Adolphus I of Nassau held the archbishopric under disputed circumstances — his election in 1381 was contested by Ludwig von Meissen, and the resulting schism within the Mainz chapter dragged on for years under papal arbitration. These gulden were struck during a period when Adolphus was consolidating his political and financial footing, and the Rhenish electoral mints were producing gold at a pace driven as much by political signaling as by commercial need. The four Rhenish electors had standardized their gulden weights by treaty in 1386, making this issue one of the last struck before that agreement fully normalized the series.
Adolphus I of Nassau held the archbishopric under disputed circumstances — his election in 1381 was contested by Ludwig von Meissen, and the resulting schism within the Mainz chapter dragged on for years under papal arbitration. These gulden were struck during a period when Adolphus was consolidating his political and financial footing, and the Rhenish electoral mints were producing gold at a pace driven as much by political signaling as by commercial need. The four Rhenish electors had standardized their gulden weights by treaty in 1386, making this issue one of the last struck before that agreement fully normalized the series.