Chief Cellarer’s Office

37.1 Medieval-Early Modern Administrative Apparatus

The Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period were an era of administrative expansion and consolidation. In Kirchheimbolanden, too, the bailiffs, clerks, and cellarers personified this development.

The bailiff represented the ‘ruling authority’ to the subjects, the clerk was responsible for managing the treasury, and the cellarer’s jurisdiction encompassed the collection of ‘dues’ (taxes), to ensure that no sovereign rights were lost.

The Late Medieval-Early Modern administrative apparatus thus became a driver of administrative consolidation.