Caspar von Böselager

Caspar von Böselager

Caspar von Böselager (born July 3, 1687 at Gut Honeburg; † January 22, 1758 in Corvey ) was Prince Abbot of Corvey from 1737 to 1758 .

Life

Early years

His father was Johann Joachim von Böselager . The mother was Margaretha Angela Christina (born von Grothuis ). One of the brothers was Lieutenant General Christian von Böselager from Hanover .

As a later son from a family of the nobility , Caspar was earmarked for a spiritual career. He came to Corvey for the first time in 1703 at the age of fifteen. He was presented to the then abbot Florence of the field and the convent and made a good impression. In 1704 he began his novitiate in Corvey. Profession followed in 1705 . It was in 1708 for Subdeacon , 1709 to the deacon and in 1711 for priests ordained.

Around 1715 he was assigned to the Obermarsberg provost's office. This post was also connected with the parish pastoral care in Niedermarsberg . In September 1715 Corvey bought the Harhausen estate in Niedermarsberg. Caspar von Boeselager immediately moved into this comfortable building. He aroused displeasure in his parish, whose members had recently built a new, but cramped, rectory. The displeasure gave rise to a dispute about other issues. The parishioners accused the pastor of preferring hunting and fishing than taking care of pastoral care. The dispute came to a head in 1716. The interference of the electoral judge led to rioting. The judge then twice called on the shooters from the Brilon office to collect the sentences imposed, but in vain . In the second attempt, the riflemen allied themselves with the Marsbergers and, among other things, the Boeselagers apartment was looted. The monastery was almost looted. The legal appraisal and a claim for damages by Böselagers were only ended after many years.

In 1721 he received the provost parish office in Meppen . He held this position until 1737. There he has evidently proven himself as a pastor and administrator.

Abbot election

He had the reputation of a disinterested, pious, educated and economically gifted man. Therefore, the convent nominated him in 1737 as the successor to the late Abbot Karl von Plittersdorf . He faced an influential rival candidate, the Paderborn Cathedral Provost and Minister of the Electorate of Cologne, Friedrich Christian von Fürstenberg . Fürstenberg had tried to find a successor while the late abbot was still alive and now did everything to achieve this position. This also meant that he promised the members of the convention substantial sums of money. He also had Archbishop Clemens August of Bavaria behind him. The election took place on March 17, 1737 under the chairmanship of the abbots of the Ringelheim and Marienmünster monasteries . In the second ballot, Caspar received 13 votes, another member of the convention received one vote and von Fürstenberg received 12 votes. Caspar von Böselager was thus chosen. Emperor and Pope confirmed the choice. On June 10, 1737, the subjects paid homage. A year later he received from Charles VI. the regalia .

Time as dept

He was thus abbot and sovereign over the small imperial territory of Corvey. The power of the prince abbot was limited in many ways. On the one hand there were the estates and on the other hand the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . Since the Peace of Westphalia, he was the protector of the Protestant population in Höxter . Inasmuch as his predecessors had Caspar with Counter-Reformation measures be careful.

In 1737 he became President of the Bursfeld Congregation . From an ecclesiastical point of view, the introduction of the Trier Agende was supplemented by some of Corvey's own rites.

During his time, brewing regulations were issued. The medieval Corveyer Traditions were also published in print by Johann Friedrich Falcke . He acquired a number of works for the library of the monastery. In 1754 he issued a new version of the chancellery regulations. During the Seven Years' War, the monastery suffered from the effects of war.

He did a lot to promote his small country economically. So he had the healing spring ("Gesundbrunnen") in Godelheim developed. He had the architect Franz Christoph Nagel build a mansion with a garden there, which from then on served the prince abbots as a summer residence. He had a well house built over the spring.

He also left structural traces in Corvey. For example, in 1741 he had an orangery building with an accompanying garden built by Nagel . In his time, the Benedictine Chapel and the tower room, which today serves as a library, were redesigned in the Rococo style. In Fürstenau , the construction of the royal court began in 1756. He had the new pharmacy built in Höxter. In 1746 he had the portraits of Saints Stephen and Vitus made with his coat of arms by the sculptor Joseph Pollmann from Marsberg. A crucifixion group was set up in front of the Corvey Bridge in 1749. The so-called Thirteen Linden Cross was also created by Pollmann in 1750 on behalf of the abbot. The two sentry boxes also date from his time.

literature

• New genealogical-historical news from the most distinguished events [...]. The 102 part. Leipzig 1759, p. 692 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

• Biographical presentation (PDF; 319 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gerhard Brökel: Riots in Niedermarsberg in the year 1716. In: Südwestfalen-Archiv vol. 11 (2011), ISSN  1618-8934 , pp. 67-88.
2. ↑ Presentation of the hereditary homage (PDF; 275 kB)
3. ↑ Agenda from the area of ​​today's Archdiocese of Paderborn ( Memento from May 15, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Lecture by Hermann-Josef Schmalor ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
Karl von Plittersdorf	Abbot of Corvey 1737–1758	Philipp von Spiegel to Desenberg