?? What a little queen I am ?? ?? this line comes (translated) from the pen of the imperial and royal war commissioner, knight and ?? Eques Auratus ?? Georg von Espelbach in a letter to his Nuremberg friend Hans Rieter von Kornburg. He wrote the letter in 1561 in Harlingen, Frisia. At this point in time Georg was 49 years old, Drost (commandant, judge) at the Harlingen Fortress and Grietman (roughly district administrator) of the Barradeel region, newly married to Katharina van Dekema, who was 30 years younger than him, and the eldest daughter of a Frisian knight. But how does a knight get from Espelbach to Harlingen and into this position? Sequentially.
The development of the Lords of Espelbach may be an example of other noble knight families who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries. Century first become visible in documents, experience a heyday and then extinguish in the male line. Often there is a lack of sources to trace their sometimes short, sometimes long ways. The Espelbach do not have a family archive. However, according to the current state of knowledge and research, they are the only lower aristocratic family in the Altlandkreis Marktheidenfeld that has been named after their place of origin, Esselbach, for a period of more than 460 years.
Esselbach between power blocs Würzburg and Mainz
In 1182 Heinrich von Espelbach and other spiritual and secular witnesses certified a certificate from the Würzburg bishop. This means that Esselbach already existed at that time. At the same time, Esselbach is the border area between the expanding power blocs Würzburg and Mainz, although the imperial monastery of Fulda still lays claim to the area exchanged in 839 around 1150. The old street “Via Publica” leads through the village. In the immediate vicinity, at Bischbrunn, the ?? Via Publica ?? the north-south connection ?? Heristrata ??.
Esselbach’s importance lies in its strategic location, so that the Hochstift Würzburg considers it imperative to place its own ministerial here. This class is recruited from the previously unfree servants, from whose ranks the free lower nobility gradually formed in the 12th and 13th centuries. For example, they are then displayed as ?? miles ?? or ?? knight ?? designated ?? like the Espelbach.
In order to carry out their war, court and administrative services, they receive service loans. With the rise to the lower nobility, inheritable so-called man fiefs are also given to them. The Espelbach’s loan service was located in Esselbach in the “Hofgut”, which with its more than 35 hectares was large enough to feed both the family and the servants. This is where the nucleus of Esselbach can be found and this is where the seat of the Espelbach family was likely to have been. The last remains of a medieval complex can still be seen today at the village community center and at the church in the direction of the ?? Weed ?? leisure complex. to see and suggest a fortified church that resulted from it.
In the 13th and 14th centuries the Espelbach increased both property and fiefdom. The family branches out. Their largest fiefdom is the Würzburg monastery, but they also enter into vassal relationships with the Counts of Henneberg, the Counts of Wertheim and the Lords of Hohenberg (Homburg / Wern). Castle estates in Laudenbach, on the Karlsburg and Homburg / Wern belong to their fiefdoms. Your fiefdom with income and rights extends to Wittershausen (Oberthulba), Schweinshaupten (Bundorf) or Wülflingen (Haßfurt). Further fiefs are located on the Marktheidenfelder Platte and around Karlstadt. The Espelbach own property in Marktheidenfeld, Karbach or Aschfeld, for example.
Knights are pushing into military leadership positions
Political and social changes around 1400 prompted many lower aristocratic families to rethink: landlords strive to round off their territories, to dissolve smaller lords in them or to incorporate them. In addition, there are the up-and-coming cities with trade and industry as well as changes in the military sector, mercenary armies arise. For the knights, whose core business was the craft of war, primarily military leadership positions remain.
In 1385 Konrad von Espelbach and his son of the same name sold all of their serfs in the districts of Rothenfels, Karlstadt and Homburg am Main. Some documents that have been handed down report of fief sales by Espelbach within the Würzburger Lehenhof. Burkard, Götz and Hans von Espelbach sell or forego their Karlsburger castle estates. The fiefdoms to the Hochstift Würzburg, to the Counts of Henneberg and the Lords of Hohenburg come to an end. The fiefdom relationship with the Counts of Wertheim lasted until at least 1454. ?? The good to Espelbach ??, that should be the ?? Hofgut ?? be, is given to Hans von Grumbach as a man fief in 1373. From now on, the connection between the Knights of Espelbach and their place of origin should only have existed in their name.
Knight of Espelbach in the Teutonic Order
The often glorified robber barons have not yet been found among the Espelbach. Rather, they use the moment to change their job, location and employer: They look for and find a bond with the Teutonic Order (DO). Peter von Espelbach has a picture book career. Stations of his career are: Komtur in Weißenburg (Alsace), Marburg, Burg Horneck and Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen. After the office of Grand Master and German Master, the leadership of the Frankfurt House was considered to be the highest position within the DO. As a general visitator of the DO for the Italian provinces of Apulia and Sicily, Peter von Espelbach died probably on July 14th in 1431 on such a visitation trip.
The Teutonic Order is the ticket for the von Espelbach family to the free and imperial city of Dinkelsbühl. The emigration of lower aristocratic families to cities is one of the signs of the time around 1400. Other families aspire to the imperial knighthood, which is subordinate to the emperor. In 1422, a Hans von Espelbach was documented for the first time in Dinkelsbühl as an official of the DO.
For several generations, the Espelbach have been an integral part of the urban social and societal structure: as members of the council, bailiffs and caretakers of the German House or heads of the quarter teams for war and security services. They marry appropriately, including in Nuremberg patrician families, such as the Gugel family. Stone preserved evidence of their permanent location and their sense of class can still be seen in the Sankt-Georg-Kirche in Dinkelsbühl: Margarethe von Espelbach and her husband Konrad Kurr founded the sacrament house in 1480, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Franconia.
High point in family history
In 1512 Georg von Espelbach, quoted at the beginning, was born in Dinkelsbühl. At least from 1546 to 1555 Georg can be proven as war commissioner of Emperor Charles V, so he must have enjoyed an appropriate education. He takes part in military campaigns in Germany, France and Hungary, raises troops and is responsible for their payment (keyword war chest). Shortly before his resignation, Emperor Charles V confirmed in Brussels in October 1555 Georg von Espelbach ?? his age is hereditary coat of arms and clainot, so his forefathers and he was a hero for many unfortunate years ?? and gives the family further freedoms and privileges, such as building castles and naming themselves after them, or fief justice.
At the same time, Georg von Espelbach becomes ?? Eques Auratus ?? appointed. The knights of the golden spur are a closed group of people who, as a functional elite, were mainly recruited from the knightly lower nobility. In the research to date, around 170 representatives of the ?? Equites Aurati ?? became known, including numerous lower aristocrats from Franconia. Examples are Ulrich von Hutten or Sebastian von Rothenhan.
While the traces of other branches of the family are lost, King Philip II of Spain (son of Charles V) assigns Georg von Espelbach, among other things, the office of Drost (Drossard) in the city and fortress of Harlingen in Friesland. The troubled times in the Spanish Netherlands require loyal Catholic staff at strategically important points, such as in Harlingen.
Even if Georg complains from time to time in his correspondence that he lives at the end of the world, Georg obviously feels like a little king, whether the powers he has and the comforts associated with his position. Georg von Espelbach died on March 29, 1575 and was buried in Harlingen-Almenum. He left behind a wife and four children who went into exile in Cologne from around 1580 after Calvinism became the official religion in Friesland. In February 1644, the siblings Georg (II) and Emerentiana von Espelbach died within nine days in Cologne. They were the last known bearers of the name Espelbach, the knight family originally from the south-east Spessart.
About the author: Gertrud Nöth studied Medieval and Modern History. For several years she has been researching and publishing on topics in southeast Spessart, in particular on Triefenstein and Esselbach.
Literature: Gertrud Nöth: The Knights of Espelbach. Contributions to the history of the community Esselbach. Volume I. Published by the municipality of Esselbach in 2021.
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