Battle of Frankfurt (Merveilles des Morte)
| Battle of Frankfurt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A woodcut engraving depicting fighting within the Frankfurt reichstag | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Jungist Frankfurters |
| ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Hieronymus the Younger |
 Joachim Benz | ||||||
The Battle of Frankfurt, also known as the Battle of the Twin Towers, is considered the first battle at the start of the Forty Years' War, and the direct catalyst to its further escalation. The culmination of the contentious Imperial Elections of 1595-96, the Battle of Frankfurt saw an outbreak of violence between Catholic and Jungist electors within the city of Frankfurt, as well as their supporters. The battle is famous for its violence within the Reichstag itself, something that had not transpired since the Henrican Civil War a century prior.
Following the Battle of Frankfurt two separate Holy Roman Emperors would be elected by the Jungist and Catholic electors respectively: Frederick V from the Electoral Palatinate representing the Catholics, and Joktan from Hesse representing the Jungists. The early phase of the Forty Years' War is known as the Frankfurt War, named for its origin.
Background
Elections of 1595-96
On 13 August 1595 Charles V, the Catholic Emperor from the Duchy of Livonia, died at the age of 68. The Emperor met his demise after an accidental impaling while trying on the armor and armament of his grandfather Marek Ironside during a dinner party, leaving the Holy Roman Empire to an uncertain fate. Charles had managed to keep the empire intact while serving as a neutral emperor, but his death put into motion a plan by his allies to keep Catholic control over the throne. Before his death, Charles V coordinated with the Catholic League, agreeing to put his son-in-law Frederick V of the Palatinate in his will as his successor, as he was deemed a neutral candidate that both the Habsburg and the Arpads could agree upon. Thus the Catholic side was highly organized behind one candidate, and entered the conference already confident in having secured half the electorate. With the victory in the Trier War, the Archbishopric of Trier could be counted as Catholic once more, as could the rest of the ecclesiastic electors, even in the wake of Hamburg-Lubeck’s conversion to Jungism.
Prior to the election the Rätian Union was disorganized in regards to its stance. The ongoing political schism between the “Optimates and Populares” of the Union – the lack of trust between the nobility and Jenagothas versus lower class politicians uplifted by the new government system – led to an internally focused government, which was hesitant to respond to foreign matters. However, the imperial delegation at the behest of President of the Magi Jair von Jenagotha sought to have a unified opinion going into the election. Gedeon II of Thuringia and Henry V of Saxony would be persuaded to form a strong voting bloc, voting for an agreed upon third party if needed, and not voting without consulting the other first. Similarly Bohemia and Brandenburg, although both preferring to elect a fellow Premyslid, found a Jungist Emperor non-negotiable in the wake of the religious upheaval in Bohemia before and during Charles V’s reign.
Although elderly by the time of the election, Zebulon Zobel retained the position of Premier Captain, and was a crucial vote for the Catholics. During Charles V’s reign he had also elevated three Catholic guardsmen, leaving the Imperial Guard in total at six Catholics and three Jungists, which would make a Jungist-backed veto of Zobel’s vote impossible. By chance the cabinet member votes were given to two Jungist-leaning officials who happened to agree, creating what would become a completely even 9-9 split of the imperial electorate.
Both sides attempted to sway or bribe members from the other to their cause. The most obvious targets were the cabinet members, Jaromir III of Bohemia and Imperial Guard Saumon Meise. Despite repeated attempts to bribe both men, Jaromir III refused because of the Catholic side’s chosen candidate, and Meise was zealously anti-Catholic and favored chaos over compromise. Simon Burkhart II secretly tried to pressure the Archbishop of Bremen to switch his vote, but when this was revealed the Hansa was lambasted by the other Archbishops, and complaints were sent to have Simon excommunicated. Charle V’s wife and his successor, Marek II, were both pressured to invoke the “Right of God’s Arbitration”, which would have undoubtedly benefited the Jungists by invalidating several ecclesiastic votes, but both were Catholic and refused.
After a deadlock of nearly three weeks, the conference was paused in preparation for Christmas, with plans to resume discussion and voting during the following spring. The Archbishop of Cologne would not return to Frankfurt, as he was adamant against changing his vote. Other electors, such as Henry V of Saxony, elected to not leave the city at all, preferring to monitor the situation closely. Allegedly, while traveling out of the city, an attempted assassination attempt was carried out against Saumon Meise, which would have ended the schism if it succeeded. Meise miraculously fought off his attackers and escaped, going into hiding. Jaromir III would elect to vote by proxy the coming spring, sending his brother Charles in his stead.
In late March voting was resumed. By this time the general populace was well aware of the issues and had their own opinions on the matter, as did numerous foreign nations. During the arrival of the Rätian delegates, which was now traveling with a large caravan of guards and courtiers, an impromptu parade broke out among the largely Jungist population of Frankfurt. Conversely, the Archbishop of Mainz was coldly received, but nonetheless, entered the city with a large group of some 200 attainers. Numerous foreign dignitaries had arrived in the city, including a papal legate with word that Simon Burkhart had been excommunicated. It was hoped this would incite rebellion against him and perhaps turn the Hanseatic League Catholic once more, but it seemed to have the opposite effect of hardening Burkhart’s resolve.
Protestation in Frankfurt
The deadlock would continue over the next few months, causing increasingly escalated bouts of violence and intrigue. Protests began across the city, much to the dismay of the leading mayors and city council. During one incident, the Archbishop of Salzburg organized a procession of the Catholic population through the city for a saint’s feast day, causing the gathered crowd to be attacked by onlookers. Three days later Salzburg was pushed out of town by a mob, with several of his entourage being captured. According to one account, "boisterous Jungists of Frankfurt... having captured a plethora of priests, nuns, and friars, caused divers feather beds to be ripped, and all the feathers thrown into a great hall, whither the nuns and friars were thrust naked with their bodies oiled and pitched and to tumble among these feathers." The Archbishop of Mainz and other officials from the late government of Charles V would begin organizing an armed response, calling upon reserves of the Imperial army to begin organizing around Frankfurt. A force of some 800 men from Darmstadt would be sent to the city strictly for the purposes of alleged peacekeeping.
This decision was highly controversial and caused the city to fall into a panic. The solution by Salentin von Isenburg, Senior Mayor of Frankfurt, was to produce an ancient-looking document which he claimed was an edict from Henry VIII, Holy Roman Emperor, which decreed that generals and their armies, or any weapons, were not allowed within the city, as the city was to be a neutral meeting place, based on the rules of the ancient Roman Republic. Although almost certainly a forgery by Isenburg, the expertly crafted law and the evidence surrounding it was enough to halt the Archbishop of Mainz’s proposed plan for the time being. Instead the Archbishop’s militia was camped at Mörfelden, just south of Frankfurt and outside the city limits.
So would begin a year long struggle by the partnership of Salentin von Isenburg and Junior Mayor Isaac Grieff to deter any damage to Frankfurt. Isenburg was an elderly and experienced politician, having served all his life in the Frankfurt assemblies, and multiple times as mayor. Grieff on the other hand was a young and untested man from a non-noble family, who unexpectedly rose to the position of Junior Mayor after receiving a plethora of throwaway votes. Fearing that both sides were in favor of increased escalation, the mayors would begin strategically spying on and befriending the various electors, hoping to learn of any plot before it could be initiated.
In early May the Mayors received word that Jungist extremists were planning to plant explosives in the city and kill some of the Catholic electors. Isenburg organized a very public feast with several prominent Catholics in the hopes of attracting the group's attention, and during the feast, Grieff searched underneath the building’s floorboards to discover the planted bomb and disarm it. Unaware of the bomb plot, Jungists perceived Isenburg as becoming Catholic-leaning and criticized him. Nonetheless, Isenburg used this apparent Catholic trust to receive rumors of a plot to assassinate Charles Premyslid and leaked this information to the Jungists, ending their criticism of him.
Despite the ban on weapons and soldiers within the city, a local noble named Hieronymus the Younger, a nephew of prominent leader Hieronymus Kellner, began organizing a Jungist militia in the city. Hieronymus’ group would patrol the streets and occasionally acted as police, but more often than not was a force of intimidation against Catholics and protection for Jungists. On one occasion Hieronymus appeared outside the residence of the Archbishop of Bremen, attempting to stop him from leaving the house for the vote. After receiving news that the Archbishop had been trapped in his house for a week, a Catholic militia led by Ludwig von Glauburg was formed that scared off Hieronymus after some light fighting in the street.
Isenburg’s solution was to have all the electors still present assemble within the Reichstag, with enough supplies and supporters to potentially stay there without leaving. Although this ensured the safety of the electors and quelled violence for a time, it would ultimately lock all the most belligerent men in the city together in the same building. Each elector was granted a room or small wing of the building, and each day Isenburg hoped to have a vote undertaken in the center of the building. It became clear that they would not come to a solution on their own, and Isenburg and Grieff attempted to meet with various electors privately and negotiate a compromise. For the next two months the situation in the Reichstag became an unproductive one, with meetings between the two sides only turning to arguments, and hours spent separately turning into plotting sessions, talks of strategy, and sometimes impromptu parties. The period would later be dramatized by Shakespeare in his play, 16 Angry Men.
The Catholic side was increasingly confident in Frederick V of the Palatinate, and argued that despite no formal vote being concluded that would have granted him the title, on account of him having the closest to a passing vote, and with many Jungist electors refusing to participate, he was by right the proper emperor. On 30 July Frederick V was referred to openly for the first time as emperor, and the Catholic electors attempted to pressure Isenburg into allowing the rest of the legislature into the building to witness this and confirm it. A physical altercation broke out, with the Duke of Hesse being injured, and the Archbishop of Salzburg being thrown out the building’s window in a cart of manure that was below. Isenburg suffered a blow to the head and was carried out of the building by Grieff and attendants, leaving the electors to their own devices for the rest of the night.
Overview
The next morning Isenburg awoke to news of protests breaking out around the Reichstag. Hieronymus’ mob attempted to escort Catholic dignitaries into the building, and their parade soon turned into defensive march. The two mobs clashed outside the building, while the Frankfurter guard, numbering some 400 men on the periphery of the building, were essentially put to siege by the crowd outside, suffering 161 casualties over the following week. Inside the building, the electors initially split into their separate halves of the building, beginning the so-called “Battle of Twin Towers”. Over the course of the next week the electors and their handful of retainers fought to take over the interior of the Reichstag compound. On 2 August a nighttime sortee into the Catholic wing led to a dozen people dead, the wounding of Duke Elias of Brandenburg and Zebulon Zobel losing his left ear, before being carried away by fellow guard Stephen the Stranger and a Cologne clergyman.
Although those outside the city were partially aware of the situation, sending exact information outside the building was difficult. The Archbishop of Salzburg, essentially in house arrest two blocks away, coordinated news to outsiders, while Imperial Guard Johann von Tiefen attempted to send word to the Catholic force outside through carrier pigeon. Hieronymus’ mob ordered all birds around the Reichstag to be hunted, and for Catholic messengers to be killed, but slowly word did escape. The head of the Mainz army from Darmstadt, Jochen Benz, began marching on the city, capturing the outskirts of southern Frankfurt. East of Kelsterbach, his forces would be ambushed by Jungists who awaited his arrival and were stalking his camp, leading to a hard fought battle on 4 August. Nonetheless, Benz’s advance caused Catholic forces to launch an attack on the Reichstag, managing to smuggle 70 men through the crowds and into the building. These forces would be directly responsible for capturing Grand Admiral Henry von Sudland, and would claim the life of Andreas Vesalius, the High Medicus attempting to care for the wounded.
While the Catholics were smuggling men in, the Jungists attempted to smuggle someone out. Knowing that his lands were the closest to Frankfurt and hoping to personally lead a Jungist relief force, the Duke of Hesse managed to rappel out a window during the chaos. However, the following day he would be captured on the road and imprisoned by an opportunistic mercenary captain, but he managed to spread word beforehand, allowing a messenger to flee into Hesse and alert the Duke’s relatives.
With foreign forces now marching toward Frankfurt, Grieff led a small force of Frankfurter militia toward the Reichstag hoping to negotiate a truce. This was aided by Isenburg managing to capture several rebel leaders earlier that day, including Hieronymus. Ultimately the electors would come to a gentlemen’s agreement: they would all go their separate ways and make preparations for war if they wished, but they would all be allowed free access to flee the city in peace. It soon became a race among the electors to travel back to their home territories and convince the rest of their allies toward war. Frankfurt itself however proved too valuable to completely vacate, and both sides retained a vested interest.
Aftermath
Although the Battle of Frankfurt achieved little directly, it ensured that the schism between Catholic and Jungist electors would escalate into a full scale war. Immediately after the battle two emperors had been selected, and both sides prepared for war across the empire. Known as the Frankfurt War, the early phase of the Forty Years' War broke out after Frankfurt, with the first action of the war being the march of Joachim Benz' forces from Frankfurt to nearby Hanau. The battle and its aftermath also saw the rise of Joachim Benz, who would become the Catholic League's highest ranking general within the next few years.
Footnotes
Merveilles des Morte | ||
|---|---|---|
| Timeline |  | |
| Nations | ||
| History | ||
| Pages | ||
| Editorial | ||