page_title: History of the Ruhr
section_title: Late Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Ruhr / Late Middle Ages
context_page_description: The actual boundaries of the Ruhr vary slightly depending on the source, but a good working definition is to define the Lippe and Ruhr as its northern and southern boundaries respectively, the Rhine as its western boundary, and the town of Hamm as the eastern limit.
  In the Middle Ages, local power was vested primarily in the counts of Berg, Mark and Cleves. The left bank of the Rhine was held by the Archbishop of Cologne. The Hellweg was an important trade route crossing the region from Duisburg to Dortmund and beyond as far as the rivers Weser and Elbe. The most important towns of the region were concentrated along the Hellweg.
  As a result of the Congress of Vienna the entire area came under the control of Prussia. This event was almost concomitant with developments which would eventually make the region one of the most important industrial areas in the world.
  In 1946 the state of North Rhine-Westphalia came into being, centred on the Ruhr. Nowadays, its hitherto important coal and steel industries have drastically declined and the region is in a state of re-adjustment.
context_section_description: 1253 – On a bridge over the Lippe in Werne, Dortmund, Soest, Münster und Lippstadt founded the Werne Federation (Werner Bund). This union of towns became a forerunner of the Hanseatic League. Dortmund soon took on a leading role  for all Westphalian towns in the League.
  1254 – Battle on the Wülferichskamp east of Dortmund
  1283–1289 – War of the Limburg Succession. The weakened position of the ducal power, i.e. the Archbishop of Cologne, after the Battle of Worringen in 1288, hardens the powerful position enjoyed by the counts. In the Ruhr, this applies especially to the participants in the conflict – the  counts of Berg and Mark, but also indirectly to the neutral Count of Cleves.
  1290 – Duisburg is 'mortgaged' to the Count of Cleves – it  ends up finally under the possession of Cleves (presumably because the Emperor did not have enough finance at his disposal to buy it back).
  1321 –  Count Engelbert II of the Mark awards Bochum town rights (he is celebrated today in the Engelbert Fountain).
  1350 – The Black Death reaches the Ruhr.
  1371 – The erection of a toll-booth on the Homberger Werth marks the founding of Ruhrort.
  1388–1389 – Great Dortmund Feud, the imperial city of Dortmund tries to assert its independence, but becomes deeply indebted in doing so.
  1389 – In a document by Count Engelbert III of the Mark is the first mention of the  Sälzer zu Brockhausen. It is the first evidence for full-scale salt extraction in Unna.
  1396 – The oldest written evidence of wild horses in the Emscher valley. The use of stock in the Emscherbruch between Waltrop and Bottrop was a privilege reserved for the nobility. Whereas towns were concentrated on the Hellweg and River Lippe, the region in between was sparsely populated
  1398 – The County of Cleves is inherited by the Count of Mark
  1397 – The Battle of Kleverhamm consolidates the position of the Count of the Mark.
   1403 – The Wildungen Altar is completed – the first work of the Dortmund artist Conrad von Soest.
  1424 – In the war between the two brothers Adolphus and Gerhard of the Mark, Hattingen is conquered by Berg troops and completely burned down, apart from two houses. The town must be re-built anew.
  1444–1449 – Soest Feud, the towns of Dorsten and Recklinghausen in the Vest Recklinghausen are bases for the power struggle of the Archbishop of Cologne. In March 1445, a night attack by the Köln troops on the town walls of Duisburg is detected just in time and fended off. During action in the territory of Dortmund,  the Steinerne Turm is besieged and damaged.
  1486 – Two Landtag sittings agree to the raising of a special  tax in the Grafschaft Mark for the benefit of  Duke John II of Cleves. The relevant account book, the Schatboick in Mark, contains a note of all tax obligations and thereby contains much information on the district.
caption: Wildungen Altar
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