Domitian of Carinthia
Domitian von Millstatt was a Slavic nobleman revered as a saint at the time of Emperor Charlemagne . He is considered the founder of the Millstatt Church .
Lore situation
Knowledge of this saint is based on a description of his life and work as well as the miracles and answers to prayer caused by his intercession in a parchment from the 1st half of the 15th century, which is on loan from the Millstatt Abbey in the Abbey Museum there. It is a copy of a report that was completed around 1306 and consists of several sections. The oldest section dates back to around 1170 and describes the life of the saint and the fate of his relics up to the middle of the 12th century. The second part describes events up to the middle of the 13th century and the third part describes events up to 1304/5.
Vita
The most important sentences about the life of Domitian are quoted from the first part: "To all those who trustfully believe in Christ and want to know the outstanding merits of Blessed Domitian, we would like, as best we can, by means of the truth that Christ is, explain what we have inherited through both scriptures and our predecessors and ancestors. So it is certain that the blessed Domitian once lived as Duke of Carantania, as can be read on his tomb carved in stone: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here rests the blessed Duke Domitian, the first founder of this church, who converted this people from unbelief to Christianity ”. The inscription also stated when he lived, but through the negligence and guilt of previous generations this has been destroyed. When he was baptized by St. Rupert, as some claim, or by one of his successors, which we rather assume, he came to Millstatt and found there a not insignificant veneration of idols, as the etymology of the place name clearly shows. The name Millstatt comes from the thousand statues that the people there, entangled in the ancient misconception, worshiped. Following the example of Boniface , that blessed one destroyed these statues and when he had erased all shamefulness of the idols, he soon had the church, which was originally dedicated to the thousand idols, consecrated in honor of All Saints. When he happily completed the course of his life in peace with God and his fellow men after a good lifestyle, as his merits prove, his venerable body was buried in a small building next to the main church. "
In the further course of the vita, the relics of Domitian were found under an abbot Martin, who was probably the first abbot of Count Palatine Aribo II († 1102) and his brother Poto (also Boto) "the brave" († 1104) Millstatt Monastery founded around 1070 was. In his day the deceased of the Aribones were buried in the tomb chapel of Domitian, which induced the abbot to bury his bones in the collegiate church. Another abbot named Otto, who ran the monastery between 1124 and 1166, reports that the relics of Domitian and his wife Maria and a child were found, probably around 1130/40. This recovery was related to the construction of a new monastery and church after a fire around 1122/24 that destroyed the entire complex. Abbot Otto had the bones buried for worship by the faithful in a reliquary that is still preserved today.
research
In his article about St. Domitian, Robert Eisler described the vita as a forgery of the monks of Millstatt, who wanted to shake off the bailiwick rights of the Görz counts as descendants of the Aribones by inventing Domitian as the founder of the monastery . The various arguments put forward by Eisler have been accepted unchecked by many historians. In the meantime it has been proven that they lack any evidential value and are partly incorrect. The vita itself provides the clearest proof of this when it says after the biography: “After a lot of time had passed, there was a Count Palatine from Bavaria named Arbo; he owned almost the entire area around Millstatt and he was the first to establish the monastery community there. ”If this text of the Vita expressly states that Arbo founded the monastery community in Millstatt and that almost the entire area belonged to him, then this is also recognized that his descendants receive the bailiwick rights. In the liturgical calendar of the Millstatt Sacramentary from around 1160, the entry "Domiciani ducis" can be found on February 5th after the naming of the virgin and martyr Agatha. This entry means that he has already received liturgical veneration. Contrary to Eisler's assumption, it is not a later addendum, but an original entry. Also in the oldest necrology of the monastery, also from the 12th century, the entry “Domicianus dux fundator huius ecclesiae” can be found on February 5th, which Domitian describes as the founder of the Church of Millstatt. At the beginning of the Vita it is pointed out that part of the original grave inscription, which contained a reference to the time of Domitian's work, has been lost. During the expansion of the Millstatt Abbey Museum , a marble fragment, photographed at the beginning of the 20th century, emerged, the text of which could be identified by Franz Glaser as part of the original grave inscription from the 1st half of the 9th century and which indicates the time of Emperor Charlemagne. The reconstruction of this epitaph reads:
"+ HIC QUIESCIT DOMICIA / NUS DUX QUI KAROLI IMP. / TEMPORIBUS PAGANITA / TEM DEVICIT ET POPULUM / AD FIDEM CONVERTIT "
In German: "+ Duke Domitian rests here, who defeated paganism at the time of Emperor Charles and converted the people to the faith".
From this it follows that Domitian lived and worked at the time of Charlemagne and that the conversion of the people, who at that time was predominantly of Slavic origin in Upper Carinthia, was thanks to him. If one connects the information in Domitian's vita with the descriptions of the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum , then one can see in Domitian a Slavic noble who was brought to Salzburg as a young person , instructed there in the Christian faith and, presumably, by the local bishop Virgil (746-784), was baptized. He then returned to his homeland in Upper Carinthia, where he ruled as a “duke”, as a local ruler under the suzerainty of the Franks, and led his people to the Christian faith.
In Millstatt he found a pagan place of worship, which served the worship of numerous Slavic deities, whose "thousand statues" he destroyed to convert the sanctuary into a Christian church. The collegiate church that existed at the time the Vita was written was consecrated to the “Savior and all saints”, a patronage that still exists today. From this title and a folk etymological interpretation of the place name it emerged that the many idol statues became the "thousand statues" (Latin mille statuae ). It is interesting to note that Domitian converted an existing cult building into a Christian church. As cult buildings of Slavic peoples are hardly known, but cult groves were used to worship their deities, one can assume that the cult building was possibly a Roman sanctuary, which was used by the Slavs for their cults after the invasion of the Slavs in the course of the migrations .
That in Millstatt already in the 8th / 9th There was a Christian church in the 19th century, testify to the numerous wattle stones that were found in the area of the church and the monastery building of Millstatt. After his death, according to the descriptions in the Vita, Domitian's body was buried in a small building, a burial chapel, next to the main church and he himself was venerated as a saint by the faithful. The fact that the Millstatt Sacramentary is mentioned in the liturgical calendar is proof that the veneration has been preserved over the centuries. It led to the relics of the first abbot of Martin monastery being raised and buried in the church. A process that was an expression of an official recognition of his admiration, but which was then temporarily forgotten again. It was not until Abbot Otto transferred the relics to the Romanesque reliquary that is still preserved today that the relics were given renewed impetus and led to numerous miracles and answers to prayer, as is detailed in the 2nd and 3rd parts of the Vita. On June 27, 1441, the relics kept in the shrine were checked by Bishop Johannes Schallermann von Gurk , it emerged that they were the bones of a man, a woman and a child, and a certificate was issued for this investigation. A few years later, probably in 1449, the tombstone of Domitian was created, which is now placed on the back wall of Domitian's chapel and shows the saint in full armor. The inscription reads:
"BEATUS DOMITIANUS DUX NORICORUM FUNDATOR HUIUS MONASTERII MILLSTADIENSIS LOCUS LAUDABILIS SUAE SEPULTURAE DOMUS DEO DILECTA 1449"
In German: "The blessed Domitian, Duke of Noriker, founder of this Millstatt monastery, praiseworthy place of his grave, a house loved by God 1449".
In this inscription Domitian is united with the founder of the monastery, namely the Count Palatine Aribo, as indicated by the fresco from 1429 in the collegiate church, which depicts Domitian with the Bavarian diamond shield . The combination of Bavarian and Carinthian coats of arms can be found on the above-mentioned grave slab from 1449, on the fresco at the cemetery entrance attributed to Master Thomas von Villach (around 1490) and on the panel painting by the same master depicting Domitian (presumably part of a Millstatt winged altar ) in the Villach City Museum. Accordingly, it says in the Austrian Chronicle of Jacob Unrest (end of the 15th century): “Milstatua, which ain saliger duke of Payren, called Domicianus, who is buried there, found, and the same was valid years ago that of Gortz and cham with hayrat towards Payren ”. Although the parchment writing of Domitian's Vita, which was created in the first half of the 15th century, makes a clear statement about the founding of the monastery, it is ascribed to Domitian in this text, albeit with the designations that apply to Aribo.
In 1492, the first Grand Master of the Order of St. George Knights , Johann Siebenhirter , built a high grave in the north aisle, in which the grave slab from 1449 was used. Behind this high grave, in the apse of the north aisle, there was probably the winged altar made by Master Thomas with a representation of the saint.
The further fate of the relics is linked to the work of the Jesuits in Millstatt. In 1632 a separate chapel was built in honor of the saint and the high grave with the relics was transferred to this chapel; it is today's Annakapelle in connection with the north aisle of the church. In 1717, the relics were transferred in a glass sarcophagus to the former Marienkapelle south of the collegiate church, which had been redesigned at great expense, today's Domitian's chapel. In the years after 1760 the Jesuit father Mathias Rieberer tried to get an official cult recognition by Rome ; the application was unsuccessful despite massive support from Empress Maria Theresa . It was rather meant by the Roman passages that such a cult recognition was not necessary, since the veneration of Domitian can be proven to be in the time before Pope Alexander III. (1159-1181) goes back; Only this Pope had canonizations reserved for the papal see. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Domitian was officially venerated as the patron saint of Carinthia. In his honor the castle chapel was built in 1734 and a fresco depicting the apotheosis of Domitian was created by Josef Ferdinand Fromiller on the altar side .
While the original Domitians vita reports very briefly and soberly about the life and work of the saint, a large number of imaginative decorations and legends arose in the 17th century, starting with the descent of the saint, his work as a general of Charlemagne with the military campaigns to Dalmatia and against the ruler of Moravia , his rule as Duke of Carinthia up to the description that he destroyed a pagan temple in Millstatt and threw the idol statues into the lake. Such legends and fairytale reports can be found in the work “De migratione gentium” by Wolfgang Lazius from 1602 or the “Annales Carinthiae” by Hieronymus Megiser from 1610 and finally in the “Quinternio Antiquissimus”, a Millstätter chronicle from around 1676, which on the basis of the works of Lazius and Megiser, describes the life and work of Domitian down to detailed information about the year, which has no truth at all. In 1658, the Acta Sanctorum published the volume with the biographies of the saints and blessed who are venerated during the first six days of February. The biography of Domitian, who is also called "Tuitian", can be found on February 5th. The text comes from Fr. Philipp Algamb SJ . He distances himself from the explanations of Lazius and Megiser and largely adheres to the explanations of the Domitians vita, which he also reproduced in full. Algamb takes the name "Tuitian" from two indulgences from 1463.
A detailed biography was written in 1692 by P. Ignaz Jung SJ, who spent a long time in Millstatt. He explicitly refers to the works of Lazius and Megiser and also includes the explanations of the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum in his descriptions in order to identify Domitian with the personalities named there. Another biography is available in a manuscript, which describes itself as a copy of a work that appeared in print in Vienna in 1734 . The manuscript is in the possession of the Parish Millstatt and is on loan in the monastery museum. However, none of these fantastic descriptions have anything to do with the original tradition as encountered in Domitian's Vita around 1170. Today it is scientifically proven that Domitian was a Slavic nobleman who, under Charlemagne, exercised a locally limited rule in what is today Upper Carinthia, led his people to the Christian faith and converted an existing pagan shrine in Millstatt into a Christian church. His admiration has been maintained over the centuries and his commemoration is celebrated annually on February 5th, for several years it has also been recorded in the official liturgical calendar of the diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt .
See also
literature
- Robert Eisler: The legend of the holy Karantaner duke Domitianus . In: Communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Volume 28, Innsbruck 1907, pp. 52-116.
- Wilhelm Wadl: The blessed Domitian von Millstatt - legend and adoration . In: Symposium on the history of Millstatt and Carinthia. 1981.
- Franz Nikolasch: Domitian von Millstatt - an invention of the 12th century? In: Symposium. 1989, pp. 235-253. (Reprint: Carinthia I.180 (1990), pp. 235-253)
- Fritz Lošek : Origin, function and meaning of “duces” in Salzburg sources of the 8th and 9th centuries . In: Symposium. 1993, pp. 2-13. (Reprint: Studies on the history of Millstatt and Carinthia (Klagenfurt 1997), pp. 123-136)
- Franz Glaser: Domicianus dux - A historical figure in Millstatt at the time of Charlemagne . In: Symposium. 1993, pp. 14-28. (Reprint: Studies pp. 137–150)
- Franz Nikolasch: The development of the legend of Domitian von Millstatt . In: Symposium. 1993, pp. 29-58. (Reprint: Studies, pp. 151–150)
- Hans-Dietrich Kahl: Comments on the oldest Millstatt Domitian tradition . In: Symposium. 1995, pp. 80-120. (Reprint: Studies pp. 183–229)
- Günther Kohlprath: To the veneration of Domitian von Millstatt in the 18th century in Vienna . In: Symposium. 1995, pp. 121-140.
- Hans-Dietrich Kahl: The Millstatt Domitian. Knocking out a problematic monastery tradition for proselytizing the Alpine Slavs of Upper Carinthia . Thorbecke, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-7995-6756-9 .
- Franz Nikolasch: The grave of St. Domitian von Millstatt and the translations of his relics . In: Symposium. 2001, pp. 77-113. (Reprint: Carinthia I (196) Klagenfurt 2006, pp. 191–226)
- Franz Nikolasch: The Millstätter panel paintings in the museum of the city of Villach . In: Symposium. 2001, pp. 114-123. (Discussion with J. Höfler pp. 124–145)
- Franz Nikolasch: Domitian von Millstatt - Invention or Reality? In: Carinthia. I (191) Klagenfurt 2001, pp. 103-141.
- Franz Nikolasch: The Romanesque chest in Millstatt. Origin - dating - meaning . In: Symposium. 2002, pp. 112-123.
- Franz Nikolasch: The Roman files for recognizing the cult of Domitian von Millstatt . In: Symposium. 2003, pp. 53-96. (Reprint: Carinthia I (194) Klagenfurt 2004, pp. 321–366)
- Franz Nikolasch: The files of the Salzburg Consistorial Archive for the request for Roman cult recognition for Domitian von Millstatt . In: Symposium. 2004, pp. 59-74.
- Franz Nikolasch: Domitian von Millstatt - history and legends . In: Symposium. 2009, pp. 22-41.
swell
- The vita of Domitian. In: The development of the legend of Domitian von Millstatt. Annex I, pp. 41–48, German translation: Annex II, pp. 50–58. (Reprint: Studies, Klagenfurt 1997, pp. 166–173 (Latin text) and pp. 174–181 (German translation))
- Wolfgang Lazius: De gentium aliquot migrationibus lib. XII . Frankfurt 1600.
- Hieronymus Megiser: Annales Carinthiae. Leipzig 1612.
- Acta Sanctorum. Tom. I, Februararii, p. 702ff.
- Quinternio Antiquissimus - Domitiani vita. Klagenfurt, KLA, GV 10/24 (anonymous chronicle by Millstatt, written after 1676).
- P. Ignaz Jung SJ: Brief content of the life of St. Domitian, Prince and Archduke of Carinthia, founder of the church and the monastery in Millstatt . Klagenfurt, KLA, GV 369, XXVII, b, 85 (copy presumably from Hohenauer around 1850).
- Life and work of St. Domitian. Handwriting of the Parish Millstatt in the Millstatt Abbey Museum.
Web links
- Literature by and about Domitian von Kärnten in the catalog of the German National Library
Remarks
- ^ Translation to Archive for Fatherland History and Topography, Vol. 78, Appendix II, pp. 174f .: Die Vita des Domitian (German translation) .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Domitian of Carinthia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Domitian of Millstatt |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Carantania |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 8th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 9th century |