Eschwege Cyriakus Pen

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Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 18 ″  N , 10 ° 3 ′ 30 ″  E

Map: Hessen
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Eschwege Cyriakus Pen​
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Hesse

The Cyriakusstift Eschwege in the north Hessian city ​​of Eschwege with the patronage of St. Cyriakus was founded around 1000. The women's monastery belonged temporarily to the Gandersheim monastery and the Speyer diocese , before it was an imperial monastery from the 13th century until the secularization of the Reformation in 1547 .

history

At this point a royal court was first mentioned in 973/74. At that time, Emperor Otto II gave the court to his wife Theophanu as his own. Otto III. gave the property to his sister Sophia at the request of Theophanu in 994. This court formed the material basis for the canonical monastery founded by Sophia possibly during the court day of 997. Sophia was the owner of the pen ("constructrix et procuratrix").

The monastery came to Gandersheim Monastery at the latest in 1039, when Sophia died. Heinrich IV transferred it to the Speyer Monastery in 1075. The bishop was given the right to appoint the elected abbess .

In 1188 the abbess Gertrud argued with the bailiff of the monastery, Ludwig von Lohra, over market rights, minting rights and jurisdiction. Frederick I decided that the abbess should receive market, market customs and coins, the blood jurisdiction fell to the count, as clergymen were not allowed to exercise them.

In 1217 the monastery came back to the empire . In 1278 the abbess Cunegundis left a plot of land for a monastery to the Augustinians . At the end of the 13th century, a dispute broke out between the monastery and the Landgraves of Hesse , who were now in the possession of the city of Eschwege , and the Landgrave's ministerials attempted to bring ownership of the pen and rights to Hesse.

During the long term of office of Abbess Elisabeth von Wallenstein from 1333 to 1362, the monastery experienced a high point of its importance. During this time a number of possessions came to the monastery through gifts, purchases and pledges. This economic boom continued under the successor. At the time of the Adelheid von Boyneburg-Hoenstein, however, began to decline at the end of the 14th century. It was only Agnese von Wallenstein who succeeded in stabilizing the economic situation after 1413. The community experienced a low point during the long Abbatiat of Agnese von Boyneburg-Hoenstein from 1471 to 1504. There was no more asset growth through donations, the bonds of feudal people and taxpayers had loosened, while the attempts by third parties to claim monastery rights increased. Then there was bad administration. All of this together created great economic difficulties. Property had to be mortgaged or sold. Eventually Agnes resigned her dignity as abbess.

Not only had economic conditions deteriorated, monastic discipline had also loosened. Influenced by the Bursfeld congregation , Landgrave Ludwig I tried to reform the Cyriakus pen. The new abbess came from outside in 1504 with Benedicta von Glune. During this time the abbess's rights were restricted. The abbot of the Breitenau monastery now had a great influence on internal affairs . An envoy from Breitenau has since served as provost in the monastery, with considerable powers not only as confessor but also in secular matters.

This last attempt at reform was unsuccessful. The collegiate school collapsed, other property was lost, feudal people tried to evade their obligations, and costly lawsuits put a strain on the community. The attempts of the landgraves to support the community hardly helped either. Under Catharina von Affeln (1523–1527) the situation did not improve. After Landgrave Philip I introduced the Reformation in Hesse in 1526, the monastery was secularized in 1527. The canons were financially compensated, and the estates became landgraves' hands.

Structures

Abbess and convent

The monastery was on the Cyriakusberg in the north of the city of Eschwege. The rules corresponded to those in Gandersheim and Quedlinburg . The canons came from noble families in the area. The number of canons changed over time. Because of the poor income of the community, the Archbishop of Mainz limited their number to sixteen in the middle of the 14th century. When it was abolished in 1527, they numbered twenty. The canons brought a dowry with them when they entered the monastery. They later received income from their benefices. They lived together in the community, but were allowed to own property.

The abbess was at the head. She was elected by the Convention. Usually the clergy belonging to the monastery were present. Her choice was confirmed (apart from the time when the monastery belonged to the Speyer diocese) by the Archbishop of Mainz . The abbess enjoyed great privileges. It had the right of patronage , occupied the parishes under the monastery, awarded the fiefs and employed the servants. She had a special place of residence, had her own household and had special income. The abbess had her own seal, which usually also contained her family coat of arms. There were several arguments between the abbess and the convent over economic issues. In 1413 a settlement was reached in which the abbess had to cede a mill to the convent. The Convention assumed a number of obligations for this. Later, the separation of monastery and abbess assets decreased.

The next most important office was that of dean . A prioress took their place around 1500 . Below was the sexton . At first there was a separate fortune for the sexton; this was later combined with the foundation's assets. The sexton kept her own seal. This office also lost its importance around 1500. In its place were a sacristana and a cantrix. There were also the mill master and the waitress in offices . A male provost was added at the beginning of the 16th century.

The mayor was responsible for the administration of justice among the collegiate staff. A customs officer supervised the customs revenue, and a canon was responsible for economic matters. In the case of serious decisions, the jury, the clergy and, in some cases, representatives of the landgrave were called in as advisors.

Possessions

The monastery had the right of patronage over sixteen parish churches and a number of vicar posts and altars. These rights were distributed over an area from Eichsfeld and the area around Mühlhausen to the Sontra office . These rights were probably part of the basic equipment of the monastery.

In addition, the monastery also had secular fiefs. These were also in Eichsfeld, near Mühlhausen and in the later offices of Wanfried , Eschwege and Sontra. In the course of time the bond with the vassals loosened, and they neglected their duties to the monastery.

The monastery also had considerable direct ownership. The coinage and customs law in Eschwege was important. The homeowners also had to pay taxes. Over time, the bailiffs and later the city tried to dispute these rights from the monastery. In the 14th century the monastery ceded the minting rights to the city. The judicial rights also passed into the hands of the city. The municipal authorities also questioned the monastery’s customs rights. A compensation was not reached until 1519. The same applied to a number of mills. These went to the landgrave in the 15th century in return for an annual interest rate. Overall, almost the entire city of Eschwege was built on monastery property. The monastery also owned a fishery, a sheep farm and income from forests, gardens, farmland and houses. The place Berneburg probably belonged to the original equipment. There the monastery exercised the authority and the judicial right, with the exception of the high judiciary. There the monastery owned numerous fiefs and interest goods. It was owned in various other places.

Bailiwick

The protective bailiwick initially exercised the Counts of Bilstein as the official counts of Germarmark . Later these were the Counts of Lohra, then the Landgraves of Hesse . These had a great influence on the inner life of the monastery. In 1455 Ludwig I tried to reform the life of the monastery. In order to renew the building, Ludwig II granted a letter of alms in 1466. At the beginning of the 16th century, Wilhelm II made another attempt to reform the life of the monastery. Even Philip the Magnanimous still stood up for the interests of the congregation, before the Reformation introduced in the country and county secularized the monasteries.

Buildings

The pen was on the plateau of the Cyriakusberg. The monastery buildings were to the south. A cloister connected this with the collegiate church to the north. This had two towers in the west. The main entrance was decorated with fantasy creatures. During the siege of the city of Eschwege by the Duke of Braunschweig in 1250, a tower and part of the church were demolished in order to use the stones for the construction of fortifications. A short time later, the pen was badly affected by a fire. Archbishop Gerhard von Mainz granted indulgences to those who would contribute to the reconstruction . Two centuries later the buildings were in ruins and Ludwig von Hessen helped with an alms letter to encourage the faithful to donate for a restoration. The abbess also asked all devout Christian people for a contribution. Numerous bishops participated with indulgences.

The collegiate church had two choirs. One was reserved for the convent, the other was used by the priests. The church had six altars. Two chapels were connected to the church; one was dedicated to John the Evangelist and the other to Saint Nicholas. At times the church was a destination for pilgrimages.

After the abolition of the monastery, parts of the buildings were used as a boys' school, others as granaries. Overall, the buildings deteriorated more and more. The north tower of the collegiate church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1636. The south tower was damaged by a hurricane in 1637. In 1735 the church was largely demolished in order to obtain stones for the construction of a lock on the Werra. The Nikolauskapelle existed longer. After the boys' school was relocated in 1822, the former monastery buildings still in existence served as accommodation for the gendarmerie. In 1828 this building was also demolished. Of the monastery buildings, only the so-called Black Tower or Karlsturm on Sophienplatz is preserved today. He puts the rest of the south tower of the collegiate church there.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Otto II. (RI II) n. 656 (Regest RI-Online)
  2. ↑ Otto III. (RI II) n. 1115 (Regest RI-Online)
  3. ^ Hans Goetting: The dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Mainz. The Diocese of Hildesheim 1. The imperial canonical monastery Gandersheim. Berlin, 1973 (Germania sacra NF 7) pp. 92, 265
  4. ^ Henry IV. (RI III, 2, 3) n.739 (Regest RI-Online)
  5. ↑ Friedrich I. (RI IV, 2) n.3165 (Regest RI-Online)
  6. ↑ Julius Schmincke: History of the Cyriakus pen in Eschwege. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, pp. 230–232
  7. ↑ Julius Schmincke: "History of the Cyriakus Pen in Eschwege." In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, pp. 247-256
  8. ↑ Julius Schmincke: "History of the Cyriakus Pen in Eschwege." In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, pp. 256-259
  9. ↑ Julius Schmincke: "History of the Cyriakus Pen in Eschwege." In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, pp. 259-262
  10. ↑ Julius Schmincke: "History of the Cyriakus Pen in Eschwege." In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, pp. 224-226

literature

  • Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 4th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-35865-9 , p. 159.
  • Julius Schmincke: History of the Cyriakus pen in Eschwege. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, Vol. 5. Kassel 1854, p. 217ff.