Like many settlements, Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important early medieval highways: the trade route linking Cologne and Prague and the trade route from the North Sea to the Alps and on to Italy, the former crossing the river Lahn here. The settlement was protected and customs were raised by a small castle built during the 9th or 10th century by the Giso. Marburg has been a town since 1140, as proven by coins. From the Gisos, it fell around that time to the Landgraves of Thuringia, residing on the Wartburg above Eisenach.
In 1228 the widowed princess-landgravine of Thuringia, Elisabeth, chose Marburg as her dowager seat, as she did not get along well with her brother-in-law, the new Landgrave. The countess dedicated her life to the sick and would become after her early death in 1231, aged 24, one of the most eminent female saints, St. Elisabeth of Hungary. She was canonized in 1235.
In 1264, St Elizabeth's daughter Sophie of Brabant, succeeded in winning the Landgraviate of Hesse, hitherto connected to Thuringia, for her son Henry. Marburg (alongside Kassel) was one of the capitals of Hesse from that time until about 1540. Following the first division of the landgraviate, it was the capital of Marburg from 1485 to 1500 and again between 1567 and 1605. Hesse was one of the more powerful second-tier principalities in Germany. Its "old enemy" was the Archbishopric of Mainz, one of the Prince-electors, who competed with Hesse in many wars and conflicts for coveted territory, stretching over several centuries.
After 1605, Marburg became just another provincial town, known mostly for University of Marburg. It became a virtual backwater for two centuries after the Thirty Years' War, 1618�1648, when it was fought over by Hessen-Darmstadt and Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel. The Hessian territory around Marburg lost more than two thirds of its population, which was more than in any later wars (including World War I and World War II)
