It may be of some interest to provide a bit more information about the prominent families in Graubünden in the 16th and 17th centuries as discussed by Head (p. 137). See the previous posts on the Salis family for full citation details on Head. Head is in part depending on more thorough analyses of the families of the 16th century (48 prominent) by Färber and the families of the 17th century (40 prominent) by Grimm. I don't have copies of either reference (listed below) so I can't provide lists of the families in the seperate groups or of the "inner core" families that these two authorities identified. Head does remark that the core families identified by each of these authors are included in the 26 families which were prominent in both centuries. None of these families had noble backgrounds and only about 1/3 of them had been prominent in the employ of the regional nobility, which had essentially disappeared by 1504 in Rhaetia (Graubünden). Bavier, Beeli, Brügger, Buol, Capaul, Castelberg, Enderlin, Florin, Gugelberg, Guler, Jecklin, Jenatsch, Juvalta, à Marca, deMont, Planta, Raschèr, Ruinelli, Salis, Scarpatetti, Schauenstein, Schmid, Schorsch, Sprecher, Travers, and Tscharner. As I said, I don't have a list of the dozen or so families of the "inner core" but they would obviously include the Planta and Salis families, given their widespread prominence in political and economic affairs. Sources from Head's bibliography: Färber, Silvio, 1983, "Der bündnerische Herrenstad im 17. Jahrhundert: Politische, soziale, und wirtschaftliche Aspekte seiner Vorherrscaft," Zürich: Zentralstelle der Studentenschaft. Grimm, Paul Eugen, 1981, "Die Anfänge der Bündner Aristokratie im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert," Zurich: Juris Verlang. Regards, Mike Hobart