Brun of Querfurt

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Beheaded Brun von Querfurt (fresco from the Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross) monastery , Poland)

Brun von Querfurt (* around 974 in Querfurt ; † February 14 or March 9, 1009 in the border area of Prussia , Russia and Lithuania ; also Bruno , called by his church name Bonifacius ) was a German archbishop and missionary and the second Christian apostle and Martyr to the pagan Prussians .

Life

Brun originated from the dynasty of Querfurt and was related to the Saxon royal family. He was one of four sons of Brun the Elder , the first attested lord of Querfurt Castle in Hassegau , and his wife Ida. He was trained in the famous cathedral school of Magdeburg , where he became cathedral capitular and priest. In 997 Emperor Otto III appointed him . in his court chapel , just at the time when the death of Adalbert of Prague violently moved the emperor. Brun accompanied Otto III. on his second trip to Italy and there, to the St. To emulate Adalbert, as a monk in the monastery of St. Alexius and Bonifacius, in which Adalbert had also spent some years. At this time, at the latest, Brun also adopted the name Bonifacius. In 1001 Brun joined St. Romuald , the great zealot against the negligence that had torn down many monasteries. In 1002, Brun had Pope Silvester II give him a mission for Poland and thus became the direct successor of Adalbert of Prague.

Monument in Giżycko (Lötzen)

In 1004 Brun was ordained archbishop for the Slavic mission in Merseburg , but found no support from King Heinrich II , who waged war against the Polish Duke Bolesław I. Chrobry . He went to King Stephen the Holy of Hungary , but found no support here either and therefore moved on to the Russian Grand Duke Vladimir I in Kiev . From there he wanted to do missionary work with the Pechenegs , who lived from the lower Don to the lower Danube . During a five-month stay in their country he succeeded in converting the greater part of this people, but after his departure they again apostatized. But he had at least brought about a peace between them and the Grand Duke.

In 1008 he turned to his main goal and went to the court of Bolesław I. Chrobry. Since a new war had broken out between Henry and King Heinrich, he sent one of his companions to Sweden , where King Olaf Schosskönig and a large part of his people were won over for the baptism. Then he made one last attempt to reconcile Heinrich and Bolesław by writing to the future emperor, but this too remained in vain.

Finally he set out with eighteen companions for the land of the Prussians . All that is known about his fate among the Prussians and about his end is that he had advanced to the borders of Russia and Lithuania ( Lituae ) and was slain by Prussians or Lithuanians with all his companions on February 14 or March 9, 1009. His mission attempts were unsuccessful. The Prussians were subjugated and missionized by the Teutonic Order in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the last European territory to adopt the Christian faith in 1387. In the course of the Lithuanian wars of the Teutonic Order, this was seen as an opportunity to end the conflict with the Teutonic Order, which had been going on for 85 years.

Inscription on the monument in Giżycko (Lötzen)

In the East Prussian town of Lötzen (today Giżycko ), the Catholic parish church of St. Bruno has been commemorating the bishop and martyr since 1937 . In addition, in 1998 a monument in honor of Brun von Querfurt was erected on a hill near the Boyen Fortress . According to this, he was martyred on March 9, 1009 at this very spot. However, this statement is considered unsecured.

His feast day (Catholic, Protestant) is March 9th.

Fonts

  • Vita Sancti Adalberti ( Life of Saint Adalbert of Prague ), German text in: Lorenz Weinrich (Hrsg.) With the assistance of Jerzy Strzelczyk : Heiligenleben for German-Slavic History: Adalbert von Prag - Otto von Bamberg (= Rudolf Buchner , Franz-Josef Schmale and Hans-Werner Goetz (eds.): Selected sources on the history of the German Middle Ages. Freiherr-Vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe, Volume XXIII.) Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-01422-7 , pp. 70– 117.
  • Letter to Heinrich II. (1008), in: Heinrich von Zeißberg: The wars of Emperor Heinrich II. With Duke Boleslaw I of Poland . Gerold, Vienna 1868, pp. 353-360.

Monuments

  • Braunsbrunnen on Brunnenherrenweg in Querfurt
  • Braunsbrunnen on the market in Querfurt

literature

Web links

Commons : Brun von Querfurt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Text output
personal data
SURNAME Brun of Querfurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bruno von Querfurt; Bonifacius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German archbishop for the mission to the east, martyr
DATE OF BIRTH at 974
PLACE OF BIRTH Querfurt
DATE OF DEATH March 9, 1009
Place of death Border area of Prussia , Russia and Lithuania