Court offices of the bishops of Speyer in the Middle Ages

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The court offices of the bishops of Speyer originated in the high Middle Ages and developed from daily service at the court of the bishop of Speyer to purely honorary positions.

Origin of the court offices

For the first time, evidence of the existence of court offices in Speyer is available in the middle of the 12th century. In 1148 a chamberlain (camerarius) and a truchseß (dapifer) were named. Around 1150 a gift ("pincerna") and 1160 a marshal ("marscalcus") are mentioned in a document . In 1271 there was a master cook (magister coquine), in 1300 a master chef ("spisarius") and in 1343/47 a butigler ("butiglarius", cupbearer ). The office of standard bearer can be proven for 1439. The four classic court offices of chief feast, chamberlain, tavern and marshal were usually also held at the courts of the other clergy princes .

From the end of the 11th century, ministerials were named as witnesses in the episcopal documents. However, this does not prove when the court offices of the bishops of Speyer were established. With the social advancement of these ministerials, the offices assigned to the rulers in the domicile have developed into honorary posts that were only given on special occasions, such as when a new bishop entered the city of Speyer . The daily service was now carried out by the servants , which gave them new opportunities through the closeness to the master. The inheritance of court offices was a process that took place during the 12th century. The families often had the official title as part of their family name, such as the Schenk von Wersau or Marschall von Kandel families .

Turn of the 13th / 14th century

Since the families of the eunuchs, the treasure troops and the taverns had died out and the bishops had to leave the city of Speyer , costly pomp and honorary posts were foregone.

Offices around 1343/47

From the beginning of the 14th century, information about the rights of the individual offices, about the associated official tenure and income and the related duties have been handed down. In a copy book , which was created under Bishop Gerhard von Ehrenberg (1336-1363), the classic court offices and the more recently created offices of chef, food master and butler are listed. Bishop Gerhard renewed the offices, renouncing the inheritance and with the greatest possible protection of the episcopal treasury.

Around 1343/47 Johann von Venningen was treasurer, Eberhard von Kirchhausen was marshal, Eberhard Rießer held the office of gift giving and Heinrich Kämmerer von Dürkheim was the treasurer. Eberhard von Mußbach and Butigler Eberhard Schnittlauch von Kestenburg were the master caterers. At that time the chamberlain received five silver marks , the marshal, the Schenk and the Truchseß each received three silver marks. The kitchen master, the caterer and the butler each received one mark. The payments were made by the monasteries of the diocese that were obliged to pay.

At that time, the treasury of the Counts of Leiningen consisted of rulership in the three villages of Arzheim , Ranschbach and Servelingen (a lost place near Arzheim). Other official loans are listed in the loan book .

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