[1] In 1247, Berthold, Patriarch of Aquileia, transferred fiefdom of Ribnica and its Lower Carniolan environs to the Counts of Ortenburg, a Carinthian noble family.

Peddling would thereafter become a crucial source of supplemental income for the Gottscheers, who remained isolated subsistence farmers from their settlement up until their dispersement after the Second World War.

Gottscheer peddlers sold homespun linens, dormouse pelts, and wooden toys, among other wares, throughout the Holy Roman and later Austro-Hungarian and German Empires.

In the 18th century, their right to peddle was expanded to produce from the southern reaches of the empire, and by the time that Gottschee was incorporated into Yugoslavia, they also sold exotic fruits and sweets.

The Gottscheers peddled on foot through the winter, and returned in the springtime to tend to the family's plot, staying at home until the end of harvest season in November.

In 1507, the Gottschee was pledged to Jörg von Thurn (Jurij Turn), who became hated by his subjects for introducing heavy-handed tax farming and interest collection.

Gottscheer emigrants in the United States lobbied for recognition of their people's right to self-determination, however, the enclave's small size and even smaller population meant that it was incorporated into Yugoslavia despite Gottschee German disapproval.

Despite claims that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia would constitutionally protect minority rights, on January 1, 1919, all German teachers and civil servants in the state were dismissed.

However, Lampeter promptly was forced to step down from this post on 23 April, after the region became part of the Province of Ljubljana, an Italian occupation zone.

To achieve their goal, accommodation had to be made for the Gottschee settlers and, beginning in November 1941, some 46,000 Slovenes from the Rann Triangle region were deported to eastern Germany for potential Germanisation or forced labor.

Though many Gottscheers received houses and farmland, inevitably there was great dissatisfaction that many properties were of lesser value and quality than their original lands, and many were in disarray after the hasty expulsion of their previous occupants.

[2] By 1945, nearly all Gottscheers had fled the Rann Triangle for Austria, stragglers were interned and later expelled in the aftermath of treaties between the defeated Germans and the Yugoslav Partisans.

[5] The vast majority of Gottscheers and their descendants now live in the United States, mainly in New York City and Cleveland, but also in other parts of the country.