Vestigia Leonis (legend)

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Lion figure at Bardowick Cathedral with the inscription on the foot: VESTIGIUM LEONIS .

Vestigia leonis ( Latin for [the] lion's footsteps ) or Vestigium leonis ( [the] lion's footsteps ) is a phrase that is said to date from 1189 and is attributed to Guelph Duke Henry the Lion . Heinrich, "the lion", should refer to the destruction of the place Bardowick by his troops on 28/29. October of the year. In fact, it is a modern legend .

history

prehistory

The Duchy of Saxony around 1180 with the possession ( house power ) of Henry the Lion. Bardowick is on the northern border.

The spots Bardowick is located 120 km north of Braunschweig , which until the death of Henry the Lion in 1195 its approximately 1,160 residence was. Bardowick and Lüneburg , only a few kilometers south, were part of Heinrich's Duchy of Saxony, both of which were important trading cities in the 12th century. Bardowick was Heinrich's second most important mint in what is now Lower Saxony . Heinrich the Lion promoted important northern German cities near Bardowick, in addition to Lüneburg especially Lübeck and Schwerin , which resulted in considerable competition for Bardowick, which ultimately led to the fact that their position as a trading center deteriorated permanently due to the emigration of traders, merchants and craftsmen .

The Roman-German King and Emperor Friedrich I , known as Barbarossa , was a cousin of Heinrich. The relationship between the two was originally so close that Barbarossa supported Heinrich in such a way that his position in northern Germany was equal to that of a king. When Friedrich again took to the field against the Lombards in 1174 , Heinrich was the only German prince who refused him allegiance. This led to a break between the two in 1180/81 and finally to the disempowerment of Heinrich the Lion, who subsequently lost both duchies and was only allowed to keep the allodial estates around Braunschweig and Lüneburg. He also had to go into exile for several years , which he spent at the court of his father-in-law Henry Plantagenet and, after his death, with that of his brother-in-law Richard the Lionheart in England.

Mathilde Plantagenet , Heinrich the Lion's second wife, stayed in Braunschweig during his second exile, where she died on June 28, 1189 at the age of just 33. Heinrich then returned to his residence from exile in the early summer of that year, against all arrangements. At this point, Barbarossa was already on the Third Crusade - Heinrich had refused to follow him.

Since the emperor and a large part of his followers and opponents of Heinrich were now out of the country, Henry the Lion wanted to seize the opportunity and restore his original position of power. In the beginning, he succeeded in doing this very easily.

The "Bardowicker buttocks homage"

Artistic representation of the "Bardowick buttocks homage" on a column in Schwerin .

Because of Heinrich's urban policy, which had an adverse effect on Bardowick and ultimately led to his economic decline, as well as Heinrich's two-time exile, according to another legend, the Bardowick population prevented their duke from entering the town in 1182 and mocked him by saying that they turned their bare buttocks to him from the city walls. This went down in the history of the stain as the " Bardowick buttocks homage ".

"In general it is said and also believed by most / that the besieged was so godless / and Henrico Leoni of the Moors / salvà venià [with all due respect], the exposed obstacles are shown."

- Christian Schlöpke: Chronicon, or description of the town and the Bardewick stift, before and after the destruction. P. 205.

The so mocked is said to have sworn revenge .

Siege and destruction of Bardowick

Heinrich's troops began to besiege Bardowick on October 26, 1189 . On the 28th or 29th they managed to storm the city, whereupon it was completely destroyed except for the churches. Before that, however, Heinrich had all the books and liturgical equipment secured and the cathedral's glass windows removed so that everything was then brought to the Ratzeburg Cathedral , 60 km to the northeast .

After the destruction of Bardowick, the place never returned to its old size and importance. Bardowick sank down to the village, while the nearby Lüneburg became powerful and prosperous. The caesura of 1189 has remained in the public consciousness up to the present day. In the 19th century it was said that Henry the Lion himself had the lion figure erected as a memorial and as a deterrent for all who opposed him.

Lion figure

Today, in an outside niche above the south portal of the Bardowick Cathedral, there is a 71.5 × 25 cm figure of a golden, upright lion with a red tongue. This figure was probably made around 1487. It has a wooden core that is coated with lead that has been gilded . The lion sitting on an octagonal profiled pedestal , which in golden letters , the Capitalis quadrata similar to ocher reason the inscription vestigium LEONIS carries. This inscription is probably not from the 15th century, because it is not documented before 1704. Christian Schlöpke published his Chronicon that year in Lübeck , or description of the city and the Bardewick monastery, before and after the destruction, in which he reported on the figure "above the large door" above the south porch of the cathedral. Only since then has it been associated with Henry the Lion and the destruction of Bardowick. After the vestibule was torn down around 1794, the lion was moved to its current location. The figure was last restored in 1969.

"On the other hand, Bunting and the blessed Mr. D. Meibomius , followed by the blessed Mr. D. Sagittarius write / Henricus Leo had the church buildings / after he had robbed them of all their adornment / did not tear them down or set them on fire / but let them stand on the wall / that from it one might infer the size and excellence of the city, disturbed by him, in the following times. How then, perhaps, his aim may also have been / that even today a lion carved out of wood / seated is presented above the large door of the cathedral church / with the inscription: Leonis Vestigium. "

- Christian Schlöpke: Chronicon, or description of the city and the Bardewick stift, before and after the destruction. P. 210.

Legends

Cover of Richard Nordhausen's Vestigia Leonis: Die Mär von Bardowieck , published 1890.

The extensive destruction of the place and the continuing economic decline are likely to have ultimately led to this historical turning point taking on legendary features in the collective memory of the local population over the centuries . The wooden sculpture was probably not made until the end of the 15th century. With his Chronicon , published in 1704, Christian Schlöpke was apparently the first to report on the inscription at the foot of the lion statue - there are no documents from earlier times. In 1810 an unknown author mentioned it in Henry the Lion. A historical-romantic painting . The writer Richard Nordhausen wrote two works on the subject: 1890 Vestigia Leonis: The fairy tale of Bardowieck and 1920 Vestigia Leonis. The last days of a German city . The late 19th century widely read gazebo reported 1892 Track Of Dandelions .

literature

  • Jochen Luckhardt , Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Catalog of the exhibition Braunschweig 1995. Volume 3: Nachleben. Hirmer, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-6900-9 , pp. 108-109.
  • Christian Schlöpke : Chronicon, or description of the city and the Bardewick stift, before and after the destruction. Lübeck 1704.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Barz : Heinrich the lion. A Guelph moves history. Keil, Bonn 1977, ISBN 3-921591-00-7 , p. 357.
  2. ^ A b Karl Jordan : Heinrich the Lion. CH Beck, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-406-04033-0 , p. 136.
  3. ^ Wolfgang Leschhorn : Brunswick coins and medals. 1000 years of coin art and monetary history in the city and country of Braunschweig. Appelhans-Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-941737-22-8 , p. 40.
  4. ↑ Joachim Ehlers: Heinrich the lion. Biography. P. 129.
  5. ↑ a b c Karl Jordan: Heinrich the lion. P. 222.
  6. ↑ Joachim Ehlers : Heinrich the lion. Biography. Siedler, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-787-1 , p. 306.
  7. ↑ Joachim Ehlers: Heinrich the lion. Biography. P. 128.
  8. ↑ a b c Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. P. 108.
  9. ↑ Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. P. 109.
  10. ↑ Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (ed.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. P. 108f.
  11. ↑ NN : Henry the Lion. A historical-romantic painting. Second volume, Leipzig 1810, p. 177.
  12. ↑ A. Kohlenberg: The lion's track. In: Gartenlaube , Issue 25, pp. 782f. from 1892 ( The lion's trail on de.wikisource.org)

Remarks

  1. ↑ When Heinrich received the Bavarian duchy in addition to the Saxon duchy in 1156 , “a new name was created for him: Heinrich the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria” ( creatum est ei nomen novum: Heinricus leo, dux Bavariae et Saxoniae ). In: Helmold von Bosau : Chronica Slavorum Retransmitted and explained by Heinz Stoob . In: Selected sources on German medieval history. (FSGA XIX) Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1963, p. 300.