologne War.[64]
Sources
Citations and notes
- ^ Engraving by Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590). Hogenberg and Georg Braun, Civitates orbis terrarum, Cologne, 1572–1617.
- ^ (in German) Ernst Weyden. Godesberg, das Siebengebirge, und ihre Umgebungen. Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag, 1864, p. 43.
- ^ (in German) Tanja Potthoff. Die Godesburg – Archäologie und Baugeschichte einer kurkölnischen Burg. Inaugural Dissertation, University of Munich, 2009, p. 15.
- ^ (in German) Johann Heinrich Hennes. Der Kampf um das Erzstift Köln zur Zeit der Kurfürsten. Köln: DuMont-Schauberg, 1878, pp. 5–10.
- ^ a b Hajo Holborn. A History of Modern Germany, The Reformation. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959. For a general discussion of the impact of the Reformation on the Holy Roman Empire, see Holborn, chapters 6–9 (pp. 123–248).
- ^ (in German) Hennes, pp. 6–7.
- ^ JSTOR 575246
- ^ ISBN 978-3-8128-0025-9p. 393.
- ^ Tourism & Congress GmbH, Fortress Godesburg Archived 2009-12-15 at the Wayback Machine 2002–2008. Accessed 31 October 2009. (in German) Tanja Potthoff. Die Godesburg – Archäologie und Baugeschichte einer kurkölnischen Burg. Inaugural Dissertation, University of Munich, 2009, p. 10; (in German) Untermann, Matthias. "primus lapis in fundamentum deponitur" Kunsthistorische Überlegungen zur Funktion der Grundsteinlegung im Mittelalter, Heidelberg University archive, p. 6. Originally published in: Cistercienser. Brandenburgische Zeitschrift rund um das cisterciensische Erbe 6, 2003, issue 23. Potthoff gives 5 October as the date; Untermann, Glaser (1980) and other authors give 15 October.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2009, p. 11.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, pp. 36–42, specifically p. 42.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, p. 40.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, pp. 38–43.
- ISBN 978-0-521-54392-7, pp. 11–19.
- ^ a b Parker, p. 19.
- ISBN 3-631-55467-2, p. 195.
- ^ (in German) Hennes, p. 118.
- ^ (in German) Herman Keussen. "Sudermann, Heinrich". In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 37, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1894, pp. 121–127; (in German) F. Oediger. Hauptstaatsarchiv Düsseldorf und seine Bestände, Siegburg: Respublica-Verlag, 1957 [1993], v. 7, p. 530.
- ^ a b c d (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 198.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 196.
- Leonard Ennen. Geschichte der Stadt Köln, meist aus den Quellen des Kölner Stadt-Archivs, Vol. 5. Köln/Neuß: L. Schwann'sche Verlagshandlung, 1863–1880, p. 156; (in German) Hennes, p. 120; Hennes maintains the Italian captain's name was Ranuccini.
- ^ a b (in German) Hennes, p. 121.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 197.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, pp. 198–200.
- ISBN 0-306-81358-0, p. 185.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, p. 43.
- ^ Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth, Volume 18: July 1583 – July 1584 (1914), pp. 250–265. Gebhard to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of London, 22 November 1583.
- ISBN 978-0-691-03651-9, p. 295.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, pp. 199–200.
- ^ a b c (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 200.
- ^ (in German) Floß, p. 176.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, p. 43; (in German) Heimatbuch des Landkreises Bonn, Vol. 2, 1959, p. 17.
- ^ (in German) Hennes, pp. 119–120; (in German) Weyden, p. 43.
- ^ a b (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 201; (in German) Floß, p. 119.
- ^ (in German) Karl Theodor Dumont & Robert Haass. Geschichte der Pfarreien der Erzdiöcese Köln. Köln: Bachem, 1883–, p. 229; (in German) Floß, p. 176.
- ^ a b c d (in German) Floß, p. 126.
- ^ (in German) Ennen, p. 156.
- ^ a b c d e f (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 202; (in German) Floß, p. 126.
- ^ (in German) Floß, pp. 127–128.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 201.
- ^ (in German) Ennen, p. 156; (in German) Floß, p. 177.
- ^ a b (in German) Potthoff 2006, pp. 202–203; (in German) Floß, p. 127.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, pp. 202–203; (in German) Floß, pp. 127–128; (in German) Ennen, p. 157.
- ^ (in German) Floß, p. 127.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2009, p. 15.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2006, p. 203; (in German) Floß, pp. 128–129.
- ^ (in German) Floß, pp. 128–129; (in German) Hennes, p. 120.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, p. 44.
- ^ English observers noted that the export of wine from the Palatinate through the Electorate was restricted early in the war. Sophie Crawford Lomas (editor). Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth. Volume 18: July 1583 – July 1584 (1914), pp. 278–295. Norreys to Herle, October 8–18, 1583. Institute of Historical Research, British History Online Archived 2014-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, University of London & History of Parliament Trust, 2009. Accessed 22 November 2009.
- ^ Parker, Flanders, pp. 17–18.
- ^ (in German) J. J. Merlo: "Hogenberg, Franz". In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, pp. 650–652.
- ISBN 978-3-7774-3190-1, p. 69; (in German) Potthoff 2009, p. 10; (in German) Matthias Untermann. "primus lapis in fundamentum deponitur" Kunsthistorische Überlegungen zur Funktion der Grundsteinlegung im Mittelalter, Heidelberg University archive, p. 6. Originally published in: Cistercienser. Brandenburgische Zeitschrift rund um das cisterciensische Erbe 6, 2003, issue 23., p. 6. Untermann states "Maurorum martyrum" refers to the day of the Moorish martyrs, the patron saints of nearby Bonn; Potthoff gives 5 October as the date for the day of the Moorish martyrs, while Untermann, Glaser and other authors give 15 October. For an image of the foundation stone, see (in German) "800 Jahre Godesburg", godesberger-markt.de, 2010, a subpage of Bad Godesberg Info, 2002–2010. Accessed 20 July 2010.
- ^ Untermann, p. 6.
- ^ (in German) Weyden, pp. 39, 43–44.
- ^ (in German) Potthoff 2009, pp. 10, 24; (in German) Weyden, p. 44.
- ^ Benians, p. 713.
- ^ Charles Albert was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague (9 December 1741) and elected 'King of the Romans' on 24 January 1742, and took the title of Holy Roman Emperor upon his coronation on 12 February 1742. See Benians. pp. 230–233; Holborn, pp. 191–247.
- ^ Charles Ingrao. "Review of Alois Schmid, Max III Joseph und die europaische Macht. " The American Historical Review, Vol. 93, No. 5 (Dec., 1988), p. 1351.
- ^ Robert W. Scribner, "Why Was There No Reformation in Cologne?" Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 49(1976): pp. 217–241.
- ^ Holborn, pp. 201–247.
- ^ Theodor V. Brodek. "Socio-Political Realities of the Holy Roman Empire." Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 1971, 1(3), pp. 395–405, cited pp. 400–401.
- ISBN 978-0-415-12883-4, Introduction.
- ^ Parker, Introduction; Robert W. Scribner, pp. 217–241.
- ISBN 978-0-670-03296-9, pp. 266, 467–84.
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- Brodek, Theodor V. "Socio-Political Realities of the Holy Roman Empire," Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1971, 1(3), pp. 395–405.
- (in German) Dumont, Karl Theodor & Robert Haass. Geschichte der Pfarreien der Erzdiöcese Köln. Köln: Bachem, 1883–.
- (in German) Ennen, Leonard. Geschichte der Stadt Köln, meist aus den Quellen des Kölner Stadt-Archivs, Vol. 5. Köln/Neuß, L. Schwann'sche Verlagshandlung, 1863–1880.
- (in German) Floß, Heinrich Joseph Prof. Dr. "Eroberung des Schlosses Poppelsdorf, Sprengung und Erstürmung der Burg Godesberg und Einnahme der kurfürstlichen Residenzstadt Bonn. November 1583 – Februar 1584." In: Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein, insbesondere die alte Erzdiözese Köln. Sechsunddreißigstes Heft, pp. 110–178. Köln: DuMont-Schauberg. 1881.
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- Lomas, Sophie Crawford (editor). Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth. Volume 18: July 1583 – July 1584 (1914), pp. 278–295. Norreys to Herle, October 8–18, 1583. Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth, Volume 18: July 1583 – July 1584 (1914), pp. 250–265. Gebhard to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of London, 22 November 1583. Institute of Historical Research, British History Online Archived 2014-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, University of London & History of Parliament Trust, 2009. Accessed 22 November 2009.
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- ISBN 978-0-415-12883-4.
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- (in German) Potthoff, Tanja. Die Godesburg – Archäologie und Baugeschichte einer kurkölnischen Burg, Inaugural dissertation, University of Munich, 2009.
- (in German) Potthoff, Tanja. Die Belagerung und Zerstörung der Burg Godesberg im Jahre 1583. In Wagener, Olaf and Laß, Heiko (eds.). ... wurfen hin in steine/grôze und niht kleine ... Belagerungen und Belagerungsanlagen im Mittelalter. Beihefte zur Mediaevistik, Band 7, Peter Lang Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2006, ISBN 3-631-55467-2.
- Scribner, Robert W. "Why Was There No Reformation in Cologne?" Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 49(1976): pp. 217–241.
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- (in German) Stiehl, Eckart. Die Stadt Bonn und ihr Umland: ein geographischer Exkursionsführer. Ferd. Dümmlers Verlag. ISBN 978-3-427-71661-7, 1997.
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- (in German) Untermann, Matthias. "primus lapis in fundamentum deponitur" Kunsthistorische Überlegungen zur Funktion der Grundsteinlegung im Mittelalter, Heidelberg University archive, p. 6. Originally published in: Cistercienser. Brandenburgische Zeitschrift rund um das cisterciensische Erbe 6, 2003, issue 23.
- (in German) Vochezer, Joseph. Geschichte des fürstlichen Hauses Waldburg in Schwaben, v. 3 (1907), Kempten. Kösel, 1888–1907.
- (in German) Wiedemann, Alfred. Geschichte Godesbergs und seiner Umgebung. Frankfurt am Main: Mohnkopf Reprints, 1920, [1979]. ISBN 978-3-8128-0025-9.
- (in German) Weyden, Ernst. Godesberg, das Siebengebirge, und ihre Umgebungen. Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag, 1864.
External links
- Media related to Siege of Godesberg (1583) at Wikimedia Commons