Öhringer foundation letter

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Öhringer foundation letter

The Öhringer foundation letter is a document about the foundation of a canon monastery in Öhringen by the Regensburg Bishop Gebhard III. and his mother Adelheid in 1037. It is an important document for the historical research of numerous cities and communities in the Heilbronn-Franken region .

Foundation of the Canon Monastery

Foundation of the Canons' Monastery in 1037

At the request of his mother Adelheid, Gebhardt founded a canon monastery in Öhringen one year after taking office as Bishop of Regensburg . The originally existing parish church became the spiritual center of the monastery . Bishop Gebhard gave the villages of Ohrnberg , Pfahlbach , Eichach and Ernsbach to the monastery . These villages probably came into the possession of Gebhard and his mother through paternal inheritance. With the foundation, Gebhard confirmed an exchange from 1034 between an unspecified Count Hermann and Bishop Meginhard I of Würzburg . Count Hermann left half the village of Böckingen with a vineyard and two Hufen in Sülzbach , two Hufen in Heilbronn and fifteen serfs to the bishop . Hermann received the tithe shares of the Würzburg bishop in Öhringen. This owned two thirds of the tithe in Öhringen. With the letter of foundation Gebhard appointed the Counts of Comburg near Schwäbisch Hall to be bailiffs , i.e. secular patrons of the canon monastery. In return, the new bailiffs received half the village of Hall and ten pounds of the coin in Öhringen.

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The new foundation was transferred to the altar of Peter in Regensburg. Gebhard wanted to ensure that the bishops protected the foundation and that the proceeds were only used for it.

The letter of foundation also lists all properties that belonged to the Öhringen Church at that time. Gebhard did not hand over all of his property to the newly founded monastery. He particularly bequeathed the area of ​​the Waldenburg Mountains and the area around Neuenstein to the Regensburg Church.

Date of writing

The letter of foundation is dated August 17, 1037 and is issued in Würzburg. However, historians assume that the document was drawn up later. However, there is no doubt about the credibility of the document. Various older documents were probably used for the drafting. The fact that the deed stipulates the free election of the bailiff and extensive independence from the Regensburg bishop in internal affairs suggests that the foundation letter was only written between 1075 and 1122, i.e. during the investiture dispute . In addition, historians suspect that the foundation letter was also directed against Count Heinrich von Comburg, as it granted the possibility of dismissing a bailiff. Heinrich von Comburg was verifiably Vogt von Öhringen and in the investiture dispute was initially more of the imperial side. The founding of the Comburg monastery around 1090 in place of the previous count's castle shows Heinrich's transition to the supporters of greater independence for the monasteries and monasteries and made the possibility of his removal irrelevant.

Adelheid and the foundation's witnesses

Sarcophagus of Adelheid (13th century)

Adelheid von Metz comes from the house of Matfriede . The future Emperor Konrad II emerged from her first marriage to Heinrich von Speyer . After the death of her first husband, Adelheid married Poppo Graf in Lobdengau . This marriage comes from Gebhard, who becomes Bishop of Regensburg in 1036. His sister is believed to be Biliza, the mother of Pope Viktor II.

The letter of foundation was signed in Würzburg , since Öhringen still belonged to the diocese of Würzburg . Numerous canons from Würzburg were among the witnesses to the foundation letter.

The foundation letter concludes with a list of prominent foundation witnesses. Six counts are mentioned as witnesses in the document, all of whom were close relatives of Gebhard and Adelheid. With the recognition of the monastery, they assign their inheritance claims. The foundation letter mentions:

  • Boppo comes de Laufen (Boppo Graf von Laufen) , son of Adelheid and brother of Gebhard
  • Burchardus comes de Kamburc (Burkhard Graf von Comburg) , son-in-law of Adelheid and brother-in-law of Gebhard
  • Poppo comes de Heninberc ( Boppo Graf von Henneberg ) , grandson of Adelheid and nephew of Gebhard
  • Hugo comes de Cregineck (Hugo Graf von Kräheneck) , grandson of Adelheid and nephew of Gebhard
  • Adelbertus comes de Calewa ( Adalbert Graf von Calw ) , grandson of Adelheid and nephew of Gebhard, son of Biliza
  • Eberhard comes de Ingeresheim (Eberhard Graf von Ingersheim ) , grandson of Adelheid and nephew of Gebhard, son of Boppos

Place directory

Numerous towns and villages are mentioned in the Öhringer foundation letter, including numerous first documentary mentions :

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Stiftskirche Öhringen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files