page_title: History of Speyer
section_title: The Staufer dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: History of Speyer / The Staufer dynasty
caption_attribution_description: English: Remnants of Augustine monastery in Speyer Deutsch: Reste des Augustiner Klosters in Speyer
context_page_description: The history of Speyer begins with the establishment of a Roman camp in 10 BCE, making it one of Germany's oldest cities. Its name evolved from Spira, first mentioned in 614. As of 1294 a Free Imperial City, the town became renowned for its Romanesque cathedral, its vibrant Jewish community, its seat of the Imperial Chamber Court, for 50 diets that took place within its walls, most notably 1526 and 1529, and last but not least, for the Protestation at Speyer. For several centuries from the Middle Ages into the early modern period, Speyer was one of the main centres of gravity of the Holy Roman Empire.
context_section_description: In the ensuing struggle for the royal crown the Welf candidate sponsored by the archbishop of Mainz, Lothar III succeeded to the throne on 13 September 1125. Speyer again supported the rival Staufer king, later Conrad III, and again, chased a bishop, this time Siegfried II of Wolfsölden (1127–1146), out of town for his support of the Welf. The Staufers took refuge in Speyer. In the Imperial Chronicle it says that they expressed their gratitude by making it their principal town. In 1128 King Lothar and Archbishop Adalbert put Speyer, which by then must have been totally surrounded by walls, under siege and it had to surrender short of starvation.
  Lothar III stayed in Speyer twice for longer periods of time in 1135 and 1136. After his death in 1138 the Staufer Conrad III. ascended to the throne. He continued the practice of the Salians in keeping a common residence with the bishops in Speyer and the cathedral school as an imperial chancellery. The emperor also continued to rely on the support of the Speyer bishops holding most important offices of the empire. The cathedral school evolved into the “Diplomat School” of the empire and many clerics of the cathedral endowment were also in the service of the imperial chancellery.
  The Christmas sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux in the Speyer cathedral induced Conrad III, who was in town for the imperial diet of 1146, to participate in the Second Crusade. Two brass plates in the cathedral commemorate this event.
  In 1182, Conrad's nephew, Frederick I confirmed and expanded the privileges for Speyer granted in 1111. The script is the oldest document in the Speyer city archives. Unlike the people of Speyer, the inhabitants of the prince-bishopric outside the city walls remained serfs of the bishop under the old inheritance law well into modern history.
  Frederick had planned to be interred in the cathedral after his death but never returned from the Third Crusade. Therefore, his second wife Beatrice of Burgundy and his little daughter Agnes were put to rest in the cathedral in 1184.
  The crown passed to Frederick's son Henry VI whose reign was marked by the dispute with the church, opposing princes and by the secession of Sicily. In December 1192, Richard I of England was taken captive near Vienna on his return from the Third Crusade and handed over to Henry IV in Speyer on March 28, 1193 who imprisoned him in Trifels Castle for almost a year until England paid a royal ransom of 150,000 marks (65,000 pounds of silver). Presumably it was in this time, that Henry IV granted the town the liberty to elect a council of twelve citizens from their midst. The original document is lost but the privilege was confirmed in January 1198 by Philip of Swabia in a contract with the city. Thus, with the apparent approval of the bishop, Philip legitimatized the city council charter, which also made its way in Lübeck, Utrecht and Strasbourg around the turn of the century. It was another important step to become an independent city and once again underlined the emperor's interest in strengthening an urban society. It is especially remarkable, that the twelve councilors were neither appointed by the bishop nor were they required to swear an oath on him.
  Unless any kind of council existed before, this date marks the birth of the Speyer city council. Henry VI died 1197 in Messina and was interred in the Cathedral of Palermo.
  Henry's three-year-old son was too young to take the crown, and a struggle between Staufers and Welfs for the throne ensued. In the treaty of 1198 mentioned above, Speyer again sided with the Staufers and agreed to mutual aid with Henry's youngest brother, Philip of Swabia. His supporters crowned him that same year, while Otto IV of Brunswick was crowned as the candidate of the Welfs. 
  In the spring of 1199, the princes supporting the Staufers assembled in Speyer to affirm Philipp's right to the crown. In a note of protest to the pope they denounced his right to participate in the election of the German king, not to mention to declare it legitimate. They demanded that the Pope no longer in
caption: Remnants of the Augustine monastery in Hagedornsgasse
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