Sept 1519

In the months since the Imperial Election, Archbishop Richard had found new energy, and while he had been lax in his duties as a temporal leader he had seemed to embrace these duties of late. Before him were a number of drawings, which he had his architects draw up for him. They were the designs of a fine new palace in the newest Renaissance style sweeping Germany. Incorporated as one of the wings was the ancient Aula Palatina, giving the proposed palace an unconventional visage.

"Ancient and modern, combined in one," the Archbishop muttered as he studied two competing designs. He could not help but think that the conversion of the structure to something more akin to a palace than a fortification would be a welcome change, for the existing structure was not always the most comfortable. He settled on one of the designs, one a bit more ostentatious than he might have otherwise chosen. He expected that the monies promised to him during the election would go a long way toward easing the burden on his own purse.

While expanding the Electoral Palace was an ambitious project in and of itself, another had weighed on him as well, the expansion of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The fall of Luxembourg fortress to the French put the anchor of the Empire's western marches in their hands. Ehrenbreitstein was a site blessed with excellent geography overlooking the city of Koblenz. Like his palace in Trier this site had existed for millennia, but it had to change with the new ways of war.

The Archbishop had summoned the young dean of the Trier Canon, Johann von Metzenhausen, to his chambers.

"Ah, Johann, I have a special task for you. This will require some discretion on your part, so I can understand if you refuse."

Johann was confused, as he had spent many of the recent days preparing for the meeting in Leipzig. "I am yours to command, Archbishop. Am I not bound for Leipzig?"

Richard shook his head, "your work in that matter will not go to waste, but I have a much more important task for you. You will go south to Italy. You must not be too conspicuous, but we need you to go where the armies have marched and to find an engineer who has experience in building fortifications that can resist French canon. I will provide you with a monetary inducement for such a man to come north and design an improved fortress at Koblenz."

Details

• Construction of an improved Electoral Palace in Trier. Initial investment: 225,000 florins

• Sent Johann von Metzenhausen to Italy to hire a fortification engineer with experience. He is sent with 50,000 florins to induce the best engineer to come north.