“ MAINZ (Fr. Mayence) a city, episcopal see and fortress of Germany, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, almost opposite the influx of the Main, at the junction of the important main lines of railway from Cologne to Mannheim and Frankfort-on-Main, 25 m. W. of the latter. Pop. (1905) , 91,124 (including a garrison of 7500 men) , of whom two-thirds are Roman Catholic. The Rhine, which here attains the greatest breadth of its upper course, is crossed by a magnificent bridge of five arches, leading to the opposite town of Castel and by two railway bridges. ”

“ In 1792 the citizens welcomed the ideas of the French Revolution; they expelled their archbishop, Friedrich Karl Joseph d’Erthal, and opened their gates to the French troops. Taken and retaken several times during the next few years, Mainz was ceded to France by the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, and again by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. In 1814 it was restored to Germany and in 1816 it was handed over to the grand duke of Hesse ”

“ Among these men were Hatto I. (d. 913) , Siegfried III. of Eppstein (d. 1249) , Gerhard of Eppstein (d. 1305) , and Albert of Brandenburg (d. 1545) , all of whom played important parts in the history of Germany. There were several violent contests between rivals anxious to secure so splendid a position as the electorate, and the pretensions of the archbishops occasionally moved the citizens of Mainz to revolt. The lands of the electorate lay around Mainz, and were on both banks of the Rhine; their area at the time of the French Revolution was about 3200 sq. m. ”