“Strasbourg, that most ancient and magnificent city, is called ‘Argentuaria’ by the Swiss and is situated along the Rhine.”1 So Hartmann Schedel introduced Strasbourg to readers of his Liber Chronicarum (usually dubbed the Nuremberg Chronicle in English) in 1493. In keeping with the universalizing aim of his book, he proceeded to weave the ciuitas vetustissima ac permagnifica into the events of biblical, Roman, and ecclesiastical history, with the patriarch Abraham, Julius Caesar, and Atilla the Hun all making an appearance. The account was accompanied by a lavish full-page illustration of the city’s skyscape centering on its gothic cathedral, whose soaring spire remains iconic to this day. Strasbourg was thus ranked historically and visually alongside the likes of Constantinople, Rome, and even Jerusalem.