Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral ( or, officially, ') is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz.

Mainz Cathedral is predominantly Romanesque in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It comprises three aisles and stands under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours. The eastern quire is dedicated to Saint Stephen.

The interior of the cathedral houses tombs and funerary monuments of former powerful Electoral-prince-archbishops, or , of the diocese and contains religious works of art spanning a millennium. The cathedral also has a central courtyard and statues of Saint Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.

left|thumb|Mainz Cathedral During the time of Mainz Archbishop Willigis (975–1011), the city of Mainz flourished economically, and Willigis became one of the most influential politicians of that time, ascending to regent of the empire between 991 and 994. In 975–976 shortly after his installation he ordered the construction of a new cathedral in the pre-Romanesque Ottonian architecture style. This new building was part of his vision of Mainz as the "second Rome".

This new cathedral was to take over the functions of two churches: the old cathedral and St. Alban's, which was the largest church in the area, belonging to a Benedictine abbey and serving as the burial ground for the bishops and other nobles, including Fastrada, a spouse of Charlemagne. Most of the synods and other important meetings were held at St. Alban's Abbey.

The new cathedral consisted of a double chancel with two transepts. The main hall was built in the typical triple-nave "cross" pattern. As was usual at that time no vault was included because of structural difficulties relating to the size of the building. Six towers rose from the church. A cloister was enclosed in the structure and a small freestanding church, St. Mary's Church, connected by a colonnade. This small church developed later into the collegiate church of St. Maria ad Gradus.

right|thumb|Present-day floor plan of the cathedral (↑S)Sandstone was used as the primary building material for the cathedral. The inside was plastered white under the Archbishop Bardo, probably in the middle of the 11th century. During renovations ordered by Henry IV in the late 11th century, much of the outside was also plastered, but the cornices were left exposed in their original red and yellow. It is believed that the coloring of the cathedral was changed on a number of occasions, but no further documentation of the coloring is available until records of the Baroque works.

thumb|South aisle

The cathedral suffered extensive damage from a fire on the day of its inauguration in 1009. Archbishop Bardo (Bardo of Oppershofen) presided over the completion of the cathedral begun under Willigis. By 1036 the main portions of the body of Mainz Cathedral were complete.

Emperors and the cathedral

When Mainz was an archbishopric, the cathedral was the official seat of the archdiocese. In 1184 Emperor Barbarossa celebrated the accolade of his sons in the cathedral. The feast of 1184 on the Maaraue, the Diet of Pentecost, became legendary in history as the greatest feast of the Middle Ages. It was from this cathedral that Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor of the time, officially announced his support for the Third Crusade during the Curia Christi of 27 March 1188.

During the Middle Ages, the right to crown German kings (and queens) was given to the Archbishop of Mainz. The crowning in Mainz awarded the monarch the kingdom of Germany, and a subsequent in Rome granted him the Holy Roman Empire (a nominal difference only). Because the cathedral was damaged several times, many crownings were not held there.

The following monarchs were crowned in Mainz Cathedral:

  • Conrad II on 8 September 1024 by Archbishop Aribo
  • Agnes de Poitou in 1043 by Archbishop Bardo
  • Rudolf of Rheinfelden (anti-king) on 26 March or 7 April 1077 by Siegfried I
  • Matilda (later wife of Henry V), on 25 July 1110 by Frederick I, Archbishop of Cologne
  • Philip of Swabia on 8 September 1198 by Bishop Aimo of Tarantaise
  • Frederick II on 9 December 1212 by Siegfried II of Eppstein
  • Heinrich Raspe on 22 May 1246 by Siegfried III of Eppstein

Burials

  • Bardo (archbishop)
  • Wezilo
  • Marianus Scotus
  • Bertold von Henneberg
  • Johannes Gutenberg

See also

  • High medieval domes

References

Sources

  • Wilhelm Jung: Mainz Cathedral; Translation: Margaret Marks, Editor: Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 1994
  • Ron Baxter: "The tombs of the archbishops of Mainz", in Ute Engel and Alexandra Gajewski (eds), Mainz and the Middle Rhine Valley. British Archaeological Assoc. Conference Transactions, 30, Leeds, British Archaeological Association and Maney Publishing. , 2007, pp. 68–79.

The German article references the following sources:

  • Die Bischofskirche St. Martin zu Mainz, ed.: Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, Knecht Publishers, Frankfurt/Main 1986
  • Lebendiger Dom – St. Martin zu Mainz in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed.: Barbara Nichtweiß, Philipp v. Zabern Publishers, Mainz 1998
  • Der Dom zu Mainz – Geschichte und Beschreibung des Baues und seiner Wiederherstellung, Friedrich Schneider, Publishers Ernst and Korn, Berlin, 1886
  • Der Dom zu Mainz – Ein Handbuch, August Schuchert, Wilhelm Jung, Verlag Druckhaus Schmidt & Bödige GmbH, 3rd Edition, Mainz, 1984
  • Deutsche Romanik, Bernhard Schütz, Wolfgang Müller; Herder Publishers, Freiburg i. Br. 1989
  • Mainz – Die Geschichte der Stadt, editors: Franz Dumont, Ferdinand Scherf, Friedrich Schütz; 2nd ed.; Publisher: Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1999

Additional (web) sources for the article include:

  • Mainz Online: Cathedral (extended history of the cathedral)
  • Diocese of Mainz: Cathedral (another history of the cathedral; in German)
  • Cathedral Museum Mainz (documentation of artefacts in the cathedral; in German)
  • Terce (= Mid-Morning Prayer) and Pontifical High Mass in Mainz Cathedral – Pentecost 2015 with Karl Cardinal Lehmann