Borgholzhausen

From lords of the manor to bailiffs

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From lords of the manor to bailiffs: the county of Ravensberg in the 15th and 16th centuries
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Borgholzhausen

From lords of the manor to bailiffs

Until the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, the Dukes of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, who resided on the Lower Rhine, had pledged their county of Ravensberg to local nobles. Increasingly, however, this constellation gave rise to resentment, as the pawn lords often drastically exceeded their powers. The dukes therefore gradually dissolved the pledge agreements. The pledge lords were replaced by officials and other civil servants in the service of the sovereign. They had to adhere to ducal rules and regulations. Gradually, a separate administrative apparatus developed for the county of Ravensberg. Four administrative districts were created, the so-called offices, which were grouped around the four regional castles of Limberg in the north, Vlotho in the east, Sparrenberg in the center and south and Ravensberg in the west.

From time to time, ducal councillors from Düsseldorf traveled to distant Ravensberg to inspect the situation there. in 1535, Duke Johann (1490-1539) - who went down in the history books as "the Peaceable" - personally came to his county to see what was going on. And he wanted to know exactly what rights and possessions he actually had. After all, no one had an exact overview of the sovereign's powers and rights. His officials spent more than two decades researching and investigating, interviewing subjects and local officials. In the end, they had written on thousands of sheets of paper - and presented the duke with an important document: the "Ravensberger Urbar" from 1556. It contains records of all the farming communities and subjects belonging to the county of Ravensberg. The Urbar thus marks a turning point in the era when the sovereigns residing in distant Düsseldorf took a closer look at their county of Ravensberg and attempted to penetrate and record all parts of their territory. At the same time, this development heralded a profound change in the system of rule, as officials took the place of the lords of the manor.

Borgholzhausen

From lords of the manor to bailiffs

The cradle of the Ravensberg region

Borgholzhausen

From lords of the manor to bailiffs

Master Adolf

In the 1550s, officials of the sovereign toured the county. Among other things, they were interested in the condition of the sovereign's castles. Their assessment was in part devastating: The once mighty fortresses were in a poor state of repair.