Lordship of Eglofs

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Lordship of Eglofs
Late Middle Ages–1806
Coat of arms
Status	Early Modern Period
• Established	Late Middle Ages
• Gained imperial immediacy	1668
• Disestablished	1806
Succeeded by Kingdom of Württemberg
Today part of	Baden-Württemberg

The Lordship of Eglofs was an estate of the

Eglofs originates from the early 9th century. After the defeat and conquest of the Alemanni in 496 by the Franks, Christian Frankish settlers colonised former Alemanni lands in the Allgäu. Over time, the pagan Alemanni returned to the Allgau and established themselves as farmers. One Alemanni lord, Egilolf, built a castle in modern Eglofs, which over time took his name. The first mention of Eglofs was in 817 in an account of Saint Martin, although the people of Eglofs were still at the time pagan. Owing to its isolation and its proximity to important mountain passes through Switzerland, Eglofs received many rights denied to other settlements; Eglofs had its own courts, it paid fewer taxes, all inhabitants were free citizens (a right denied even to the Swiss cantons) from 1282, and it had the right to elect local leaders. In 1300, King Albert I mentioned Eglofs as a free village.

In 1243, the Emperor promised that the immediate rights of Eglofs would never be sold, but in later centuries the Emperors had need of money and they broke their promise, pawning the village to several different lords. The rights of the citizenry were slowly diminished, which invoked the farmers to ask for aid from the Free Cities of