In Which are recorded Arguments and Misunderstandings among Neighbors and Subjects in the Village of Gebsattel in Middle Franconia during my Tenure as Bailiff, and how the Same were Adjudicated and Settled, as well as Other Matters requiring Punishment in the Stocks.
Beginning in the Year of Our Lord Christ’s Birth,
Anno 1574.
Erhard Wolffhardt, Bailiff in Gebsattel
(Excerpts)
June.19.1574Michael Kern, journeyman miller, and the maid at the Village Mill, being full with wine, were discovered fornicating in the innkeeper’s stable. I, Bailiff, after discussing it with Our Liege’s Consul, have decided that, as Kern is already promised in marriage to Maria Dorsch, daughter at the Scheffler farm, and openly celebrated the marriage contract over wine at the Village Inn, public punishment should be avoided; rather I will keep an eye on them to see that it’s not repeated.
July.1. Hans Wohnbacher of Eckhard Field accuses Claus Schainsberger, also of Eckhard Field, of violating custom by claiming the right to access Wohnbacher’s well and pond, as if they were common property. Although the well belongs to Wohnbacher and should not be understood as common, I advised both farmers to behave as good neighbors, not to drive drinking livestock away from the pond, and to work together to clear and maintain it. As for the well, Schainsberger should use it only when his own is frozen.
July.12. A new Priest has finally been appointed at the village church St. Laurentius. He is supposedly Catholic, selected by Our Liege at Comburg Monastery, although his sermons lean Lutheran and he keeps a concubine. He agreed to preach as a Roman Catholic but doesn’t have a Catholic missal. He says he can’t turn out his concubine under the current circumstances, as this is a small village.
August.5. Hans Wohnbacher complains that his neighbor Claus Schainsberger has built a new gate restricting Wohnbacher’s access to his field via Schainsberger’s yard, violating custom of over 100 years. Schainsberger claims the right of way has existed only since his father allowed it, in good will, but is not a right. Wohnbacher counter-charges that Schainsberger’s geese are running in his pasture, which is harmful to the cattle.
August.10. As it was clear there would be no peace between these farmers without further intervention, and all of the appointed Village Elders are related to one or the other of them, I have engaged impartial arbiters from Comburg to inspect the property and examine witnesses.
August.12. I provided the Priest at St. Laurentius with a Catholic missal, and also wrote to the Consul at Comburg to suggest that the Lutheran pastor at our neighboring village of Kirnberg come to preach at St. Laurentius every two or three weeks, in order to serve the Lutheran villagers here. The Consul repeated his request that the Priest get rid of his concubine.
August.20. I, Bailiff, along with visiting arbiters from Comburg, have personally inspected the fence at Eckhard Field and examined witnesses, who reveal that there have been no such access disputes between these two farms within living memory, probably because the farmers were all born and raised together at the Field. Current and former residents disagree on where the border-stone between their properties was, but all report driving stock and wagons in and out of the disputed gates without hindrance.
August.28. Hans Wohnbacher accuses Claus Schainsberger of storing wagons, a plough, and other equipment in Wohnbacher’s yard. Schainsberger responds that he has the right to do so because his parents have kept wagons on Wohnbacher’s yard for nearly 100 years.
Eodem.die. The Priest at St. Laurentius reports that he can’t dismiss his concubine because he owes her 40 Gulden, which he can’t pay.
September.2. Claus Schainsberger denies chasing Hans Wohnbacher with an ax and violating the Religious Peace by calling him Papist Scum. Schainsberger accuses Wohnbacher’s nephew, the young miller at the Village Mill, of running after his daughter’s child, Appolonia Herrenbach (who works as a maid at said mill) in spite of the fact that the miller boy is engaged to another.
I fined Schainsberger ten gulden and condemned him to the Stocks for one day and one night; however, as he is an old man of more than 70 years, the punishment in the stocks was commuted on his oath to behave as a good neighbor.
September.15. The Village Elders report that the villagers, both Catholic and Lutheran, are pleased with the new Priest at St. Laurentius, whose sermons are a Catholic-Protestant hodgepodge. Thus I rescinded my request to the Kirnberg pastor.
September.25. The Consul repeats his request that the Priest send his concubine away.
September.26. Because the farmers of Eckhard Field are unable to settle their difference without further intervention, I have called together all of the men of the village, the entire commune, to carry out a collective visitation of Eckhard Field, and to lay new border stones. The parties in the dispute agreed to abide by their decision.
October.1. As Appolonia Herrenbach was found to be with child, the Dorsch daughter Maria requested to be free of her promise to Michael Kern. On petition from the Priest at St. Laurentius, who is said by some to be heavily influenced by the will of his concubine, the Bishop at Würzburg agreed to annul the marriage promise. Thus Appolonia Herrenbach and Michael Kern, both of Eckhard Field, were united in marriage at St. Laurentis in a service of neither this nor that which I can only describe as ecumenical.
October.5. In the matter of the farmers of Eckhard Field, the village men took a vote at the Village Inn by casting stones, a majority of which fell for the conclusion that good neighbors let each other pass in and out in accordance with tradition. Thus access to both yards and the well should remain open, particularly as the farms are now united by marriage. But geese shouldn’t run in the pasture. The Village Elders approved wine in the amount of five gulden for concluding the settlement.
Image: and ancient quill pen in an ink well on top of a yellowed volume from Pixabay.com
literally stories 
I hope that this was a smuch fun to write as it was to read. A very entertaining piece. Neighbours Eh! thank you – dd
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