Clothes Make the Man!
Kuno von Falkenstein was the name of the new strongman in Trier. He liked to dress splendidly, like a peacock — something that had already earned him a reprimand from the emperor even before his appointment as a spiritual dignitary with considerable worldly powers. But Falkenstein loved these ostentatious appearances, and since he governed his archdiocese prudently and efficiently, he sat firmly in his chair.
He seemed to have a particular liking for Wesel and, in 1386, acquired the house and courtyard of Diedrich Lutter von Covern there for 1,200 guilders — money that Diedrich urgently needed. Exactly 150 years later, another member of this family was short of money: Johann Lutter von Covern. In 1536, he was beheaded in Koblenz for attempted highway robbery.
During His Lifetime
One month before his death, Kuno von Falkenstein appointed his distant great-nephew from the Lich branch of the family, Werner von Falkenstein, as his successor.
The quite independent and flourishing town of Wesel was a thorn in Werner’s side — he was greedy for power and money. For family reasons, the Schönburgs stayed out of the emerging conflict between the strongman in Trier and the town, especially since Friedrich von Schönburg had promised the archbishop, on March 15, 1390, that he could be admitted to the castle at any time.
The Wesel War
Compensation for the Schönburgs: Through the massive use of cannons by the well-known Mainz gunmaker Hans Silverburner, Wesel was forced to its knees after a year-long siege. On October 9, 1391, the town had to pledge obedience to the electoral archbishop and pay 1,000 guilders into his war treasury.
Then, on January 9, 1392, Werner generously — which was not exactly his usual manner — paid 450 guilders to Johann von Schönburg, known as Smydeburg, as compensation for damages. Friedrich von Schönburg was compensated with the same amount.
At the same time, the prince-elector acquired the “wine-growing rights in the Wesel district” from the Schönburgs. Was Werner perhaps troubled by a guilty conscience? During this Wesel War — famous for the first use of firearms — he had had almost all the vineyards above the town destroyed.
The fact that the archbishop could rage so freely, without so much as a raised finger from Rome, was due to internal problems distracting the “executive floor.” For the Roman pope, Boniface IX, had to contend with a rival: the French Count Roger of Geneva, who, as Clement VII, was the antipope.

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