The handwritten tradition of the Chronicle of the Bishops of Würzburg, composed by Lorenz Fries (1489/91–1550) and continued by various authors up to the eighteenth century with additions reflecting the contemporary history of their respective periods, today comprises around 180 copies known to research. However, the number of additional, now-lost manuscripts is undoubtedly much higher.
Originally, two fair copies of Fries’s “core chronicle” were prepared: one for the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg and another for the Cathedral Chapter. The version made for the Cathedral Chapter has been preserved to this day in the Würzburg City Archive. The copy for the Bishop was destroyed on 22 February 1572 during the fire that consumed the south wing of Marienberg Fortress. In its place, Prince-Bishop Julius Echter of Mespelbrunn (1545–1617) commissioned the production of a new, magnificently illustrated copy from 1574 onwards – the manuscript now kept in the University Library Würzburg under the shelfmark M.ch.f.760 and presented digitally here. It is regarded as one of the most beautifully illuminated Fries chronicles.