Merveldt (nobility)

Merveldt (also Meerveldt or Merfeld) is the name of a Westphalian noble family, which belongs to the nobility of the Middle Ages. The Herrn [Lords] von Merveldt were among the oldest families in the Münsterland. Merfeld, the eponymous seat of the family, is now a neighborhood of the city of Dülmen in the District of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

The first documented member of the family was in 1169, when the Ministerialis Henricus de Merevelde appeared in documents. The reliable line of descent began with 1227, the date mentioned in documents with “ministerialis beati Pauli” [Latin, “Ministrialis of St. Paul’s”], the office of Hermannus de Mervelde, Ministerial of the Prince-Bishops of Munster. Bernd and Hermann von Merveldt mentioned in documents from 1251, were Burgmannen [castle defenders] of Dülmen for the Prince-Bishops of Münster.

The grandson of the progenitor Hermann founded three lines. The first of them was derived from Johannes, the Ritter [knight] and Schenk [butler] of the Bishop of Münster and who later called himself only Schenk, and was established until 1400 in Dülmen. Hermann, the Burgmann of Stromberg, the second line, which became extinct in 1691 (based on the eponymous family seat, Merfeld). The third and still flourishing line began with Heinrich, the knight and, like his brother, Burgmann of Stromberg (later a resident at Schloss Westerwinkel). A branch of this line was later also established in Courland (now western Latvia).

Numerous members of the family remained in the service of the Prince-Bishops of Münster and were canons in the Münster Cathedral. Later, they also appeared in the cathedral chapters of Hildesheim, Osnabrück and Paderborn. In St. Mauritz (now in the east side of Münster) and Xanten they were canons. Female members of the family performed as canonesses in Kanonissenstift (secular nunnery) Überwasser in Münster, Borghorst and the St. Boniface Frauenstift (secular nunnery) in Freckenhorst.

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