ABSTRACT
The political and social events that framed the creation of the Book of Donors were among the most complex of Strasbourg's entire history. To understand the city's social and political climate in the later middle ages, it is necessary to go back to the era of ecclesiastical lordship. The later city historians never forgot their struggle for independence from their bishop, and never let their grasp of their cherished freedoms slip. The Book of Donors played an important part in this social unification as well. Heinrich Mullenheim is memorialized in the Book of Donors, and his descendants formed one of Strasbourg's most powerful clans. Strasbourg had settled into an oligarchy that blended Constofler and guild, with the richest amongst both classes having the most power. The west front, the altar of the Blessed Virgin, and the Book of Donors reinforced one another in a formula for social and devotional unity.
