 The Laufach valley was settled under the protection of the Counts of Rieneck, who already held the "Vogtei" (position of "Vogt") from the Archbishopric of Mainz and the collegiate church in Aschaffenburg.On the Rieneck free court in 1380 – where "Schöffen" (roughly “lay jurists”) from Laufach were specifically mentioned – settlers sat as free citizens.In the mid-14th century, glassmakers were brought into service in the Spessart with special incentives.