Detlef Berghorn examines the dispute over the legacy of the last Count of Manderscheid-Schleiden, who died in 1593, at the intersection of aristocratic history, historical kinship research and legal history, which lasted until the 1840s. The investigation reaches far beyond the Eifel due to extensive networks of relationships, diverse ways of resolving conflicts and conflicting competencies of the courts in the Old Reich, the Netherlands and the German Confederation. The focus is not on a single noble house or a special group of nobles. Rather, the context of the dispute serves as a common thread with a basically open personal sample of all those involved. In this way, actions, interpretations and leeway become visible from multiple perspectives as well as actor-centered and the patrilinear focus, which to some extent still dominates research today, is undermined.