On the Field-Sworn

On Tuesday, a local Mass is listed as being "with the Feldgeschworenen of Veitshoechheim and Gadheim". "Feldgeschworene", meaning "field-jury", or literally, "field-sworn", is a term not found in any online dictionaries, but I found an article on wikipedia which my German is just about good enough to parse. Apparently, they're a feature of Franconian, Bavarian and Rhinelandish country life, a local volunteer-official whose task is to watch over boundaries and boundary-stones, an institution dating back 500 years. Their power to decide cases of ambiguous boundaries was taken away in 1900, and attempts were made to abolish them in 1970; but Franconian local governments fought this, and so the Fieldsworn continue in their job to this day, supporting surveyors and securing and renewing boundary markings. Traditionally existing in bands of seven, these days existing in groups of (at minimum) four per community, and known as "Siebener" ("seveners") for this reason, their most notable feature is the "Siebenergeheimnis" ("sevener secret") - knowledge passed orally from one generation to the next, which the Fieldsworn take solemn oaths never to reveal to outsiders, pertaining to the secret signs and markings (varying by community) by which they determine where boundary stones should go. (Presumably their protocols and knowledge are kept secret so no-one could try to game their rules in disputed cases, and to prevent unauthorised tinkering.)

It used to be an all-male institution, but since the early '80's women have been allowed in. Of the 20,000 Fieldsworn in Bavaria and Franconia, 50 are women. (Given that turnover is probably pretty low - you keep doing the job until your health gives out - and that such an institution requires a highly tradition-minded environment to continue, the continuing gender disparity is unsurprising; it's only been 30 years, after all.)