Franconian Beer Message Board
OT: History of Eschawo |
| Posted by barry on 2014-12-12 06:03:53 |
| As we (but mainly me!) have wandered a long way from Joe Stange's article, it seemed only fair to change the subject of this message. Read on only if you are interested in the history of Eschawo! It's quite hard to get a clear understanding of the word 'stift' and, especially, the way it is used to describe feudal relationships. Gerhard's post sheds further light on the subject and seems to show that the meaning of the word has gradually shifted over the course of time - not, of course, a particularly unusual phenomenon. With regards to Jan's point about the Monastery at Waldsassen: it seems that, from the end of the 13th century, manorial rights in Eschawo were held by the Counts of Stornstein, who were suceeded by the princes of Lobkowicz from Böhnen. In 1515, the Landgrave of Leuchtenberg sold Neuhaus Castle to the Waldassen monastery, whose abbot became landlord of the part of Windischeschenbach that was 'left of the town stream'. [if you can imagine the layout of town, the stream - Rumplsbach - flows past Wolfram, behind the Kommunbrauhaus, the Rathaus, etc, emerging at the end of the Hauptstr., then flowing behind the houses on the right side of Neuhausstr - heading towards the Waldnaab - before entering that river]. Basically, the abbot controlled most of the town, including that part where the 'stiftische brauhaus' was located. However, there was another brewery in the town, located in the castle, which was located close to the present day Zoiglstube Schlosshof, and this was not under the control of the Abbot. There was a third section of the town (not easy to identify), thus it was divided into 3 'dominons'. If you know the town's coat of arms, you will that it contains 3 stars, each representing 1 dominion. This meant that Eschawo had problems developing in the middle ages, as control was not co-ordinated and it seemed that various people were able to collect taxes from the populace. From 1579 to 1590, a method was devised to share control: two representatives from each manorial holding were elected to a 'board', with meetings overseen by a judge from Neuhaus who represented the Abbot of Waldsassen. Hope this is clear! I'm now going shopping, as the rain/sleet has stopped. |