 His own family was of great antiquity, his ancestors having been hereditary ministerials of the bishop of Worms since the time of Ekbert the chamberlain, who founded in 1119 the Augustinian monastery of Frankenthal and died in 1132.By the mid 15th century, the Dalberg family had grown to be of such importance that, in 1494, the German King Maximilian I granted them the honor of being the first to receive knighthood at the coronation, this part of the ceremonies being opened by the herald asking in a loud voice "Ist kein Dalberg da?