Berchtold von Falkenstein

Berchtold von Falkenstein († June 10, 1272 ) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St. Gallen from 1244 to 1272.

Berchtold von Falkenstein, the son of Eigelwart (I.) (v. 1257) from the noble family of the Lords of Falkenstein , was initially a monk and porter in the Benedictine abbey of St. Gallen and, after the resignation of Abbot Walter von Trauchburg (1239-1244), succeeded him (1244-1272). Economic difficulties and feudal armed conflicts in the vicinity of the St. Gallen monastic community determined the reign of Abbot Berchtold, who had to assert himself in many feuds and wars. Even before the beginning of his term of office (November 1244) the Counts of Toggenburg had the st. Gallic Wil , which had to surrender to Berchtold in early 1245 after a five-week siege. Further disputes with the Toggenburgers were to follow. In the dispute between the Staufer Empire and the Papacy, the Abbot of St. Gallen stood on the papal side, for which he received a number of privileges at the Council of Lyon , among others. a. on May 15, 1247 the right to use pontificals. On September 7, 1248, Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254) appointed him as administrator of the Rheinau Abbey . Berchtold also threw covetous glances at the island monastery Reichenau and managed to have this abbey assigned to him by Pope Alexander IV (1254–1261) with a document dated February 6, 1258 for administration. Ultimately, however, Berchtold could not enforce his rule over the monasteries Rheinau and Reichenau. As early as 1258 he came into conflict with the Bishop of Constance Eberhard II (1248–1274) because of the Reichenau Abbey , a meeting of both opponents in Viterbo at the instigation of the Pope brought reconciliation; Berchtold accepted the new Reichenau abbot Albrecht von Ramstein (1260–1294), who was his cousin.

From June to November 1257, the St. Gallen abbot was on imperial affairs when he traveled to Castile to offer the German royal crown to King Alfonso X the Wise (1252–1284) there. Before leaving, Berchtold set up an Anniversar Foundation for his parents. Subsequently, the "double kingship" of Alfonso of Castile (1257–1282) and Richard of Cornwall (1257–1272) determined the interregnum (1257–1273).

Feuds also determined Berchtold's policy in the 1260s to secure monastery, monastery property and rights. The St. Gallen abbot had to defend himself against Habsburg claims (settlement of July 16, 1271), he consolidated St. Gallen positions in Thurgau and the Rhine Valley (including 1265) and acquired the town of Lichtensteig as a pledge from the Toggenburgers (1271). The external consolidation of the departmental property corresponded to a tightening of the administration (income model, supervision of the ministeriality ), whereby the debts of the monastery could be reduced and the income situation improved decisively. The latter happened at the expense of the monastery people, who were taxed “beyond the law”.

The abbot was unable and unwilling to do much against the noble, monastic way of life in the monastery, although he did take disciplinary action against individual canons. Berchtold saw himself as a "prince of the church", as the head of a "monastic state", who - as at the meeting of Viterbo in 1258 or at Christmas 1271 - surrounded himself with a large knightly entourage of his liegemen. Despite his aristocratic and warlike way of life, the Falkensteiner was filled with concern for his monastery and other churches as well as with piety. After a long illness, Abbot Berchtold von Falkenstein died on June 10, 1272.

literature

• Berchtold von Falkenstein , in: Helvetia Sacra III / 1/2 (1986), pp. 1301-1303.
• H. Harter: Nobility and castles in the upper Kinzig area. Studies on settlement and high medieval rulership in the medieval Black Forest. (= FOLG 37), Freiburg i.Br.-Munich 1992.
• H. Harter: Aristocracy on Falkenstein and Schilteck. In: Schramberg. Dominion - Markflecken - industrial city. Edited by Museum and History Association Schramberg ud Great District Town Schramberg, Schramberg 2004, pp. 55–82.
• M. Buhlmann: The St. Georgen monastery in the Black Forest and the Lords of Falkenstein. In: Vertex Alemanniae. H. 26, St. Georgen 2007.
• Magdalen Bless-Grabher: Falkenstein, Berchtold von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Paul Kläui:  Berthold von Falkenstein. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 154 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Gerold Meyer von Knonau:  Berthold (Abbot of St. Gallen) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 521.

Web links

• Magdalen Bless-Grabher: Falkenstein, Berchtold von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Abbot Berchtold von Falkenstein (1244-1272) in the city encyclopedia of the city of Wil

predecessor	Office	successor
Walter von Trauchburg	Abbot of St. Gallen 1244–1272	Heinrich von Wartenberg