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Was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire.
Establishment
January 1065: In 1064, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne founded a Benedictine abbey in the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a conflict between 1283 and 1289 for the succession in the Duchy of Limburg.
June 1288: The City of Cologne gained its independence from the Archbishopric of Cologne.
Was a feud that took place from 1444 to 1449 in which the town of Soest claimed its freedom from Archbishopric of Cologne.
June 1444: The town of Soest, that wanted to free itself from Archbishop Dietrich of Cologne (1414-1463), accepted a new suzerain, John I, the Duke of Cleves-Mark.
May 1449: After the Soest Feud, the archbishop of Cologne could keep Bilstein and Fredeburg.
Was a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies.
June 1474: The Burgundian army starts the siege of Neuss.
July 1474: End of the Burgundian siege of Neuss.
Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.
4.1.Thirty Years' War
Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.
4.1.1.Bohemian-Palatine period
Was the first period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with a protestant revolt in Bohemia, at the time a territory of the Habsburg Domains.
4.1.1.1.War in Palatinate
Was the theatre of war in Palatinate during the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1622: German Protestant military leader Christian of Brunswick captures Lippstadt.
January 1622: Christian of Brunswick captures Soest.
September 1622: From the summer of 1622, the territories of the Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine were occupied by the troops of the Catholc League. Frederick V of the Palatinate eventually lost his electoral dignity on February 23, 1623, which was transferred to Maximilian of Bavaria.
4.1.2.Swedish Period
Was the third main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of Sweden.
December 1632: Swedes under Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin take Deutz.
December 1632: Swedes had to retreat from Deutz after a powerful counterattack.
4.1.3.Franco-Swedish Period
Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.
4.1.3.1.North German Front (Sweden)
Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
November 1637: After the death of Swedish King Ferdinand II, his son and successor Ferdinand III brought the Swedish troops back to Pomerania, leaving the territories occupied by Sweden in Germany.
4.2.Düsseldorf Cow War
Was a military conflict over the status of church property in the duchies Jülich and Berg between the Palatinate and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
July 1651: In June 1651, 3,800 Brandenburg troops led by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, invaded Berg, which was ruled by Wolfgang Wilhelm, Duke of Berg. The invasion resulted in the death of two civilians, the bombardment of Wolfgang Wilhelm's palace, and the seizure of his wife's cows. The Brandenburg troops then established an encampment at Angermund as part of Prussia's military occupation of the territory.
November 1651: In 1651, during the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Neuburg and Brandenburg had disbanded their troops in the occupied regions, which then went under the control of the Archbishopric of Cologne.
Was a war between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic.
5.1.French invasion of the Dutch Republic
Was the French invasion of the Dutch Republic during the Franco-Dutch War.
June 1672: French forces conquer Burick.
December 1673: Münster and Cologne left the war in November. With the war expanding into the Rhineland and Spain, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.
The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Philip of Anjou and Charles of Austria, and their respective supporters. It was a global war, with fighting taking place in Europe, Asia, and America. At the end of the war, Philip II, who was the successor chosen by Charles II as a descendant of Charles' paternal half-sister Maria Theresa, became King of Spain and of its overseas empire. The Spanish possessions in Europe were partitioned between various European Monarchies.
6.1.Dutch and German Theatre (War of the Spanish Succession)
Was the theatre of war of the War of the Spanish Succession in Germany and the Low Countries.
July 1702: In June 1702, Kaiserswerth was captured by Prince Eugene of Savoy during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was then occupied by the Dutch Republic and Great Britain.
May 1703: Siege of Bonn.
July 1703: Rheinberg and Bonn fell early to the Allied forces led by France.
6.2.Treaty of Baden
Was a treaty between France and the Holy Roman Empire, to end the War of the Spanish Succession.
September 1714: In the Treaty of Baden the French and their allies returned the east bank of the Rhine River (the Breisgau) to Austria.
Was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. At the end of the war the main winner was Great Britain, that obtained territories in North America, the Caribbean and India, becoming the most powerful maritime and colonial of the European powers.
7.1.Central German Theatre
Was the theatre of war in central Germany of the Seven Years' War.
7.1.1.Counteroffensive against the French invasion of Germany
Was the Prussian and British counteroffensive against the French invasion of Germany during the Seven Years' War.
June 1758: The duke then crossed the Rhine, beating the numerically superior forces of Louis of Bourbon-Condé in the Battle of Krefeld on June 23 and occupying Düsseldorf.
July 1758: Despites having defeated the French, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel decided to leave Düsseldorf.
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
January 1803: Salm was created in 1802 as a state of the Holy Roman Empire in order to compensate the princes of Salm-Kyrburg and Salm-Salm, who had lost their states to France in 1793-1795. The new territory was not near most of the old territories of the princes, but instead extended the County of Anholt, which had been a minor possession of the prince of Salm-Salm. Most of the area was taken from the dissolved Bishopric of Münster.
February 1803: Reichsdeputationsschluss: the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Empire. The law secularized nearly 70 ecclesiastical states and abolished 45 imperial cities to compensate numerous German princes for territories to the west of the Rhine that had been annexed by France as a result of the French Revolutionary Wars.
March 1806: On 15 March 1806, the French emperor created the Granduchy of Berg and put it under the rule of his brother-in-law Joachim Murat. The Grand Duchy was a Napoleonic creation on territories formally part of several German states. Its capital was Düsseldorf.
August 1806: The Duchy of Nassau, named for its historical core city, Nassau, was founded in 1806.
8.1.War of the First Coalition
Were a series of wars between the Kingdom of France (later the French Republic) and several European Monarchies. The French Revolution had deteriorated the relations of France with the other European countries, that tried several times to invade France in order to crash the revolutionary government.
January 1795: The French armies drove the Austrians, British, and Dutch beyond the Rhine, occupying Belgium, the Rhineland, and the south of the Netherlands.
8.1.1.Flanders Campaign
Was a French military campaign in the Flanders.
December 1794: By 28 December the French had occupied the Bommelwaard and the Lands of Altena.
January 1795: On 10 January French general Pichegru ordered a general advance across the frozen river between Zaltbommel and Nijmegen and the allies were forced to retreat behind the Lower Rhine.
June 1795: Territory evacuated by the French at the end of the Flanders Campaign. The surrender of Luxembourg on 7 June 1795 concluded the French conquest of the Low Countries, thus marking the end of the Flanders Campaign.
8.1.2.Peace of Basel
Were a series of Treaties between the French Republic and Prussia, Spain and Hesse-Kassel that ended the War of the First Coalition with these countries.
April 1795: Peace of Basel of 1795 at the end of the War of the First Coalition between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Republic. France gained the left bank of the Rhine.
8.1.3.Rhine campaign of 1796
Were a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
June 1796: A division of French general Kléber's troops seized a bridge over the Sieg from Michael von Kienmayer's Austrians at Siegburg.
8.1.4.Rhine campaign of 1800
Was one of a series of battles in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition.
October 1796: The French retreated across the rivers Rhine and Elz, destroying all the bridges.
8.1.5.Treaty of Campo Formio
Was a treaty between France and Austria that ended the War of the First Coalition.
January 1798: The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI). The treaty transferred the Austrian Netherlands to France. The territories of Venice were partitioned, most were acquired by Austria. Austria recognized the Cisalpine Republic and the newly created Ligurian Republic. Extension of the borders of France up to the Rhine, the Nette, and the Roer.
8.2.War of the Second Coalition
Was the second war that saw revolutionary France against most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria, and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join this coalition, and Spain supported France.
January 1799: After the French occupation of the west bank of the Rhine around 1798 (Treaty of Campo Formio and Treaty of Lunéville), the Duke of Arenberg received new lands: the county of Vest Recklinghausen, the county of Meppen, and the lordship of Dülmen.
8.2.1.Suvorov Swiss campaign
Was a military campaign led by Russian general Alexander Suvorov against France that took place in Switzlerand.
October 1799: The Russian troops were forced by the French to abandon their hold on the left bank of the Rhine.
8.2.2.Treaty of Lunéville
Was a treaty between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire that formally ended the partecipation of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire in the War of the Second Coalition.
February 1801: The Treaty of Lunéville was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville between the French Republic and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Certain Austrian holdings within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were relinquished, and French control was extended to the left bank of the Rhine, "in complete sovereignty" but France renounced any claim to territories east of the Rhine. Contested boundaries in Italy were set. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was awarded to the French.
8.3.War of the Fourth Coalition
Was a war between the French Empire and a coalition of European monarchies, mainly Prussia and Russia.
8.3.1.Peace of Tilsit
Were a series of treaties that ended the War of the Fourth Coalition.
July 1807: The treaty signed between Prussia and France at Tilsit, following the War of the Fourth Coalition, was highly disadvantageous to Prussia. As a result of this agreement, the Kingdom lost most of its Polish territories to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Additionally, it ceded most of its territories in central Germany and the Rhineland to France, the Grand Duchy of Berg, and the Kingdom of Westphalia. The remnant territories occupied by France in Germany were evacuated.
January 1181: The Archbishopric of Cologne acquired Westphalia and Angria.
January 1183: In 1182 the Sayners explicitly appeared as counts in the Auelgau.
January 1282: Paderborn Prince-Bishopric gains imperial immediacy.
January 1369: The purchase and annexation of Werl-Arnsberg in 1368 united the territories of the north and south of the Sauerland.
January 1379: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire in the XIV century.
January 1425: The Cologne elector then built Kaiserswerth into a mighty fortress, which was expanded into a modern protective complex with five bastions in the 16th century.
January 1446: Bilstein fell to the Duchy of Westphalia in 1445, which belonged to the Electorate of Cologne.
January 1453: In 1452 half of Remagen was pledged to the Archbishop of Cologne by Duke Gerhard von Jülich-Berg.
January 1478: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire in the XV century.
January 1546: In 1545, the territory of Neuenahr was partitioned between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Jülich-Kleve-Mark.
July 1560: On May 4, 1554, Duke Wilhelm V of Cleve, Jülich and Berg redeemed half of Remagen, and on July 19, 1560 the other half.
January 1773: In 1762/1772 Kaiserswerth was given to the Electoral Palatinate by a judgment of the Imperial Chamber Court.
January 1788: Based on Gustav Droysen's Map of the Holy Roman Empire in the XVIII century.
Disestablishment
July 1807: The treaty signed between Prussia and France at Tilsit, following the War of the Fourth Coalition, was highly disadvantageous to Prussia. As a result of this agreement, the Kingdom lost most of its Polish territories to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Additionally, it ceded most of its territories in central Germany and the Rhineland to France, the Grand Duchy of Berg, and the Kingdom of Westphalia. The remnant territories occupied by France in Germany were evacuated.
Selected Sources
Addington, L. (1994): The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century, Bloomington (USA), p.24
Alison, A. (1835): History of Europe, W. Blackwood and Sons, pp. 86-90.
Articles secrets et convention additionelle du traité de Campo Formio. Retrieved on March, 24th 2024 on https://books.google.de/books?id=SStJAAAAcAAJ&dq=Trait%C3%A9%20de%20paix%20de%20Campo%20Formio&hl=de&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=Trait%C3%A9%20de%20paix%20de%20Campo%20Formio&f=false
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), p. 48
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 30-31
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 34-35
Droysen, G. (1886): Historischer Handatlas, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Germany), pp. 46-47
Frieden von Campoformio. Retrieved on March, 24th 2014 on https://books.google.de/books?id=UbGMtENHaBIC&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false
Gagliardo, J. (1980): Reich and Nation: The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806, Bloomington (USA), p. 192
Guthrie, W. (1798): A New geographical, historical and commercial grammar and present state of the several kingdoms of the world, printed for Charles Dilly and G.G. and J. Robinson, p. 473
Jorio, M. (2002): Basel, Frieden von (1795). Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/044887/2002-05-01/
Kreins, J. (2003): Histoire du Luxembourg, Paris (France), p. 63
Panhuysen, L. (2009): Rampjaar 1672: Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte, Uitgeverij Atlas
Poole, R.L. (1902): Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, Oxford (United Kingdom), Plate XI
Schmidt, G. (2006): Der Dreißigjährige Krieg, Munich (Germany), p. 65
Swiss campaign of Suvorov and his wonder-heroes. Top War. 30 September 2011. https://en.topwar.ru/7227-shveycarskiy-pohod-suvorova-i-ego-chudo-bogatyrey.html
Archbishopric of Cologne
