es; and in 1815 by the congress of
Vienna, the whole was assigned to Prussia. The last archbishop-elector,
Maximilian of Austria, died in 1801.

In Archbishop Hildebold's day Cologne was still contained by the square
of its Roman walls, within which stood the cathedral and the
newly-founded church of St Maria (known later as "im Capitol"); the city
was, however, surrounded by a ring of churches, among which those of St
Gereon, St Ursula, St Severin and St Cunibert were conspicuous. In 881
Norman pirates, sailing up the Rhine, took and sacked the city; but it
rapidly recovered, and in the 11th century had become the chief trading
centre of Germany. Early in the 12th century the city was enlarged by
the inclusion of suburbs of Oversburg; Niederich and St Aposteln; in
1180 these were enclosed in a permanent rampart which, in the 13th
century, was strengthened with the walls and gates that survived till
the 19th century.

The municipal history of Cologne is of considerable interest. In general
it follows the same lines as that of other cities of Lower Germany and
the Netherlands. At first the bishop ruled through his burgrave,
advocate, and nominated jurats (_scabini_, _Schoffen_). Then, as the
trading classes grew in wealth, his jurisdiction began to be disputed;
the _conjuratio pro libertate_ of 1112 seems to have been an attempt to
establish a commune (see Commune, Medieval). Peculiar to Cologne,
however, was the _Richerzeche_ (_rigirzegheide_), a corporation of all
the wealthy patricians, which gradually absorbed in its hands the
direction of the city's government (the first record of its active
interference is in 1225). In the 13th century the archbishops made
repeated efforts to reassert their authority, and in 1259 Archbishop
Conrad of Hochstaden, by appealing to the democratic element of the
population, the "brotherhoods" (_fraternitates_) of the craftsmen,
succeeded in overthrowing the Richerzeche and driving its members into
exile. His successor, Engelbert II., however, attempted to overthrow the
democratic constitution set up by him, with the result that in 1262 the
brotherhoods combined with the patricians against the archbishop, and
the Richerzeche returned to share its authority with the elected "great
council" (_Weiter Rat_). As yet, however, none of the trade or craft
gilds, as such, had a share in the government, which continued in the
hands of the patrician families, membership of which was necessary even