First time Alsfeld!First mention of “adelesfelt” in the Fulda imperial charter

At the end of April/beginning of May in the year 1069, Alsfeld was mentioned in a document for the first time (“adelesfelt”). This document was issued in Mühlhausen by King Henry IV, who later became Emperor. Contrary to a charming local legend, the name has nothing to do with a hat falling off a head (“als fällt”), but rather means the field of Adalo—a relatively large, more or less level, cleared area belonging to a male nobleman named Adal or Adalo.

The document, which remained incomplete (the royal signature and seal are missing), is kept among the “Fulda Imperial Charters” in the State Archives in Marburg. It concerns the settlement of a tithe dispute between Archbishop Siegfried I of Mainz and Abbot Widerad of Fulda. Both requested a supreme court decision from King Henry IV regarding who was entitled to the “tithe” (a legally required tax in kind paid to the church, originally intended for poor relief and the support of the priest) and thus the property rights in Alsfeld. In his judgment, King Henry confirmed the Monastery of Fulda, stating that the tithe rights exercised by the monastery were lawful, and rejected further claims by the Archbishop of Mainz. (MNic)