User:Flalinguist/Hiltbold of Werstein

Hiltbold of Werstein (* before 1250; † 13 December 1329) abbot from 1318 until 1329 and as domkustos also librarian of the Abbey of Saint Gall.

Life and Works
Hiltbold of Werstein was the son of a baronial family whose seat was located in the upper Neckar valley. He is first mentioned as a monk in a document of the abbey of Saint Gall from 1279. He is said to have administered the courts of Gochain and Höchst in 1283 and he is recorded as thesaurarius. Together with Heinrich of Ramstein, he filed complaint against King Rudolf along with another monk. He is registered as custos in 1297 and as portarius from 1303. Like his predecessor Heinrich of Ramstein, he ran against Ulrich of Trauchburg in the abbot's election of 8 May 1318. The ministeriales supported Hiltbold, securing his winning the election. The Constance auxiliary bishop Johannes performed Hiltbold's consecration.

Hiltbold did not receive the jura regalia, as he remained neutral and did not take sides for any claimants to the German throne. He did, however, get closer to the Habsburg party and received an assurance of assistance from Duke Leopold, documented in a treaty from the 30 June 1319. It is recorded that, on 17 November 1318, he ratified the Handfeste of Abbot Wilhelm from 1291. A document from 15 November 1323 reports about the negotiations about a border dispute between Appenzell and Hundwil for which Hiltbold acted as mediator. It is also recorded that on the 27 November 1325, Leopold of Austria arranged a settlement for a dispute with the family of Toggenburg in which the abbot was implicated against his will. Kuchimeister reports that Hiltbold spent the rest of his days after abdication plagued by old age in Falkenstein Castle and subsequently Appenzell Castle. He was buried in the abbey's cloister.

Hiltbold's abbacy was characterised by many dispositions and pledgings, which hints at economic difficulties faced by the abbey. He was compelled by his old age to entrust his seal with a conventual, a ministerialis and a citizen, who took over his administerial functions by the end of 1325 or the beginning of 1326.

Reading list

 * ISBN 3-906616-15-0, S. 139–140 . 