Lorenz Fries (1489/91–1550) is regarded as the most important Franconian historiographer of the sixteenth century. He succeeded in combining his duties as diplomat and archivist with the work that was personally closest to his heart — that of a historian and chronicler of his own time. As a writer of history, he produced works of high literary quality, though written in the German language. Of outstanding importance among them is the Chronicle of the Bishops of Würzburg, whose core text, authorised by Fries, covers the period from the beginnings up to the year 1495. The corpus of the text was continued by various authors into the contemporary history of their own times, with additions extending into the eighteenth century.