Benedikt Fontana (Vogt)

Commemorative plaque on his residence: Rätia Ampla Castle in Riom

Benedikt Fontana , Rhaeto-Romanic Benedetg Fontana (* around 1450 in Salouf ; † May 22, 1499 ) was a bailiff and ministerial and died in the battle of the Calven (Rhaeto-Romanic: Chalavaina) allegedly a martyr .

biography

origin

Benedikt von Fontana came from a noble family from Salouf in Oberhalbstein. His father Heinrich II was a ministerial officer in the service of the Prince-Bishop of Chur . His mother was Magdalena von Lumerins . Benedikt and his brothers Heinrich III., Dusch and Rudolf are always mentioned in contemporary documents with the particle "from". There are hardly any verifiable documents about Fontana's childhood and youth; accordingly, his date of birth is uncertain. It is known, however, that he had three brothers and five sisters, three of whom were married to members of the lower ministerial nobility (a daughter who is not known by name with a Meier Demont, Ursula with Markwart von Valendas, Agnes with Junker Hans von Biss (Abis), Vogt Riom / Reams; and one with Johann Flugi). The eldest brother Heinrich III. was married in second marriage to Anna Sarganserin, an illegitimate daughter of Count Georg von Werdenberg-Sargans zu Ortenstein, shower with a Planta from Zuoz and Rudolf with Margarethe von Juvalt, from the noble ministerial family von Juvalt. Those of Fontana possibly descend from the nobles of Salouf, which are attested in documents in the 13th century.

Life as Vogt

Fontana was appointed episcopal bailiff on the southern border of the Three Leagues in 1493 . Originally a local grazing rights conflict between the Puschlavern and Tiranern threatened the good relationship between the Diocese of Chur and the Duchy of Milan to compromise. Knowing that Fontana had a good ability to arbitrate, the Chur bishop commissioned him to deal with the problem. The conflict could be resolved. However - so it is said - Fontana felt very uncomfortable in talks with the Milanese nobility: he was more of a man of action than diplomacy and did not speak the Italian language as well as the Surmiran and German.

Life as a ministerial

In addition to the von Marmels, who had held the bailiwick nine times in Oberhalbstein and on the Septimerpass, those of Fontana played a leading role since the 15th century. From 1495, like his father Heinrich II, he was a ministerial officer in the church association in Oberhalbstein . His seat was the Riom Castle , which still stands prominently on a hill on the left side of the valley and oversees the throat of the stone (Crap Ses). In his role as ministerial officer, Fontana made a name for himself among the population. In 1497 he is said to have taken his sword in both hands in a border dispute between the neighboring communities of Savognin and Tinizong and rammed it into the ground with full force. Cò è'l igl cunfegn! - «Here is the limit!» he is supposed to have said. From then on, no one dared to question the border.

Heroic death

1499, in the Swabian War , he gained fame as a captain when he died in the Battle of Calven . Although the combat-ready troops were under the command of the Zurich captain Dietrich Freuler, Fontana went down in history as a hero because Freuler suddenly began to hesitate to attack when the situation became critical. Fontana saw that there was no turning back. Without further ado he took over the command and commanded the attack. The battle was ultimately won by the Bündner, while Fontana lost his life. The following story is told about his death:

Benedikt Fontana was seriously injured by an enemy missile while he was charging towards the Austrians as a captain at the head of the Graubünden troops. Struggling with death, he held the wound in his abdomen with his left hand, while with his right he pointed his sword at the enemy. With his face turned to his comrades, he spurred him on to victory with the last of his strength: "Fresh up, my boys, I am only a man, disregard me; still today Bündner and the Bünde or never! " Apparently this had helped, because the Graubünden people put the Habsburgs to flight.

Legend has it that Fontana's sword was thrown into the bed of the Balandegn, a torrent outside Salouf, after the Battle of Calves, so that it would not fall victim to a thief. It is still hidden there today.

Historiography

His heroic death was not even mentioned in the chronicles for a long time. It was not until the middle of the 16th century that the historian Simon Lemnius from Graubünden focused on Fontana's role in the battle and thus helped him to a place of fame in Graubünden's history. In 1771 it found its way into Johann Conrad Füssli's federal depictions of the earth . But in the most important Swiss historical work of the 19th century, in Johann von Müller's Stories of the Confederation, the Calvenschlacht is performed without Benedikt Fontana. Fontana's breakthrough to the Grison national hero was in the Graubunden history completed (1870-1874) of Conradin von Moor, and his hero worship took place in the late 19th century in various occasions its peak.

Fontana's heroic words

Fontana monument in Chur

Fontana is revered in Graubünden as a national hero, comparable to Wilhelm Tell or Arnold von Winkelried . His last words are the epitome of patriotism and can be found in numerous poems and songs. But there is a certain lack of clarity about these words, because for a long time there was nothing to be found about Fontana's death.

Simon Lemnius was the first chronicler to write Fontana's words. Lemnius wrote this work, written in Latin, shortly before his death in 1550. According to this, Fontana said the following: Socii vos, tendite contra vallum igens telis; hodie est, aut Raetia nunquam amplius extabit, patriam defendite dextra! This was later translated as follows: «Companions! Storm the wall for me, which is so grimly peppered with guns! Because Raetia - today or never - will continue to exist, so defend your home faithfully. "

In 1570 the Engadin humanist Ulrich Campell published another chronicle about Fontana. This was also written in Latin. He only wrote Fontana's heroic words in the Engadine Romansh of the time : Hei fraischgiamaing meis matts: cun mai ais par un huom da far; quai brichia guardad: u chia hoaz Grischuns e Ligias, u maa non plü! The fact that Campell only wrote this quote in Romansh shows that he attached great importance to these words. The German translation can be found in Section 2 (Heldentod). In Oberhalbstein Romansch - Fontana's mother tongue - it says: Frestgamaintg anavant, lousy mats! Ia sung angal en om, betg az starmante; oz Grischuns e las Leias u mai ple!

While Lemnius' Latin quote was not well received by the population, Campell's Romance quote became an appeal for the love of the Grisons patriotism. And this, precisely because it was written in Romansh and not in Latin; so freely according to the motto: Our country, our language!

Claudio Willi expresses himself rather critically cautious about the words from Lemnius' and Campell's chronicles, since the origin of the quotations mentioned is uncertain. In addition, chroniclers occasionally tended to dramatize historical situations even more strongly with winged quotations.

monument

In Chur in the Fontanapark , a monument created in 1903 by Richard Kissling after a competition commemorates Fontana's heroic death. It is inspired by the Winkelried monument in Stans , created by Kissling's former master Ferdinand Schlöth .

Fontana's name adorns one of the Allegra multiple units delivered in 2010, ABe 8/12 3507 , of the Rhaetian Railway .

Duri Sialm named one of his cantatas after Benedikt Fontana.

literature

• Martin Bundi : Fontana, Benedict. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Claudio Willi: Benedikt Fontana through the ages. In: Historisch-antiquarian society of the Canton of Graubünden (ed.): Festschrift 600 years Gotteshausbund: To commemorate the foundation of the Gotteshausbund on January 29, 1367. Calven-Verlag, Chur 1967, pp. 351–375.
• Claudio Willi: Calvenschlacht and Benedikt Fontana : Transmission of a battle report and the emergence and popularization of a hero image (= Historia raetica. Volume 1). Calven-Verlag, Chur 1971.
• Graubünden document book. Volume VI, No. 3575 of January 29, 1367, where Heinrich I von Fontana appears among the ministerials of the Church of God (Eherenfels, Schauenstein, Juvalt, Marmels).

Web links

Commons : Benedikt Fontana  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Say about Benedict Fontana

Individual evidence

1. ↑ in his book Calvenschlacht and Benedikt Fontana. 1971, page 81.
2. ^ Fontana memorial
3. ^ Stefan Hess , Stephan E. Hauser : Schlöth, Ferdinand. In: Sikart .