The first earls of Württemberg were buried in this church. The dynasty was not all too popular with the free townships (imperial strongholds). Things came to a head in the Reichskrieg (1310-1313). The ancestral tombs of the house of Württemberg were despoiled by Esslingen led coalition forces. The displeased Eberhard I had the remains of his ancestors later transferred to Stuttgart (Stiftskirche, nameshake). A special papal dispense was required.

The close proximity to Staufic Waibling deserves some comment. It was a Staufic custom to surround their major cities with a ring of fortified village churches. Wide defense so to speak. Some kind of agreement between the two parties must have existed.

Gaispeter in 'Audite vocem meam' pose. He was also good at bell ringing.

Gaispeter stirred up a local tax revolt and could be described as its Samuel Adams. An innocent Archimedean experiment was used to galvanize things. To wit: A demonstration that weights will not float on water (the nearby Rems hosted the event). Reminder, this was a time, early 16th 'eeuw', which took trial by ordeal still very seriously - or so the received wisdom goes. No longer quite sure what was proven by floatation (was it the invisible finger support, hairy or clean, or did that count as double deception. Buoyancy is obviously always a difficult subject matter, even in Boston.) To switch reference points: The actual Sheriff of Nottingham in this story was the debt ridden duke Ulrich (empty war chest). Further details: The particular sets of weights used in the field experiment were purloined from a local butcher. The part which is somewhat hard to follow: In which way would it have benefited a...