Dietrich Schenk von Erbach

Dietrich Schenk von Erbach wears the Wheel of Mainz on his seal, but he cannot rule the city by that symbol alone. Guild masters on the Rhine insist on the privileges their fathers won; sacred colleges defend ancient estate rights; the landgrave of Hesse questions which villages the elector can still protect. Dietrich listens longer than most princes expect, and when he finally answers, his words are framed so that every witness remembers who promised what.

At a Glance

• Name: Dietrich Schenk von Erbach; human; lawful neutral.
• Role: Sacred Elector of Mainz and Imperial Arch-Chancellor of Germany.
• Seat: Electoral courts at Mainz and Aschaffenburg, with rights across the Rheingau, Eichsfeld and other scattered territories.
• Power: Elector’s seal, territorial courts, sacred estates, envoys and a vote in choosing the King of the Romans.
• Pressure: Guild autonomy at Mainz, Hessian border rights and the cost of keeping distant officials loyal.
• Temperament: Patient, ceremonial and willing to seek a public compromise.
• Languages: German and Latin; the statistics use Common for the campaign’s shared language.

What Is Dietrich Doing Now?

A delegation from the Hessian border has arrived carrying two contradictory copies of a protection grant. Dietrich can leave his officials to fight over the wording, but that would allow the landgrave’s men to settle the matter in their own favour. Instead he has ordered the legal passages read aloud in the presence of witnesses from both sides. He wants a settlement that preserves a visible Mainz right and spares the disputed villages another season of armed escorts and double dues. A capable envoy who can reach the tenants before either bailiff does would earn his attention.

Back in Mainz he is weighing a different change. Workshops under Gutenberg, Fust and other merchants are testing the economics of cast type and repeated impressions. Dietrich recognises what plentiful written contracts and sacred books might mean for governance, but he will not place the treasury at the mercy of a single expensive invention. An audience with him begins with a question about who guarantees the paper, the metal and the buyer—not with a speech praising progress.

Personality and Conduct

Dietrich asks petitioners to give the names of their witnesses before explaining their complaint. He rarely raises his voice. When cornered he becomes unusually formal, answering an insult by citing a precise clause or by postponing judgement until a named officer can attend. His weakness is that a compromise can preserve an old conflict as carefully as it preserves peace; families who have suffered repeated levies may want him to choose a side rather than negotiate another year.

Encounters and Campaign Use

At an electoral hearing, an armed escort hired by a merchant has threatened a civic watch captain. Dietrich refuses to order an arrest on hearsay but asks neutral visitors to identify which party brought weapons first. He may grant safe-conduct, commission translation of foreign records, request discreet negotiation with the guild council, or employ adventurers as escorts across lands where his heraldry commands respect but not obedience. He is an employer and political actor, not automatically an enemy combatant.

Relationships and Electoral Lands

His dealings with the Mainz civic council are shaped by its guild government and the agreement of 1449. Sacred households defend their own estates and courts; merchants want dependable river trade; the landgrave of Hesse disputes protection rights in the east. Dietrich’s electorate is a scattered collection of lands and privileges. A seal accepted at one landing may be questioned at the next.

Historical Sources

• Mainz historical biography: Dietrich’s electoral office, 1434–1459.
• Princeton University Library: Fust and Schöffer in Mainz.
• Gutenberg chronology.

The Mainz Psalter was printed by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer on 14 August 1457. Its publication is distinct from Gutenberg’s earlier work.