Marienburg (Warhammer)

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Marienburg is a fictional city in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. It is a wealthy city that has broken apart from the rest of the Empire. It is renowned for its flourishing sea trade and the flamboyant dress of its merchants. At the time of the setting of the Games Workshop game Mordheim, it had not yet broken away.

Marienburg was once part of the Empire, but gained independence though a massive transfer of gold into the imperial coffers during the reign of Boris Goldgather. Any subsequent attempts to subdue Marienburg and bring it back within rule of the Empire have failed, and today Marienburg remains a fiercely independent city where the Count of Norland, nominally the ruler of Marienburg, is forbidden to return under pain of death.

Marienburg has long been the largest and most prosperous trading city in the Old World. Many call it the City of Gold which alone conveys a good idea of the wealth of this sprawling cosmopolitan city. Nowhere else can be found the vast array of shops selling goods from as far away as the Elven kingdoms of Ulthuan in the west and distant Cathay in the east. The city’s craftsmen represent every skill known to man, and a few others beside, so that it is said in Marienburg there is no activity that cannot be quickly turned to profit.

Many mercantile guilds have their headquarters in Marienburg, most important of all the secretive High Order of Honorable Freetraders which represents the elite amongst mercantile society. This large, rich and ambitious body of men feel themselves shackled by the old order and are eager to seize power for themselves.

Timeline of Marienburg-

(notes: This Timeline is based on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and as such there have been a few changes, most notably that Sea Elves are now considered High Elf traders. Also note that the abbreviation IC= imperial calendar)

• -4550 to -2000: Elves founded Sith Rionnasc'namishathir, "Fortress of the Star Gem on the Sandy Coast." They were joined by the dwarfs who provided much construction work in the city.
• -1997 to -1500: The 'War of the Beard' between the elves and dwarfs , which tore the Old World apart, causes the cities downfall. Although the dwarves won control of the city after a protracted siege, they left after several decades, razing the city to the ground.
• 0 to 100 IC: The date of the arrival of humans is unknown. A tribe called the 'Jutones' were operating in this area of the Old World, and it is likely that these were the source of Marienburg's founder. The Jutones were fiercely independent, being the last tribe to swear allegiance to Sigmar Heldenhammer. As the Empire established firmer control over its territory, the title of Baron of the Westerland was granted to Marieus, a Jutone descendent. Marieus founded Marienburg in his name.
• 765 IC: The 'Treaty of Traktatsey'. Concluded at Althing, it ended the long wars between the Norse and the Empire, and inspired trade. It is of particular interest to historians, the treaty is the earliest original documentation of Marienburg still present in the Old World today (held in the University Library).
• 936 IC: Marriage with Duke of Mousillon
• 1087 IC: 'Treaty of Pend' seals the relationship with eastern Albion. There were several, shorter lived, treaties in the preceding years with other countries, but the overall effect was to increase Marienburg's influence as an accessible trading port.
• 1152 IC: Marienburg, being removed from the centre of the Empire is unaffected by the 200 year Age of Wars.
• 1597 IC: Marienburg is seized by the Bretonnian army. After five years, the Empire forces the occupiers to retreat.
• 2150 IC: This marks the important date when the Sea Elves returned to the Old World, and Marienburg offered their original Land back in exchange for exclusive trading rights. Marienburg now plays host to the largest Sea Elf Enclave, with all the riches that entails.
• 2302 IC: The last of the Van der Maacht Lineage and Baron of the Westerland was killed in battle in the last incursion of Chaos. He was 15 and left no heirs. A power squabble immediately broke out amongst the other Imperial Nobility, all of whom tried to claim that they had rights to Westerland. But three powerful Marienburg merchants, Jan Koopmans, Pieter Winkler and Thijs van Onderzoeker approached Magnus (Emperor) and proposed that a council of merchants run Marienburg to save political favouritism.
• 2305 IC: The edict was signed that officially changed Westerland from a barony to a province, still remaining part of the Empire.
• 2378 IC: Successful campaigns against raiding pirates by the private Marienburg's Merchant Navy allows the council to persuade the Emperor to disband the Imperial Second Fleet in Marienburg. Marienburg also appointed its own excise officers, with the Imperial Tax men merely checking the books. The true power had shifted to the side of the Merchants.
• 2429 IC: Westerland formally seceded from the Empire, due to punitive Imperial Wars and Taxes. Prince Wilhelm attempts to regain the city three times, but a war-exhausted Army fails.
• 2499: Marienburg Present Day. Marienburg has only been independent from the Empire for seventy years. Although the majority of tension between the two has died down - Marienburg is far too important to the Empire's trade routes for it to be ostracised for long - Marienburgers will be treated slightly coldly if they choose to visit the Empire.