Führende Gruppierungen im spätmittelalterlichen Niederadel Mecklenburgs

Tobias Pietsch conducts a thourough analysis of witness lists in late medieval deeds from Mecklenburg, focusing on the proxomity of the gentry to power. He is able to show general changes in the composition of the gentry in Mecklenburg between 1227 and 1500.
For this study, Pietsch made use of 14.000 deeds from Mecklenburg from the 13th to the 15th century. He comes to the conclusion that those lineages who succeeded in the 14th century to be promoted into the close circles of the dukes were able to retain that position in the 15th century, while many others expired due to the late medieval agricultural crisis.