had been integrated into the Habsburg territories. The tower was for a long time in the hands of the Knights of Frauenfeld-Wiesendangen. The political, social and economic background of becoming a city before 1286 are not clear: the relations of the early governors of Frauenfeld to the Kyburgs and Habsburgs are not clear. The Kyburgs did not hold sovereign rights in Frauenfled. It is therefore uncertain whether the city was founded by the Kyburgs really with the tacit approval of Reichenau, as was earlier believed. It is also conceivable that the castle and maybe a smaller surrounding village was built by a third party, perhaps a Toggenburg, of Murkart or Hagenbuch noble. If that was the case, as they lost influence in the 1220s in the lower Murgtal, the Kyburgs and later the Habsburgs expanded into the region and gained control of Reichenau's rights and castle. The city was integrated into the Habsburg Amt of Kyburg. In 1374, the Habsburgs bestowed the right of judgment for all of Thurgau (which then included St. Gallen) on the Duke of Frauenfeld. In the 14th century the castle became the administrative center of the Habsburg Amt of Frauenfeld. As the Habsburgs sought to consolidate their position in the Thurgau, they granted the castle to one of the most important families of the Habsburg gentry, the Landsbergers. They held the position until 1534. Between 1415 and 1442 the city was under the auspices of an imperial provincial governor. After 1442 it temporarily fell back under Austrian control, then in 1460, the Thurgau (including Frauenfeld) was captured by the Swiss Confederation. Part of the Swiss Confederation Frauenfeld had been a political center under the Austrian Habsburgs. Under the Confederation, it grew into the center from which the Confederates managed the entire Thurgau. Between 1500/15 and again in 1712, Frauenfeld was the site of the Tagsatzung assembly. After 1499 it was also the home of a Confederation court. After 1504 the city was the residence of Thurgau governor, and after 1532 he lived in the castle. Other locations were directly subordinate. As the city grew in importance, the houses around the castle grew into a weakly fortified city. The city was separated by a wall and moat from the castle. The wooden houses were clustered around the two longitudinal and three cross streets, but a town square or other large, open space was missing. The castle