Albert von Stade

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Albert von Stade (* before 1187 ? † February 9, 1264 ) was a Bremen canon and abbot , later a historian. In 1230 he became prior and in 1232 abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Mary in Stade .

Life

Albert's place of birth and also his year of birth (possibly 1187) are not documented. His origin is also unclear, although from very far-reaching interpretations of two passages in his chronicle the conclusion was drawn that he was of lower origin. As Karl Fiehn noted, however, condescending comments about farmers did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about his origin, especially since these comments were contradictory. Bernd Ulrich Hucker came to the conclusion that Albert must at least have been a Ministeriale , otherwise he would not have had access to the Bremen cathedral chapter . However, it was not possible to provide evidence of a relationship with one of the Bremen families.

Karl Fiehn assumed that Albert's clerical career began in the Ramelsloh monastery near Lüneburg . Some researchers suspect that in 1206 he worked as a deacon or provost in the canon monastery in Ramelsloh. After Hucker, he took over the canon position at the same time as the provost there in 1206, because he is attested as a Bremen canon in 1217 and 1232. Heinz-Joachim Schulze contradicted Hucker's assumption that Albert was prior and Benedictine . In his opinion, he had become a Benedictine monastery as a secular cleric, canon and provost in a collegiate monastery. Under the political pressure of the Archbishop of Bremen Gerhard II. He was raised to prior and elected abbot.

As abbot he succeeded Christoph von Stade in office, and he worked briefly as prior in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Marien in Stade. However, he was not ordained abbot by the archbishop responsible, but by the Cistercian monk and papal legate for Livonia , Baldwin of Alna. Shortly before, he and Albert - at that time still provost von Ramelsloh - had signed the founding deed of the Cistercian monastery Lilienthal . He was in the company of several ministerial families who also founded monasteries at this time, such as Midlum, Lilienthal, Hude and Uetersen.

Because of the in his view insufficient breeding of the Benedictines in the Stade Marienkloster  - a pretext or occasion often used by reformers - he advocated the introduction of the rule of the Cistercians. For this reason, according to his own statements, he went to Rome in 1236 to meet Pope Gregory IX. to ask for the necessary consent. The Pope agreed to his desire for stricter morals, but did not commit to converting it into a Cistercian monastery. Archbishop Gerhard II received in a letter the right to convert the monastery into a Cistercian monastery if the stricter rules did not apply. Although the bishop called a reform assembly, he did not take any further action. This was due to the fact that Archbishop Gerhard, who had settled the dispute with the Guelphs in 1236 , no longer seemed necessary to deprive the former opponents of their rights to the Benedictine abbey by converting it into a Cistercian monastery.

The abbot was thus in the middle of the dispute between Emperor Friedrich II and the Pope. The latter tried to use the younger orders to strengthen his position in the battle with the emperor and to use them for propaganda purposes. A significant part of the clergy, who were economically dependent on their income, resisted the advance of the Friars Minor , who led the Inquisition from 1237 onwards. Albert was therefore unable to assert himself in Stade and the archbishop also withdrew his support.

In 1240 he moved to the Minorite Monastery of St. Johannis in Stade, which was probably founded at his instigation. It seems that he became a Franciscan in order to pursue his literary activity after failing as a reformer. Perhaps he was forced to do so by the stadians and the archbishop. It is unclear whether he met Alexander Minorita there , who is often quoted from Albert's chronicle. In any case, Albert mentions him in his chronicle.

It appears in the Hamburg document book for the last time in 1250. In 1256 it was last entered in its chronicle. In the papal catalog he still names Pope Urban IV , so that he could still have lived in 1264. However, this assumes that this entry comes from Albert himself and not from a later processor. The abbot catalog only records the day of his death on February 9, without mentioning the year.

Annales Stadenses

Abbot Albert is especially important because of his world chronicle Annales Stadenses , which he began in 1204 and which goes back to 1256. While the work is largely an unrelated compilation , it gains its value through the use of sources that have now been lost. The stand-alone reports are of particular value.

In this work there is a playful dialogue between two friars about a trip to Rome . In the dialogue, Abbot Albert describes his trip to Rome in a very precise and detailed manner, which was probably intended as a guide for hikers at the time. The way there took him via Bremen , Münster , Maastricht , Maubeuge , Reims , Troyes , Chalon , Lyon , Chambéry , Susa , Turin , Piacenza , Bologna , Florence and Siena to Rome. On the way back to Stade he followed the Via Romea via Arezzo , Meldola , Padua , Trient , Bozen , Brixen , Sterzing , Matrei , Innsbruck , Zirl , Mittenwald , Partenkirchen , Oberammergau , Schongau , Igling , Augsburg , Donauwörth , Marktoffingen , Dinkelsbühl , Rothenburg , Aub , Ochsenfurt , Würzburg , Schweinfurt , Münnerstadt , Bad Neustadt an der Saale , Meiningen , Schmalkalden , Gotha , Bad Langensalza , Nordhausen , Hasselfelde , Wernigerode , Hornburg , Braunschweig , Rietze and Celle , the direct pilgrimage from Rome back to Stade .

The work contains the first secure mention of a road through the Schöllenen Gorge and thus a passage through the Gotthard Pass .

The entry for the year 1152 includes some math brain teasers, including the first written mention of a transfer riddle .

Works

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Albert von Stade  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ Bernd Ulrich Hucker: The problem of rule and freedom in the regional communities and aristocratic rule of the Middle Ages in the Niederweser area , Diss., Münster 1978, p. 337.
  2. ↑ The presentation follows Gerda Maeck: Die Weltchronik des Albert von Stade. A witness to the times of the Middle Ages. Studies on the historiography of Albert von Stade . Lehrte 2001, pp. 7-18.
  3. ↑ Annales Stadenses , pp. 335-340.
personal data
SURNAME Albert von Stade
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prior of the Marienkloster zu Stade and later abbot
DATE OF BIRTH 1187
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 1264