The House of Wild was a Saxon noble family that also lived in parts of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

History

The Sack and Wild nobility were enfeoffed with

Epprechtstein Castle Epprechtstein Castle (german: Burg Epprechtstein) is a former hill castle on the mountain of the same name, the Epprechtstein, which rises above the village of Kirchenlamitz. History An ''Eberhardus de Eckebretsteine'' was first mentioned in ...

in the 14th century. The two families became vagabonds and

robber knight A robber baron or robber knight (german: Raubritter) was an unscrupulous feudal landowner who, protected by his fief's legal status, imposed high taxes and tolls out of keeping with the norm without authorization by some higher authority. Some re ...

s, taking merchants hostage, mainly from

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...

, and would only release them for a ransom. As a result, they attracted the attention of the

burgraves of Nuremberg The Burgraviate of Nuremberg (german: Burggrafschaft Nürnberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate, it was a county seated in the town of Nuremberg; almost two centuries pass ...

who attacked them because their raids were affecting their territorial politics. In 1352, they stormed the castle in order to seize it and hold it as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

. In 1355/1356 the burgraves purchased the entire estate of the castle, the ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'' and the parish of

Kirchenlamitz Kirchenlamitz () is a town in the district of Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 13 km northwest of Wunsiedel (; Northern Bavarian: ''Wåuṉsieḏl'' or ''Wousigl'') is the seat of the Upper Franconia ...

. The coat of arms of the House of Wild is a gold crescent on a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

Literature

* '' Archiv für die Geschichte von Oberfranken, Vol. 9, Issue 3, 1863. * Werner Bergmann: ''750 Jahre Burg Epprechtstein''. Weißenstadt, 1998. pp. 46–59. Franconia Wild, House of Saxon nobility de:Wild (Adelsgeschlecht)