page_title: Miltenberg
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Miltenberg / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Miltenberger Heune-Saeule in Mainz Hinweisplatte Quelle: Privat Lizenz: GNU FDL
context_page_description: Miltenberg is a town in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named district and has a population of over 9,000.
context_section_description: After the withdrawal of the Romans from the area, the regional population declined. Burgundians and Alemanni moved through the lower Main region, but it was only under the Franks (after 500 AD) that the population density again rose noticeably. Their settlements often did not simply grow out of the formerly Roman cores but included separate newly established sites.
  Early Medieval settlers concentrated on the area south of the former Altstadtkastell, northwest of the current town. A Carolingean church was likely built there (9th century) and stones from the castrum were used in early Medieval fortifications nearby. In the 10th to 12th century a town wall was added to this castle-like structure, largely following the foundations of the castrum. A flooded moat surrounded the wall. A Romanesque church was built inside the walled area. This settlement likely was the civitas Walehusen, owned by the Count Palatinate in his role as Vogt of Lorsch Abbey. This was destroyed in 1247 by troops of the Archbishop of Mainz, Siegfried III.
  At this point, the population of Walehausen/Wallhausen was likely moved to the village Miltinburc, previously founded by Mainz during the first quarter of the 13th century and mentioned first in 1226. Another village, Vachhausen, in between Miltinburc and Wallhausen, was abandoned in the Middle Ages, but the Gothic Laurentiuskapelle, located far from the Medieval center of Miltenberg, was built on the remains of the earlier Romanesque parish church of Vachhausen.
  Already by the early Middle Ages, the area's red buntsandstein was highly sought-after, with products such as grindstones and columns being hewn in the surrounding woods. The so-called Heunensäulen were made near Miltenberg. They are special bunter columns likely intended  for Mainz Cathedral when it was built around the year 1000. The master builder, however, apparently decided that they were not needed, so they never became part of the cathedral. One of the monoliths now stands in Mainz’ cathedral square, a gift to the city on the occasion of the cathedral's 1,000th anniversary in 1975. Other columns are at Munich (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum) and Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum).
  Miltenberg/Miltinburc grew around a Mainz toll station built on the river bank in the 13th century, protected by the Mildenburg (castle). The castle itself dates from the 12th century. In 1237, the village was awarded the status of town. It profited from the Stapelrecht which forced passing merchants to store their wares locally and offer them for sale for some days. This boosted construction of inns and warehouses. For protection, walls from the castle were extended around the town. This oldest part of the town was just 100 meters east to west, extending west from today's Schnatterloch. The first expansion of the settlement stretched east to the Mittelturm and west to the Schwertfegerturm (both later demolished). By the 14th century, the town had expanded to the limits which roughly endured until the 19th century: from Würzburger Tor (east) to Spitzenturm/Mainzer Tor (west). 
  During its financial heyday, Miltenberg also saw considerable construction activity: Of the many profane Gothic structures today only the winery, a warehouse and the former synagogue remain. Gothic churches included the Stadtkirche (St Jakobus) but it mostly lost its original exterior character when it was rebuilt in the 1830s. The nearby  Wallfahrtskapelle Maria ad gradus (built circa 1400) was demolished in 1825. Close to the Spital zum heiligen Petrus, a hospital dedicated to St. Peter and founded circa 1310 by Peter of Aspelt, Archbishop of Mainz, the Spitalkirche was constructed (demolished 1846).
  Its strategic position on the bend of the navigable river and on the important trade route Nuremberg-Frankfurt made Miltenberg a politically influential member of the nine town league (Neun-Städte-Bund) of Mainz. This state of affairs lasted until the German Peasants' War in 1525, when the local representative, Friedrich Weygand, sided with the peasants and was executed. He had also favo
caption: Inscription on the Heunensäule
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