The ''Descriptio Wormatiensis civitatis'' ('description of the city of Worms'), also known as the ''Wormser Mauerbauordnung'' ('wall-building ordinance of Worms'), is an ordinance from about 900 concerning the maintenance of the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...

Manuscript and editions

The ''Descriptio'', which is written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, is preserved in the ''Wormser Chronik'' of . Zorn's work, which dates to 1576, combines material from several sources, including the ''

Annales Wormatienses The ''Annales Wormatienses'' (or ''Annals of Worms'', german: Wormser Annalen) is an anonymous Latin chronicle of the city of Worms for the years 1226–1278. It is a civic history, a relatively new genre in German kingdom at the time. It may be t ...

'' and the ''

Chronicon Wormatiense The ''Chronicon Wormatiense'' is a fragmentary anonymous Latin chronicle of the city of Worms, Germany. It was probably composed in the last quarter of the 13th century. There is an English translation by David Bachrach. The original text of the ...

''. The combined ''Descriptio'', ''Annales'' and ''Chronicon'' were published under the title ''Annales Wormatienses'' by

G. H. Pertz Georg Heinrich Pertz (28 March 17957 October 1876) was a German historian. Personal life Pertz was born in Hanover on 28 March 1795. His parents were the court bookbinder Christian August Pertz and Henrietta Justina née Deppen. He married twi ...

. The disentangling of the medieval texts combined in Zorn's was done by .David S. Bachrach, ed. (2014), ''The Histories of a Medieval German City, Worms c. 1000–c. 1300: Translation and Commentary'' (Farnham: Ashgate), pp. 25–26 and 40 n44. The ''Descriptio'' has been published three times: by Pertz,G. H. Pertz, ed. (1861), "Annales Wormatienses", in MGH, ''Scriptores'', Vol. 17, a
p. 37
by BoosHeinrich Boos, ed. (1893)
''Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Worms III: Annalen und Chroniken''
(Berlin: Weidmann), p. 203. and by Van De Kieft and Niermeyer.C. Van De Kieft and J. F. Niermeyer, eds. (1967), ''Elenchus fontium historiae urbanae'' (Leiden: E. J. Brill), pp. 43–44.

Content

The ordinance appears in the manuscript under the

rubric A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the la, rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th cent ...

''Descriptio Wormatiensis civitatis facta a Theodolacho episcopo Wormatiensi anno 873, qui obiit in Neuweiller anno 914 kal. sept., episcopatus anno quadrageismo primo'', "a description of the city of Worms made in the year 873 by Thietlach, bishop of Worms, who died in

Neuweiler Neuweiler is a municipality of the Calw district and region of Karlsruhe of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The municipality of Neuweiler was formed in 1975 by the merging of the towns of Agenbach, Breitenberg, Gaugenwald, Neuweiler, Oberko ...

in the year 914 on 1 September, in the forty-first year of his episcopate". Issued by Bishop Thietlach (), the ''Descriptio'' is more than a description. It is an ordinance assigning ''Mauerbaupflicht'', i.e., the construction and upkeep of specific sections of wall, to both neighbourhoods within Worms and the villages or manors outside it.Lynette Olson (2001), "Review of Paolo Squatriti, ''Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400–1000'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998)", ''Parergon'' 18(2):219–221. David S. Bachrach (2012), ''Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany'' (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press), p. 19 n31, dates it to the early tenth century.Paolo Squatriti (2002), "Digging Ditches in Early medieval Europe", ''Past & Present'' 176:11–65. The ordinance is a unique witness for its place and time. Lynette Olson calls it "a glimpse of transalpine urban life at its nadir, but still organised".

Places mentioned

The following places are mentioned in the ''Descriptio'': *Friesenquartier * Rudelsheim *

Gimbsheim Gimbsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies in Rhenish ...

Eich Eich may refer to: Places * Eich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Eich (Verbandsgemeinde), a collective municipality in Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Eich, Switzerland * Eich, Luxembourg People * Eich (surname), a list of people w ...

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

* Ibersheim *Rheindürckheim *

Alsheim Alsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History Alsheim is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ...

Mettenheim Mettenheim is a municipality in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

*Rheinquartier *

Murbach Abbey Murbach Abbey (french: Abbaye de Murbach) was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges. The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established a ...

*Pfauenpforte *Heimgereide * Bobenheim *Ligrisheim *

Roxheim Roxheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rüdesheim, who ...

Oggersheim Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

*Hemmingesheim *

Ruchheim Ruchheim is the far western suburb of Ludwigshafen am Rhein located in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. In the past Ruchheim was typically a small farming town, now however due to housing estates its population has burgeoned to approximat ...

*Karlbach * Kirchheim *Andreaspforte * Eisbach *

Mertesheim Mertesheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies in the no ...

* *

Pfrimm The Pfrimm is a , left or western tributary of the Rhine in the Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Course The Pfrimm rises in the southern part of the Donnersbergkreis. Its spring lies in the northern part of the Palatinate Forest Nature Park, ...

*Mühlbach *

Monzernheim Monzernheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History Monzernheim is mentioned in the Wormser wall-bu ...

Dienheim Dienheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Dienheim lies between Mainz and Wo ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Worms, Germany Medieval Latin texts de:Mauerbauordnung (Worms)