Should the German term "Bauernvogt", literally meaning "peasants' bailiff" be kept as "Bauernvogt", translated to "peasants' vogt", "vogt of peasantry" or literally translated as given first?
Should the German word "Landesgevollmächtigter", literally meaning "empowered of land" or "entitled to the land", both in the regional sense of "Land", be translated as "regional representative", "entitled of region" or "empowered of region"?
The German term "Vogt" can have various translations such as "governor", "steward", "bailiff".
I read in the German Wikipedia that a Bauernvogt was once the representative of a self-governing peasant village.
I find it confusing to use the term "bailiff" for this (because most English speakers will take "bailiff" to mean something else), but the range of historical meanings for "bailiff" given in some dictionaries suggest that it might after all be suitable. Wiktionary includes the following definition of "bailiff (and more to the point, the full OED has a similar one):
(historical) A landvogt in the medieval German states.
It may be helpful to the English-speaking reader to use the German term (in italics) and then to explain what it is. You should not rely on anyone knowing or being able to guess what the term "peasants' bailiff" means. "Peasants' vogt" or "Bauernvogt" might therefore work better, but you would still have to explain it because very few readers would understand it, unless you were writing an article aimed at academics who specialise in medieval Germany.
For "Landesgevollmächtigter", something like "regional representative" or "region's minister plenipotentiary" is likely to be appropriate. A minister plenipotentiary is a representative sent with full powers to negotiate and conclude agreements on behalf of the government that sent them.
This depends on your audience. Are you writing a report for a group of English speaking experts on the European Middle ages, or are you writing a story for general English speakers, who know little to nothing about feudal Germany?
In the first case the precision of non-translation (perhaps with explanation) seems to be the best solution.
In the second case a very general gloss like "village leader" might be clearest.
There was what seems to be a similar position in Anglo Saxon and medieval England. The "reeve" was the chief official in a town or village. Perhaps "reeve" might be a suitable gloss.
A "Shire reeve" was a more senior figure, and from that we get "Sheriff", so "sheriff" might be a suitable gloss of Landesgevollmächtigter, if you are writing for a general audience who don't know or care about the details of feudal Germany.
"Bauernvogt" seems to be rendered as "farmer bailiff" as well as "peasant Bailiff". As this is a very specific term from a period of pre-Prussian history, it isn't surprising we don't have a corresponding term. You could translate it as above, or you could just explain the German term once, and then continue to use it in an English text. This wouldn't be unusual.
"Landesgevollmächtigter" actually translates to the English "Plenipotentiary", meaning "a person, especially a diplomat, invested with the full power of independent action on behalf of their government, typically in a foreign country". A synonymous term is "Ambassador Extraordinary".
Landlord maybe? Or "king's messenger"? I don't think an English speaker would understand a more specific translation unless you're talking to a European history professor or something.
