Christoph Bernhard von Galen
Christoph Bernhard von Galen (born October 12, 1606 at Bisping house near Rinkerode in Westphalia ; † September 19, 1678 in Ahaus ) was a Catholic priest and from November 14, 1650 until his death, Prince-Bishop of Münster . He was buried in the St. Joseph's Chapel in the St. Paulus Cathedral in Münster.
Origin and education
Christoph Bernhard von Galen was born to Protestant parents from the von Galen family on October 12, 1606. His father, Dietrich von Galen, owned estates in the Baltic States and held the title of Courland Hereditary Marshal . During a state parliament in Münster, Dietrich von Galen killed the Münster Hereditary Marshal Gerd Morrien zu Nordkirchen on February 15, 1607 and as a result had to spend twelve years in custody at Bevergern Castle . Because his wife voluntarily accompanied him, the young Christoph Bernhard was placed under the care of his uncle, the Münster canon Heinrich von Galen, in 1616. The latter gave him a Catholic education from the Munster Jesuits at the Paulinum .
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The Jesuits conveyed a denominational worldview to Galen. At the age of 13 he received his first assignment for the cathedral chapter in Münster in 1619 . When he had reached the required age, he moved to Cologne and Mainz in order to complete his studies at a Jesuit high school in 1626. Bernhard von Galen completed a law degree in Leuven and Bordeaux . In July 1627 he returned to Münster. The time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) shaped him. In 1630 he became treasurer of the cathedral and in 1634 clergyman . There weren't many politically active canons at the time . Galen took on many diplomatic assignments. Again and again he took part in negotiations with the imperial generals in Westphalia .
career
In 1642 he was appointed to the cathedral coast and in 1643 one of the three privy councilorships. During the peace negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia in Münster (1648) he belonged to the electoral Cologne embassy under the Osnabrück bishop Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg , which represented the ecclesiastical interests of the Pope. After Galen against Bernhard von Mallinckrodt the Bishop of Münster was elected, he received in September 1651 episcopal ordination . His office was based on the ideal of bishops, which had been presented at the Council of Trent (1545–1563). As a result, he tried to implement various reform decrees. He eliminated the common cohabitation in the clergy and showed his zeal for reform through biannual synods and visitations . Galen also sponsored pilgrimages , such as the pilgrimage to Telgte , which was first ordered in 1651 , or the procession in Vinnenberg in 1654 . Thanks to the experience of the Thirty Years' War, Galen was a skilled foreign policy maker. He ruled himself and presided over the Privy Council. The traditions describe him as polite and sociable, but he could not stand contradiction and came into conflict with close confidants. In old age he was said to be intolerant and stubborn. The relationship with the cathedral chapter was rather tense. This created a disgruntled mood towards the bishop in the first years of office.
Act
Like most of the Münster bishops since the Middle Ages , Christoph Bernhard von Galen resided alternately at the official castles in Ahaus , Horstmar , Sassenberg and Wolbeck , but mostly in Coesfeld . From 1652 to 1656 he had the St. Ludgerus Castle , named after the first bishop of Munster, built in front of the cattle gate . But the bishop's plans were never fully carried out. After his death the fortress was left to decay. Only a few remains of the former citadel have survived in the cityscape (street names: Burgwall , Burgring , Am Ravellin ). Galen's military conquests were later lost.
Defense against external enemies
First and foremost, Galen sought to expel the foreign Protestant troops who were still occupying the country after the war. Hesse was in Coesfeld , Orange in Bevergern and Sweden in Vechta . The Westphalian Peace Treaty had stipulated very high monetary payments, but Galen managed to raise the funds for the disbursement of the Hessians, so that they moved from Coesfeld on July 8, 1651. After the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Orange people settled at Bevergerner Burg, and Galen was determined to get them back. The prince-bishop did not seriously consider another war through the deployment of a relief army. Instead, with the help of the famous seven mercenaries, on August 28, 1652, he managed to get the castle back without bloodshed, just with a trick. The recovery of the city of Vechta was far more difficult. At the end of 1653, Galen took part in the Regensburg Reichstag for this reason . After the city of Munster advanced 50,000 thalers , the Swedes actually withdrew on May 13, 1654. The bishop reminded of its military and political strength through gifts and donations to the monastery. He never missed an opportunity to present his skills pompously.
From the imperial army of the Thirty Years' War in Westphalia, Galen had recruited 1,500 soldiers for his area in 1651, which he increased to a force of 3,000 men in 1654 to assert himself against the Protestant neighbors. Especially the expanding Dutch were a thorn in Galen's side. Defense was the task of the sovereigns. Galen therefore built various citadels to force the estates to maintain a stronger army: at Coesfeld, which he chose as his residence , the Ludgerusburg , the Münster citadel and the Vechta citadel . His garrisons were temporarily spread out all over the monastery. Warendorf , Rheine and Meppen received new fortresses.
Galen's foreign policy has repeatedly focused on his hereditary enemy: the Calvinist republic of the United Netherlands . He was also called " Bommen Berend " ("Bomb Bernd") by the Dutch because, as a bishop in war robes, he concentrated intensely on bombing with mortar projectiles . Under the pretext of being in charge of collecting severance payments for Harlingerland , the bishop had his troops march into East Frisia in December 1663. The Hampoeler and Dieler Schanze were conquered under Colonel Elverfeld . To support Dutch Catholics, he had mission stations built in the border area .
In September 1665 Galen entered into an alliance with the English King Charles II , who was looking for allies in the Second Anglo-Dutch Naval War that he had launched in order to conquer the rule in Borkeloh ( Dutch Borculo , outdated Heerlijkheid Borkelo ). With Georg Christian von Hessen-Homburg as commander in chief, he succeeded in the military conquest of the Twente , the Achterhoeks and Westerwoldes , and his troops crossed the Bourtanger Moor . But French and Brandenburg intervention prevented success, so that on April 18, 1666 the Peace of Kleve came about , in which Galen renounced Borkeloh. In 1668 the county of Bentheim came into his possession because he succeeded in converting Ernst Wilhelm von Bentheim-Steinfurt to the Catholic faith. All that was missing was the county of Lingen , also a protectorate of the Dutch.
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In June 1672 he made a second attempt with an army of almost 25,000 men in the Dutch War , now in alliance with France's Louis XIV and the Elector of Cologne , Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria . After initial success, which Galen owed to his artillery , Louis XIV demanded conquests in Gelderland , across the IJssel . Von Galen directed his arrows north and conquered Zwolle , Kampen (Netherlands) and Coevorden . The Munster offensive got stuck in August 1672 in front of Groningen because 45,000 hectares were inundated east and west of the city . Carl von Rabenhaupt defended the city and on December 30th captured the fortress of Coevorden.
When Raimondo Montecuccoli and Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg allied themselves with the Republic of the Seven United Provinces , Von Galen hurried to Soest . The imperial auxiliary corps was not allowed to do anything decisive against von Galen and Montecuccoli, who did not agree, resigned from command in early 1673. In October 1673 von Galen tried again to conquer Coevorden. 1400 of his soldiers drowned because of a storm and a dam break . In March 1674 he tried for the last time to conquer Groningen. On April 22nd, his troops withdrew.
After this defeat, he proved his loyalty to the emperor by providing him with troops for the war against France in Alsace . In 1675 and 1676, von Galen conquered the Swedish duchies of Bremen and Verden in a campaign from Vechta as commander-in-chief of an Allied army, consisting of troops from Münster, Brandenburg, Lüneburg and Denmark . Furthermore, his troops fought in Skåne in 1677/1678 , took part in the invasion of Rügen against the Swedes and fought against the French on the Rhine.
His troops consisted of mercenaries, which he financed through subsidies . Hardly any neighboring country has not suffered from the incursion or billeting of the troops of "Bomb Bernd" or the "Cannon Bishop". Even the counties of Lippe , Ravensberg and Lingen had to endure this.
The bishop's cousin Gerhard Lothar von Büren († 1660) served as dean of the cathedral in Speyer and he elected him to be his executor.
Economic and social policy
As an economic promoter in the sense of mercantilism , Christoph Bernhard von Galen is not particularly successful. A faience factory set up in Ahaus in 1653 with Dutch experts ceased operations again in 1657. A paper mill in Stadtlohn was also only operated for a short time. During the tenure of Christoph Bernhard von Galen, the Prince Diocese of Münster became impoverished as a result of numerous campaigns and the maintenance of a strong army. However, von Galen's promotion of the Papenburg moor colony, founded in 1630, proved to be a lasting success. Papenburg thus became the economically strongest municipality in the Emsland .
Von Galen was also successful as the founder of monasteries and as a sovereign who tried to ensure that schools were operated in all places of his diocese, in which girls were also taught.
In 1661 Galen ordered the establishment of a workshop and workhouse for begging, neglected young people in the former Stadtmünster leprosy foundation Kinderhaus.
Suppression of resistance within the diocese
When Galen asked the city of Münster in 1657 to guarantee food and accommodation for the soldiers, the citizens refused to finance this expensive undertaking. The objection that city defense had always been the task of the citizens themselves did not convince Galen. He obtained legal support from the Regensburg Reichs Farewell and began to enforce the billeting of his troops. The conflict reached its climax when Galen subjugated his own city of Munster after a two-month siege. The city resisted the episcopal troops for a long time, as the states of the Netherlands supported the city, but when this finally fell away, Munster submitted on March 26, 1661, after nine months of siege. The bishop abolished free council elections and appointed two new mayors and twelve councilors . After the fall of Münster, Galen left the city's troops and his own troops to the emperor for the Turkish war in Hungary as thanks for the imperial troop help . However, his troops came too late to have any major influence on the course of the war. The Treaty of Eisenburg (1664) was concluded just a few weeks after the troops arrived .
The inscription on the base of the prince-bishop's grave in Münster Cathedral can still be read today: "Monasterium reduxit (He has returned Münster [to obedience])."
Consolidation of Catholicism in the diocese and in the empire
Recatholization of Westphalian noble families
While there was still a "confessional fuzziness" among the aristocrats in Westphalia at the beginning of the 17th century and Protestant views were widespread, after 1650 individual conversions of aristocrats to the Catholic denomination added up to a movement that ultimately resulted in great denominational uniformity in the upper monastery Munster made. The decisive factor in this process was the exclusion of the Protestant nobility from the lucrative church benefices and sovereign offices, which took effect even before Galen took office.
Rescuing Corvey Monastery
After the devastation of the Thirty Years' War, Corvey Monastery was on the verge of collapse when Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen became its administrator in 1665. He donated the baroque abbey church and revitalized the monastery by reinstating a noble convent. After the monastic life had somewhat consolidated, the abbot was again elected from among the ranks of the convent.
Implementation of the decisions of the Council of Trent
The Council Fathers in Trent had set themselves the task of improving the head and members of the church in such a way that it could face the criticism and the theological and organizational requirements of the Reformation teachings of Luther , Zwingli and Calvin . The grievances in church life, which these reformers often - and certainly rightly - denounced, should be removed and new foundations laid for teaching, church organization and the Christian education of people. It was precisely in this field that the young, evangelical communities had achieved great things. On the Catholic side, it was now a matter of developing a new school system that would meet the requirements of the time. The spiritual formation and intellectual implementation of this task was largely taken over by the Jesuits , whose settlements soon shaped the higher education system in all dioceses of Europe and also radiated into the lower schools. However, the Jesuits did not settle in Münster until 1588 and soon took over the old cathedral school, the Paulinum grammar school , and also ran their college as a priestly training facility. It is no coincidence that Christoph Bernhard von Galen “apud patres” - with the fathers - went to school and was solemnly welcomed by the Jesuits in 1651 as the first pupil of their school on the bishop's throne in Münster.
The promotion of the school system played an important role within the Tridentine reform. Galen probably knew his priests and their weaknesses and strengths very well, as he expressly endeavored through his ordination policy to improve the internal structure of the diocesan clergy and to develop a new image of priests in public. It was very clear that the care of the youth could hardly be entrusted to the clergy alone. The demands of the bishop of his priests for regular celebrations, the exact observance of church festivals, customs and habits, the normal pastoral work with baptisms, weddings, care of the sick, care for the dying or funerals had to make it almost impossible for an active priest, also the regular teaching of the To perceive schoolchildren within fixed time limits. Since, however, in addition to the Sunday catechesis in Christian doctrine, everyday lessons were to be included in “pietate, moribus ac litteris”, the schools had to be clearly activated. Thus, from Galen's reform program, the institutionalized, legally and economically secure parish school emerged as a complementary element of pastoral care. The fact that these schools could also impart further knowledge in reading, writing or even arithmetic and even in Latin did not necessarily have to be harmful, but rather raise the level of education in the countryside, serve the economic interests of the farmers and citizens and also provide the basis for what is needed Significantly broaden the offspring in the clergy and civil servants.
Through more than 40 synods in Münster, of which testimonies have been handed down and to which the entire diocese clergy were summoned, through lively visits and regular controls, Galen accordingly endeavored to reshape church life in the monastery of Münster in the spirit of the Tridentine. A chain of Synodal decrees and further edicts as well as the personal intervention of the bishop down to the parishes led to an enormous flourishing of the lower school system up to the remote peasantry of the Münsterland.
School reforms
The school history of Münsterland begins - as in other regions of the empire - with the medieval Latin schools at the bishopric of Münster and in the fourteen cities that are eligible for state assembly. In 1573, at the end of the since 1571 current large diocese visitation under Prince-Bishop Johann von Hoya , the case of reformers like Everwin von Droste-Hulshoff was supported, there was the top pin Münster with its 130 parishes and parishes just 33 municipalities, the one kind natured School system. By the time of the diocese visit from 1613 to 1616, this number rose to 55. The following 20 years, which were not yet marked by violent war events for the Münsterland, resulted in another dozen schools being founded. However, all of these 65 or so school facilities, which existed around 1650, were largely unstable - operations were repeatedly stopped. When Christoph Bernhard took office, this was clearly and permanently different.
Galen gave the already existing schools a spatially, financially and personally organized foundation and supplemented the existing network of schools with numerous new schools, often against the resistance of local decision-makers. In the 28 years of his government he achieved a full supply of the Münsterland with well-founded schools. The key points in time for the establishment of new schools or the orderly foundation of existing institutions are mainly between the years 1655 and 1662. None of the parish schools that were already in existence or newly founded during Galen's reign were later abandoned. The foundation of the lower school system in the Münsterland was laid during his reign.
When Christoph Bernhard von Galen issued his school and church regulations in 1675, which were also retained in a slightly modified form by his successors and were to be valid for more than 100 years, they almost marked the end of the big project.
Fight against the witch craze
In the first half of the 17th century, the Münsterland was hit by a wave of witch madness , reinforced by the turmoil of the Thirty Years War . While von Galen's predecessor Ferdinand von Bayern saw witch trials as a legitimate instrument of the Counter-Reformation, his successor campaigned against divination and belief in witches . In 1658 he had the water test of alleged witches and wizards prohibited.
rating
In a contribution to the "Emslandbuch" in 1928, Christoph Bernhard von Galen was praised as a "strong personality". He was the protector and protector of the wide left-Emsian moorland from "constant harassment on the western border" by Dutch people. The bishop was "a force of nature", "who, like all princely contemporaries, strived for unrestricted rule". The "huge task" of "rebuilding the fatherland that was lying on the ground" after the Thirty Years' War could only have been solved by "strong personalities", since the people were "worn down".
In an article written by the Diocese of Münster on the occasion of the 750th year of the laying of the foundation stone of the cathedral in Münster, the strong emphasis on Christoph Bernhard von Galen's role as a “power politician” is criticized. The prince-bishop was also a "deep Roman man", "a reform bishop who implemented the Council of Trent powerfully in his diocese: from the spiritual formation of his clergy to synods and visitations to the foundation of many pilgrimages that still exist today." The roots of the Catholic denomination in the Münsterland can be attributed to him as a lasting success. When Galen died, he could rightly call himself “Ecclesiae et Principatus Monasteriensis Restorer, Conservator, Propagator”. On the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Citadel Vechta, the organizers of an exhibition in the Museum in the Armory (Vechta) stated: The exhibition “deals with the question of which positive forces, which visions, with the construction of the citadel in 1666 by the Münster prince-bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen in the population of the city of Vechta may have been released. After the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1654 with all its horrors and uncertainties, people can begin again to build up prospects for a new life. In the future, the new citadel can again offer protection and order in everyday life;
Others see above all the ruthlessness of the absolutist rule of Galen , despite the warning from the diocese of Münster . Christoph Bernhard von Galen was a "gun fanatic, loyal to the Pope" who harassed the "freedom-loving Netherlands". Berthold Seewald is of the opinion that von Galen had the citadel of Münster built above all so that he would have a clear field of fire towards the city in order to be able to keep the unruly Münsteraner under control. The bad role model of Christoph Bernhard von Galens encouraged Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst , who graduated from high school in Coesfeld and studied theology in Münster and later became Bishop of Limburg , to develop the habit of a “ prince of the church ”, although in the 21st century The essential foundations for such a way of life were missing (especially the possibility of forcing “stubborn people” as holders of state power to behave in conformity with the church).
See also
Works
- Münster Jewish Regulations of Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen of April 29, 1662 ( online )
- Manifesto and Report. What form the Lord Rudolff Augusti / Hertzieh zu Braunschweig Lüneburg Pass. The Fürstl. Corveysche Municipal Stadt Höxar / Friedbrüchiger way invadirt / and with an armed hand in open rebellion again the Lands-Fürstl. Authority fomented. OO, 1671. (Online: Google )
literature
- Theodor Bading: The internal politics of Christoph Bernhard von Galen, Prince-Bishop of Münster. In: Westfälische Zeitschrift - magazine for patriotic history and antiquity. Vol. 69 (1911), pp. 179-303.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Christoph Bernhard von Galen. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , column 166.
- Manfred Becker-Huberti : Christoph Bernhard von Galen. The Tridentine reform in the diocese of Münster (= Westfalia Sacra VI). Aschendorff, Münster 1978.
- Hans-Peter Boer : Pauliner as village schoolmaster in the 18th century. A contribution to the Westphalian school history . In: Hanno Amely, Carlo Dürselen (ed.): Gymnasium Paulinum 1959–1980. Gymnasium Paulinum, Münster 1980, pp. 23-30.
- Hans-Peter Boer: Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1650–1678) and the foundation of an orderly school system, a contribution to the history of schools in Münsterland. School department of the Münster district government, Münster 2000.
- Jörg Ernesti : Three bishops - one will to reform. A new look at Ferdinand von Fürstenberg (1626–83) and his relationship with Christoph Bernhard von Galen and Niels Stensen. In: Westphalia, booklets for history, art and folklore. Volume 83 (2005), pp. 49-59.
- Wilhelm Kohl : Christoph Bernhard von Galen. Political history of the Principality of Münster 1650–1678. Regensberg, Münster 1964 ( digitized version ).
- Wilhelm Kohl (Hrsg.): Files and documents on the foreign policy of Christoph Bernhard von Galen. Three volumes. Aschendorff, Münster 1980–1986.
- Ernst Marquardt : Christoph Bernhard von Galen, Prince-Bishop of Münster. One try. Aschendorff, Münster 1951.
- Hans Jürgen Rieckenberg: Christoph Bernhard von Galen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 245 ( digitized version ).
- Hans Schlömer: Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen and the Niederstift Münster. In: Yearbook for the Oldenburger Münsterland 1974. Vechta 1973, pp. 218–237 .
- Alois Schröer : The correspondence of the Münster prince-bishop Christoph Bernhard v. Galen with the Holy See. Aschendorff, Münster 1972.
- Alois Schröer: Christoph Bernhard von Galen and the Catholic reform in the diocese of Münster. Aschendorff, Münster 1974.
- Alois Schröer (Ed.): The pastoral letters of the Münster prince-bishop Christoph Bernhard v. Galen (1650–1678), in connection with the episcopal situation reports to the Pope and the will of the bishop. Aschendorff, Münster 1998.
- Karl Tücking : Bernhard (Prince-Bishop of Munster) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 427-433.
- Eberhard Wiens: Collection of fragmentary messages about Christoph Bernard von Galen, Prince-Bishop of Münster. Coppenrath, Münster 1834 (online: digitized version of the ULB Münster).
Web links
- Literature by and about Christoph Bernhard von Galen in the catalog of the German National Library
- Online biography
- Tripota - Trier portrait database
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Kohl : Galen, Christoph Bernhard von . Bio Handbuch (Ed .: State Library Oldenburg), p. 216
- ^ Website on the will
- ^ Wilhelm Kohl: Galen, Christoph Bernhard von . Bio Handbuch (Ed .: State Library Oldenburg), p. 217
- ↑ a b Wolfgang Bockhorst: Provincial and family history overview of the history of the Emsland up to 1800 with references to archival sources for family researchers (Ed .: Working group on family research in the Emsland landscape for the districts of Emsiand and Grafschaft Bentheim) February 1997. Issue 39, pp. 68f.
- ^ Episcopal press office: Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen
- ↑ Axel Flügel: Review of: Bastian Gillner, Free Men - Free Religion . The nobility of the upper monastery of Münster between denominational conflict and state consolidation 1500 to 1700, Münster: Aschendorff, 2011, in: Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung (ZHF), 40 (2013), 1, p. 142ff. (on-line)
- ^ Rebuilding the Corveyer monastery library
- ↑ Witch Chase . Dorsten-Lexikon.de
- ↑ Wolfgang Bockhorst: Provincial and family history overview of the history of the Emsland up to 1800 with references to archival sources for family researchers (Ed .: Working group on family research in the Emsland landscape for the districts of Emsiand and Grafschaft Bentheim). February 1997. Issue 39, p. 69
- ↑ The time of Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen . Emsland book 1/1928
- ↑ Diocese of Münster: The cathedral in Münster is 750 years old: Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen a 'bombing'? . September 2014
- ^ Museum in the Armory Vechta: Anniversary exhibition "350 Years of the Citadel Vechta (1666 - 2016)" ( Memento from July 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). June 24, 2016
- ^ Matthias Schulz: Fireball in the Swamp . The mirror . Issue 23/2011. June 6, 2011, p. 140
- ^ Berthold Seewald: German bishops: "Bomben-Bernd" - a role model for Tebartz-van Elst . The world . 15 October 2013
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Ferdinand I of Bavaria |
Bishop of Munster 1650–1678 |
Ferdinand von Fürstenberg |
| Arnold IV. De Valdois |
Abbot of Corvey 1661–1678 |
Christoph von Bellinghausen |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Galen, Christoph Bernhard from |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bommen Berend |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prince-Bishop of Munster |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 12, 1606 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bisping house near Rinkerode (today part of Drensteinfurt ), Westphalia |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 19, 1678 |
| Place of death | Ahaus |