The Ittlingers (see last Note) did not take the encroachments by the von Kochendorfs (and the von Gemmingens) lightly. When von Kochendorfs built a fence around the village meadow, the villagers tore it down and repeated this action twice more. They also expelled the Jewish merchant who had bought the salt monopoly, but they were unsuccessful in blocking the establishment of the jail. Seeing no relief, the villagers submitted a twelve-point complaint to the Reichsritterschaftsdirecktion (an imperial court) in Heilbronn for relief.
The von Gemmingens and von Kockensdorfs considered the villagers of Ittlingen in rebellion. Still determined to exact revenues for maintaining their presence in the parish, and for pulling themselves out of poverty, they took extreme measures in 1720. First, they raised the fees for grazing rights for hogs on the village common which had been established by agreement in 1584. When the villagers refused to pay and complained to Heilbronn again, the von Gemmingens and von Kochendorfs brought in twenty armed men to take the village hogs. Sunday morning church attendance was mandatory in Ittlingen (typical of most villages in the Kraichgau) and, while the villagers worshiped, the Herrshafts’ (Lords’) men made their way into the forests and led the entire village herd of hogs (160 head) to Gemmingen, about five miles away.
That afternoon the Ittlingers were up in arms about the theft of their hogs. The citizens met at the town hall where their discussions were led by two tavern keepers and a blacksmith. Young men had followed the trail of the hogs to Gemmingen. The discussion had many points of view. The tavern keepers asked everyone to come forward, place his hand on a Bible, and swear they would not give up the struggle against the Herrschaft until they had won. Only one villager dissented from this. Instead of a direct assault on the von Gemmingens, they voted to register a complaint to Heilbronn which ruled in their favor.
The Herrschaft ignored the imperial court’s ruling and began selling the hogs at bargain prices as they flooded the marketplace. They also threatened to take the villagers’ cattle and to jail the tavern keepers. Then the twenty armed men tried to steal the village sheep. The men were caught in the act and after shots were fired, the Herrschaft, fearing possible imperial intervention, sought a truce. The imperial court mediated the dispute and the Herrschaft made a partial payment for the lost hogs.
The compromise did little to ease the tension between the Herrschaft and the villagers. Both sides prepared for more conflict. The von Gemmingens hand-picked a new Lutheran minister who began preaching obedience to the authorities. The pastor went too far on this theme and the villagers, who had won the admiration of adjacent villagers for their stand against the Herrschaft, were now the objective of laughter directed at them.
(16 Jun 06)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.