Christoph von Bellinghausen

Christoph von Bellinghausen OSB (* 1641 in Altenbernau ; † May 12, 1696 in Corvey ) was Abbot of Corvey from 1678 to 1696 .

Early years

He came from the noble family of Bellinghausen from the Duchy of Berg . He was the son of Johann Georg von Bellinghausen. At the age of sixteen he joined Corvey Abbey. In 1659 he made his profession . He was ordained a subdeacon in 1664 and was ordained a priest in 1666 .

Among other things, because of his erudition and cleverness, he was sent to the Corveyer mother monastery Corbie in France for two years . It also visited the court of Versailles and then traveled through Italy. Via Venice and Assisi he came to Rome and the Montecassino Abbey . In Venice he served the Medici family as the educator of the children. He then traveled through Bohemia, Austria and various German cities.

choice

After the death of the administrator of Corvey and Prince-Bishop of Münster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen , the convent had to decide when the abbot was elected on October 18, 1678 whether to entrust the management of the monastery again to a great man from abroad or to elect a monk as abbot. When choosing four fell from 25 votes two to Subprior Justin von Metternich, the former Prior Nikolaus von Zitzewitz , who had led virtually the monastery at the frequent absence of Galen (1676 he was the administrator and in 1677 the abbot of the monastery Huysburg elected and another five votes for the new Prior, Florenz von dem Velde ; Christoph von Bellinghausen received the majority of 14 votes. It was decided that a member of the convent and not a stranger should run the abbey.

The Bishop of Paderborn Ferdinand von Fürstenberg , who had also become Bishop of Munster after von Galen's death, did not agree with the election . He let the area of ​​Corvey after the abbot election and before the official church recognition of the election by soldiers. The background was that there had been conflicts between the diocese of Paderborn and Corvey about the status of the monastery for centuries. The area used to be part of Paderborn's territory, but the monastery itself was undoubtedly exempt . Corveyer interpreted this in such a way that the monastery territory would not be subject to Paderborn either. From an ecclesiastical point of view, this becomes clear, for example, from the fact that the agenda of the Paderborn church in Corveyer area was not valid and confirmations were never given by Paderborn bishops or auxiliary bishops. For Fürstenberg the situation seemed favorable to implement the Paderborn ideas. He hoped that the city of Höxter in particular would give up obedience to the abbey, but this did not happen. In addition, he endeavored in Rome to have the Pope transfer Corvey to him as coming . On the other hand, the Apostolic Vicar of the North Nicolaus Steno turned and referred to the special conditions under which the abbey had been transferred from Galen at the time. Against this background, von Bellinghausen did not receive the papal confirmation of his choice until September 1679. Bishop Steno then he received on 29 October 1679 benediction . The imperial confirmation took place in 1681.

Abbatiat

Von Bellinghausen found himself faced with difficult circumstances after his election in Corvey. Due to the constant absence of his predecessor, the monastic discipline had suffered. Even choral prayer was neglected. The abbot's initially benevolent attempts to remedy the grievances failed, so that he had to resort to tougher means and even remove some clerics from their posts. In 1690 he had a new church ordinance published for the Corvey area and endeavored to introduce stricter discipline in the monastery.

The monastery church, the construction of which was started at the time of Galens, could be consecrated by von Bellinghausen in 1683 and he had the interior decorated in baroque style. He also had various buildings in the monastery renewed and churches built in the Corvey area, for example in Albaxen and Bödexen . Various chapels have been renovated. Since viticulture was still practiced in the area in his time, he also had a new vineyard with a vineyard chapel laid out. During her visit to the monastery, the Queen of Denmark expressly praised the wine. Von Bellinghausen also had a court pharmacy founded.

After his death, the abbot was buried in the monastery church. The gravestone that he had made while he was still alive has been preserved. In the Obermarsberg Propstei there is a wooden mortuary tablet painted with, among other things, the episcopal coat of arms.

literature

• Diether Pöppel: The elevation of Christoph von Bellinghausen to prince abbot of Corvey and its support by Niels Stensen. In: Westfälische Zeitschrift , Vol. 106 (1956) pp. 436–448

Web links

• An abbot with a weakness for wine

Individual evidence

1. ^ About viticulture in Corvey
2. ^ Historical relationships between Corvey and Obermarsberg

predecessor	Office	successor
Christoph Bernhard von Galen	Abbot of Corvey 1678–1696	Florence from the Velde