Fulda

Fulda, u, fortified town in the province of Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, on the right bank of the river Fulda. Here St. Boniface founded early in the 8th century, through the agency of Sturmius, a great Benedictine monastery, which, like Tours in France and Iona in Scotland, became the centre of missionary work for all Germany. The prince-bishops of Fulda were in 968 recognised as primates of the Teutonic abbeys; but in the following century the power and character of the foundation declined, and has never been recovered. The cathedral now extant is the fourth that has been built on the site of the original structure, where Boniface was buried. The episcopal palace and several seminaries also testify to the past importance of the town, which is dependent for its modern prosperity on the manufacture of woollen and linen goods, earthenware, and tobacco.