It gradually acquired various privileges, and by the close of the 14th century the only mark of dependence was the payment of a yearly tax. Louis the Pious dwelt more frequently at Frankfort than his father Charlemagne had done, and about 823 he built himself a new palace, the basis of the later Saalhof. In 822 and 823 two great diets were held in the palace, and at the former there were present deputies from the eastern Slavs, the Avars and the Normans. The place continued to be a favourite residence with Louis the German, who died there in 876, and was the capital of the East Frankish kingdom. By the rest of the Carolingian kings it was less frequently visited, and this neglect was naturally greater during the period of the Saxon and Salic emperors from 919 to 1137. Diets, however, were held in the town in 951, 1015, 1069 and 1109, and councils in 1000 and 1006. From a privilege of Henry IV., in 1074, granting the city of Worms freedom from tax in their trade with several royal cities, it appears that Frankfort was even then a place of some commercial importance. Under the Hohenstaufens many brilliant diets were held within its walls. That of 1147 saw, also, the first election of a German king at Frankfort, in the person of Henry, son of Conrad III. But as the father outlived the son, it was Frederick I., Barbarossa, who was actually the first reigning king to be elected here (in 1152). With the beginning of the 13th century the municipal constitution appears to have taken definite shape. The chief official was the royal bailiff (_Schultheiss_), who is first mentioned in 1193, and whose powers were subsequently enlarged by the abolition, in 1219, of the office of the royal _Vogt_ or _advocatus_. About this time a body of _Schoeffen_ (_scabini_, jurats), fourteen in number, was formed to assist in the control of municipal affairs, and with their appointment the first step was taken towards civic representative government. Soon, however, the activity of the _Schoeffen_ became specifically confined to the determination of legal disputes, and in their place a new body (_Collegium_) of counsellors--_Ratmannen_--also fourteen in number, was appointed for the general administration of local matters. In 1311, the two burgomasters, now chiefs of the municipality, take the place of the royal _Schultheiss_. In the 13th century, the Frankfort Fair, which is first mentioned in 1150, and the origin of which must have been long anterior to that date, is referred to as being largely frequented. No fewer than 10 new churches were erected in the years from 1220 to 1270. It was about the same period, probably in 1240, that the Jews first settled in the town. In the contest which Louis the Bavarian maintained with the papacy Frankfort sided with the emperor, and it was consequently placed under an interdict for 20 years from 1329 to 1349. On Louis' death it refused to accept the papal conditions of pardon, and