bordinate to the archbishop and his
_Vogt_; the council could issue regulations only with the consent of the
former, while in the judicial work of the latter, save in small
questions of commercial dishonesty, its sole function was advisory. By
the middle of the 14th century this situation was exactly reversed; the
elected town council was the supreme legislative power in all criminal
and civil causes, and in the court of the _advocatus_ two _Ratsmanner_
sat as assessors. The victory had been won over the archbishop; but a
fresh peril had developed in the course of the 13th century in the
growth of a patrician class, which, as in so many other cities,
threatened to absorb all power into the hands of a close oligarchy. In
1304 the commonalty rose against the patricians and drove them from the
city, and in the following year gained a victory over the exiles and
their allies, the knights, which was long celebrated by an annual
service of thanksgiving. This was the beginning of troubles that lasted
intermittently throughout the century. Bremen had been admitted to the
Hanseatic league in 1283, but was excluded in 1285, and not readmitted
until 1358. Owing to the continued civic unrest it was again excluded in
1427, and only readmitted in 1433 when the old aristocratic constitution
was definitively restored. But though in Bremen the efforts of the
craftsmen's "arts" to secure a share of power had been held in check and
the gilds never gained any importance, the city government did not, as
at Cologne and elsewhere, develop into a close patrician oligarchy.
Power was in the hands of the wealthy, but the avenues to power were
open to those who knew how to acquire the necessary qualification. There
was thus no artificial restraint put upon individual enterprise, and the
question of the government having been settled, Bremen rapidly developed
in wealth and influence.

The Reformation was introduced into Bremen in 1522 by Heinrich von
Zutphen. Archbishop Christopher of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1487-1558), a
brutal libertine, hated for his lusts and avarice, looked on the
reforming movement as a revolt against himself. He succeeded in getting
the reformer burned; but found himself involved in a life and death
struggle with the city. In 1532 Bremen joined the league of
Schmalkalden, and twice endured a siege by the imperial forces. In 1547
it was only saved by Mansfeld's victory at Drakenburg. Archbishop
Christopher was succeeded in 1