The Imperial City of Cologne: From Roman Colony to Medieval Metropolis (19 B.C.-1125 A.D.) is an urban history of Cologne from its imperial Roman origins as a northeastern frontier military outpost to a medieval metropolis on the German Empire’s northwestern border. This first history of Cologne, available in English, challenges received notions of late Roman ethnic identities, a Dark Age collapse of urban life, devastating Viking and Magyar incursions, and the origins of medieval urban government.

Joseph P. Huffman is Distinguished Professor of European History at Messiah College. He has published books, articles, and reviews in both English and German in Europe as well as in North America.

Forward Historic Preservation and European Urban History PrologueNatural History and Prehistoric Human Habitation Chapter 1Origins: Romano-Germanic Cologne (58 B.C.-A.D. 456) Chapter 2Rupture or Continuity? Merovingian Cologne (456-686) Chapter 3The Imperial Project Redux: Carolingian Cologne (686-925) Chapter 4The Age of Imperial Bishops I: Ottonian Ducal Archbishops and Imperial Kin (925-1024) Chapter 5The Age of Imperial Bishops II: Early Salian Archchancellors and Urban Patrons (1024-1056) Chapter 6The Great Pivot: Herrschaft meets Gemeinde in the Episcopate of Anno II (1056-1075) Chapter 7The Rhineland Metropolis Emerges: Herrschaft and Gemeinde during the Investiture Controversy (1075-1125) Chapter 8From Roman Colony to Medieval Metropolis: The Urban History of Cologne in Comparative European Context Bibliography