Vogt of Soest
Vogt von Soest was a medieval office and a noble family named after it in the Soest area . The family should not be confused with the Knights of Soest or the Schultheiss von Soest.
Office
Until the city took over the bailiwick itself in 1279 with its ban, jurisdiction and the associated income, the Soest bailiwick existed. Even in the oldest layer of Soest town charter, the Vogt appeared as the highest secular judge and the mayor as the administrator of archbishopric property. The latter also had judicial functions. Both functionaries of the Archbishops of Cologne were in the function of Soest city lords . The archbishops were the actual overlords of the bailiwick and also paid the bailiffs. The Soest Vogtei belonged to the old rights of the archbishops. They already held this position before the division of the Duchy of Saxony and the transfer of the Duchy of Westphalia to the archbishops in 1180.
They appointed important nobles from the Rhineland and the surrounding area as owners of the bailiwick. Since the middle of the 12th century it was the counts of Nörvenich -Molbach, at the end of the century Count Wilhelm von Jülich held the position, and since 1207 the counts of Arnsberg held the post, among others Gottfried II. He appeared in 1229 and 1230 as chairman of the bailiff. The bailiwick rights were disputed in 1238 at the time of Gottfried III. A personal union of the city and collegiate bailiwick over St. Patrokli has been attested since 1234 .
The owners of the bailiwick entrusted an administrator with the practical exercise of the office, as the tasks associated with the office could not be performed from a distance. The administrator was probably compensated by the owner with a fief . Somewhat problematic is that both the administrators and the owners of the bailiwick were referred to by the term advocatus in the sources . There is only one mention of a subadvocatus .
Every year there was a court day (“real thing ”) on three fixed dates . All citizens were obliged to attend the meeting. All criminal offenses were negotiated ("neck and neck") in the city and a ban mile set by the archbishop , with the exception of cases for which the archbishop's Gogericht had already been called in. The Vogt judged under the spell of the king and later also under the spell of blood . An appeal was not possible. The bailiffs moved in to replace the legal Finder Cologne or Medebach existing aldermen zoom quorum respected citizens.
family
The office of the administrators of the Vogtamt, who called themselves Vögte von Soest, became hereditary in the course of time. Relatives were named in the period between 1141 and 1254. If you follow Johann Suibert Seibertz , they came from a subsidiary branch of the family of the Counts of Jülich .
The subordination to the noble owners of the Vogtei is also shown by the seal of Walter Vogt von Soest. It shows two crossed swords as a symbol of judicial function and political punishment. Above it, the eagle shows the dependence on the Counts of Arnsberg.
The family had, among other things, property at Welver and there inherited the extinct noble lords of Welver. They too were of noble origin. The von Welver family, who later resided there, belonged to the lower nobility .
The court of the bailiffs was outside the city walls in the southwest of the city on the Jacobitor. The property also belonged to the noble lords of Welver and was called Welvereburg. So it seems to have been a fortified building.
One of the first known members of the family was a Walter who was first mentioned as a witness in two documents from Arnold I of Cologne in 1141 . He is the one who is expressly referred to as the sub-bailiff ("subadvocatus"). Later a son of the same name is also mentioned. The later sequence is somewhat unclear. If you follow Seibertz, the Vogtsamt was temporarily in the hands of the von Erwitte family , before it was from 1217 to 1242 by Walter III. was exercised. This was the last representative of the family of the bailiffs von Soest. He sold part of his property in Welver, Klotingen and Schleidingen to the Marienborn monastery . The Welver Monastery was built on this material basis . This transferred Vogt Walter the patronage rights of the Church in Welver .
After the end of the family, the bailiwick was no longer administered by noble families, but by members of the knighthood or the patriciate.
coat of arms
Two crossed swords, the handles up, between them a flying eagle.
Individual evidence
- ↑ to the different families see for example: Joseph Bender: Geschichte der Stadt Rüden. Werl, 1848 p. 427ff.
- ↑ Friedrich Philippi: The Westphalian seal of the Middle Ages. Münster, 1900 p. 210 [original description by Johann Suibert Seibertz]
literature
- Joseph Milz: The Archbishop of Cologne as city lord of Soest in the 12th and early 13th centuries . In: Soester Zeitschrift, 79/1966, pp. 20–36.
- Manfred Wolf: The bailiffs of Soest and the foundation of the Welver monastery. In: Soester Zeitschrift, 90/1978, pp. 14–40 ( digitized version ).
- Johann Suibert Seibertz : Diplomatic family history of the dynasts and lords in the Duchy of Westphalia . Arnsberg 1855, pp. 412-417.