back to the 13th century, the first recorded instances being in Rottweil in 1222 and in Tübingen in 1247. In that time, the town's lord (Stadtherr) chose the Schultheiss from a pool of 30 to 50 men and he governed the town according to the lord's interests. When the interests of the Scultheiss came to share those of the town's elite rather than the lord's, he created the position of bailiff in order to maintain his interests in the community. These two officials would work together for a time, but during the 15th century, the authority of the Schultheiss eroded. Despite this, he could still preside over the district court in the absence of the bailiff. Subordinate to the Schultheiss was the town's Burgomaster (Burgermeister), the only official to be elected by the citizenry and another office with its origins in the 13th century (the first documented one in Rottweil in 1283). However, popular election was still a rarity and he was typically appointed by the town council and normally from the town's notables. The Burgomaster often came into conflict with the Schultheiss as the former upheld the interests of the town council and the latter of the lord. His chief duties were the accounting of taxes, fines and other town incomes and to present an annual accounting (Gemeinderechnung) before the junior bailiff, whom he assisted in daily local administration. The number of Burgomasters throughout the Duchy was wildly inconsistent, as each town's constitution mandated how many Burgomasters the town could have and how long they served (most terms ranged from one year to a decade). In some instances, no Burgomasters were present in town and thus they only had a Schultheiss. The final office in local government was the town clerk (Stadtschreiber), who wrote up important documents for the council and would sometimes supervise the taxation of the populace. The town clerk was the link between the local and central governments, as he had to, for example, write all requests to be sent to the Duke by the citizenry (these would also have to be approved by the junior bailiff), making him one of the most important people in local government. He would also be expected to have a specific knowledge of the territory of the Duchy and the laws that governed it, and this would be tested by the chancery in Stuttgart whenever the clerk visited the capital.