Constance Cathedral Monastery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Konstanzer Münster , the cathedral church of the cathedral monastery, around the year 1825.

The Konstanz Cathedral Monastery (also called the Konstanz Cathedral Chapter ) existed from the beginning of the 9th century until its abolition in 1802/1821. It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Mainz and elected the bishop. The city of Konstanz , more precisely its oldest district, the Bishop's Castle and the Niederburg , with the cathedral church, the Konstanz Minster , were the residence of the cathedral monastery.

Historical overview

The exact year of the foundation of the cathedral monastery is not known. The canonici de Constantia , i.e. members of the cathedral monastery, are documented for the first time around 826 in the Reichenau fraternization book , a list of spiritual prayer communities that was drawn up in the Reichenau Abbey from the beginning of the 9th century . The appearance in this list does not, however, constitute direct evidence of an institution. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the group of canons was established at the time. Only in 854 and 882 does the Constance cathedral clergy appear explicitly in documents. From a comparison with other lists, the number of canons in the period can be estimated at 20 to 25. Bishop Konrad von Konstanz was the first known cathedral provost (934–975). Since his canonization in 1123 he was next to Pelagius and Gebhard von Konstanz (979–995), who was also venerated as a saint after his death , patron of the cathedral monastery.

The sources remained sparse until the 12th century. Worth mentioning is the foundation of the episcopal monastery Petershausen 989 by Bishop Gebhard and the beginning of the 9th century, at least since the confirmation of the possession of the cathedral chapter in 1155 by I. Emperor Frederick accomplished goods division. In the 12th century, the vita communis was completely dissolved and the capitulum clausum was created, a corporation that was autonomous from the bishop and had independent property and its own constitution. The cathedral monastery succeeded in assuming an independent position. From now on it was the electoral body of the bishops, with electoral surrenders since 1326.

During the Reformation , Constance was reformed, which led to Bishop Hugo von Hohenlandenberg and the cathedral monastery fleeing the city in 1526 and first finding refuge in Meersburg and in the spring of 1527 in the imperial city of Überlingen, which remained Catholic . There, the cathedral monastery performed choral service in the town church for a few years until it moved to Radolfzell under the protection of Austria in 1542 . In this time of crisis the bishop and the cathedral chapter were dependent on the help and protection of the emperor. Emperor Karl V wanted Balthasar Merklin (1479–1531) as the new bishop, which the cathedral monastery could not refuse. Since he died one year after his appointment, attempts to tie the Constance monastery to imperial politics through personnel changes failed. In 1548, Emperor Karl V forced Constance to recatholicize , whereupon three canons returned to the city and the remaining majority of the cathedral monastery and the bishop followed in 1551.

At the end of the 18th century, with the French Revolution and the ever increasing enlightened criticism, there were developments that had a negative effect on the imperial church and its dioceses. The secularization and the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 ensured that the cathedral monastery lost its state and material basis and collapsed as a secular institution, but continued to exist as a church institution for some time. It retained its old role in the slowly dissolving diocese of Constance and adhered to traditions and old principles until the diocese was finally dissolved by Pope Pius VII in 1821 by the papal bull Provida solersque . At that time the cathedral monastery still had six members. In 1860, the last Konstanz cathedral capitular ignorance, Heinrich von Wessenberg, died in Konstanz.

Constitution and Administration

The statutes were legal provisions and, so to speak, the constitution of the cathedral monastery. The first surviving statutes from 1294 are a summary of older statutes and mainly dealt with the relationship between the cathedral monastery and the bishop. In the course of history, the statutes, which were issued for individual offices as well as for the cathedral monastery as a whole, have been continuously adapted and expanded. This happened through resolutions of the General Chapter , which were confirmed by the bishop or, in important cases, by the Pope. The confirmation of the privileges of the cathedral monastery by Pope Eugene IV and the Bull Piana by Pope Pius IV in 1560 were of fundamental importance . In 1576, the medieval laws were revised and summarized in a new book of statutes.

Bullfinches and their applicants

In the 13th century, the number of dome firings was 20 instead of the original 24; three benefices benefited the dean of the cathedral , the cathedral scholaster and the priest of the St. Konrads benefice. One was the bishop's fruition , the income of which went to the presbyterate , diaconate and sudiakonat (liturgical offices in the choral ministry). In addition, there was a student benefit that was supposed to support student canons. Until the Vienna Concordat in 1448, the benefices were granted solely by the cathedral monastery , then alternately with Rome (papal and chapter months). Most of the applicants in the Middle Ages and in the modern era were recruited from the nobility , who as canons had been able to hold an academic degree from the end of the 13th century and were called graduates . This created a competitive situation between the high and low Swabian nobility for around 20 benefices. Therefore, the cathedral monastery decided in 1326 that those noble families who kidnapped, tortured or murdered other capitulars should be excluded from cathedral friars up to the fourth generation. Furthermore, since 1692 only two first and second degree relatives have been admitted to prevent individual families from dominating. The confederates who pushed into the chapter were also special, and the nobility were preferred by the prospects . It was not until the 18th century that these waiting points were removed in Constance, although they were already banned in the Council of Trent .

For admission, all applicants were subject to general requirements, such as marital birth, physical integrity, respectability and a degree of ordination, which required a minimum age of 24 years. For the nobles there was a nobility trial , through which they had to prove their noble descent. In 1774 it was expanded from the “eight test” to the “sixteen test”. The admission took place in two phases. After joining the cathedral monastery , there was a waiting period of one year, one month and one day. In the course of time it was extended again and again: in 1294 and 1634 by one year and in 1658 by two years, so that since then a canon had to "wait" for five years, a month and a day. During this time he did not receive any income from benefices, but was then "rewarded" with his place in the choir and chapter on the condition that he could meet all requirements.

Offices and their tasks in the cathedral monastery

In addition to other honorary positions, four important dignities of different rank were counted in the Constance Cathedral monastery . An accumulation of these offices was forbidden. Their essential rights and duties were similar to those of other cathedral monasteries.

Provost

The provost was the highest-ranking member of the cathedral monastery. He was appointed by the Pope since the 14th century, so that the occupation of the dignity corresponded to Roman interests. In 1756 Pope Benedict XIV (1740–1758) granted the cathedral monastery the right to vote with the bull suprema dispositione , which it was able to use for the first time in 1773, and thus the granting of the cathedral provost. The provost administered the chapter property by, among other things, having to pay the annual income of the capitulars correctly and on time, and he had to protect the property and the rights of the cathedral monastery, as it was regulated in the statutes at the beginning of the 14th century. In an election surrender of 1275, the provost was also obliged to reside in Constance. The background to this is that in the late Middle Ages he no longer carried out his administrative tasks alone, but was supported by civil servants and viewed his high-end benefices as personal income. The residence obligation was endangered between the 14th and 18th centuries, as the provosts, elected by the Pope, very often had to carry out their duties as governors outside of Constance. In addition, due to the fact that the bishopric and the bishopric were heavily indebted in the Middle Ages, attempts were made by bishops and the cathedral monastery to incorporate the cathedral provost in Rome , which in 1491 with the newly elected bishop Thomas Berlower , who had previously been provost of the cathedral for many years and was allowed to keep the dignity, succeeded. Further attempts by Bishop Jakob Fugger (1604–1626) to leave the Dompropstei to the elected for life or at least a few years failed.

Cathedral dean

The cathedral dean was the most important cathedral chapter. The cathedral monastery has had free suffrage since a bull from Pope Martin V (1417–1431) and a confirmation from Pope Pius V (1566–1572), with the bishop having to confirm the elected after the election. He had to be a priest and he was required to have permanent residence because he took on a variety of tasks in the liturgy . For example, he led the cathedral services and the weekly chapter meetings. In addition, he had to take care of all correspondence and ensure the discipline of the canons, singers and chaplains . His jurisdiction over the canons and cathedral chaplains, which was established in the electoral capitulations of the bishops of 1491, should be emphasized. He only punished the less serious offenses, the particularly serious ones were left to the bishop himself. The income of the cathedral dean was low compared to his duties and compared to the cathedral provost. Bishop Franz Konrad von Rodt (1750-1775) contributed to an improvement in income through the incorporation of several charities.

Cathedral custodian and cathedral cantor

Both offices were freely conferred by the bishop. The cathedral custodian , often called the thesaurar in the Middle Ages , administered the church treasury and the liturgical equipment and took care of the cathedral monastery library. He was largely supported and exonerated by a sub-custodian, a cathedral chaplain. The cathedral cantor was responsible for the musical design of the services and was always a canon in Constance. The union of the cantor and the scholaster is special . Walter von Schiffhausen (1294–1322) was a scholaster and cantor at the same time; previously scholasters had been attested since 1048. Since then, both offices have been united, which was later confirmed in the statutes of 1576. Thus, the cantor also directed the cathedral school.

Duties and rights of the capitulars

The rules and rights of the capitulars are laid down in the statutes. The canons should reside permanently. According to the statute book of 1576, nine months without interruption were required. This was an ideal rule, especially in modern times, as many canons were required to reside in different places due to the accumulation of several benefices. In general, every canon had to take part in the church prayer every day . The presence was documented and checked. The same regulation applied to the chapter meetings, for whose participation everybody present received the "Kapitelschilling". These took place once a week on Friday (since 1501, previously on Wednesday) and dealt with rather small, everyday problems. The obligation to attend the so-called Peremptorial Chapter from August 1st to August 24th was handled very strictly. As a penalty for not taking part, the absent had to pay ten gold guilders and received no income that would have been paid out for the attendance. It was also stipulated that every capitular residing at the cathedral had to have their own apartment. In the 16th century, however, the state of construction of the 18 courtyards at that time was very poor and only wealthier capitulars could invest their own capital in order to have a befitting apartment. Compared to these duties, the canons had some income that was sometimes more and sometimes less high and, of course, depended on the rank within the cathedral monastery. The main sources of income were the distributions due from the cathedral fringe, attendance payments acquired over the year and special allowances from offices inside and outside the cathedral monastery.

Episcopal suffrage

Probably the most important special right of the cathedral monastery was the right to elect a bishop. After the end of the investiture dispute through the Worms Concordat , the election of Hermann von Arbons (1138–1165) as bishop by the canons in 1138 is attested. The situation became problematic in 1306, when the cathedral monastery could not determine the successor of the late Bishop Heinrich von Klingenberg (1293-1306) alone and came under pressure from the Pope in that century. It was made worse by the great occidental schism (1378-1417), in which the cathedral monastery split into Roman "urbanists" and Avignonese "clementists". Only in 1436 were the canons, after a brief vacancy in the episcopate, able to unanimously elect the new bishop Heinrich von Hewen (1436–1462), and since then have had sole voting rights again.

The election surrenders were closely related to the episcopal elections. The cathedral monastery asserted its influence and the existing rights in episcopal oaths, also called juraments, which consisted of a certain number of articles. The first electoral capitulations came in 1326, when Bishop Rudolf Graf von Montfort (1322–1334) accepted the provisions of seven articles as mandatory. Since then, these instruments of surrender have been steadily expanded. Shortly before the Reformation, the bishops had to make considerable concessions. The oaths show that the cathedral monastery wanted to secure its corporate position as co-regent and its right to have a say in the administration of the diocese and bishopric.

The political situation during the Reformation in the 16th century had an impact on the elections for bishops. The cathedral monastery had to bow to the will of the Habsburgs and, in addition to Balthasar Merklin, accept other people in some offices. In the difficult times, however, the electoral surrender, which is valid for the modern era, developed up to 1601, which corresponded to the political conditions and needs. In the last two centuries of the diocese that followed, there were no more significant cuts in the episcopal elections. In 1743, coadjutors with the right of succession were banned with the election surrenders , as there had previously been disagreements between the cathedral monastery and Damian Hugo Cardinal von Schönborn (1740–1743 ), who was desired as successor by Bishop Johann Franz von Stauffenberg (1704–1740) ) had given.

Religious and spiritual life

The spiritual core task of the cathedral monastery was the choral service in the Konstanzer Münster. Apart from the church services, the memorial day of Konrad von Konstanz on November 26th and that of Pelagius on September 1st were celebrated.

Relics and pilgrimages

There were some relics in the cathedral monastery or diocese of Constance that were of great importance. These included the bones of some saints such as the bones of the diocese saints Konrad and Pelagius, which were kept in the Constance Minster, the crypt of which was probably built especially for the bones of Pelagius. The bones of St. Gebhard von Konstanz were also in the Petershausen Monastery. The iconoclasm in the 16th century put an end to the relics. After the entire cathedral treasure was minted by the city in the absence of the cathedral monastery, which was in exile, almost all relics were thrown into the Rhine in 1530 .

Due to the intense popular piety in and around Constance, many pilgrimages were organized, for example to Rome , Santiago de Compostela , Einsiedeln and also regional pilgrimage churches. For example, pilgrimages to the Gebhardsberg near Bregenz to the St. Gebhards Chapel, built in 1723, are known from 1670 , where an arm relic of St. Gebhard from the Petershausen monastery was housed in 1821. The Konstanz Minster was also considered a place of pilgrimage, especially the Mauritius rotunda .

Cathedral school

The cathedral school of the bishop and the cathedral monastery first appears in sources in the 11th century. It was headed by the cathedral school until the 12th century , after which a schoolmaster took over. Candidates for the canon, young canons and other clergymen were taught and trained in subjects such as theology, biblical studies, grammar, dialectics and rhetoric. In the 14th and 15th centuries there were up to 300 students who were at the cathedral school mainly to prepare for a degree. The cathedral school had a very good reputation until the 16th century and was known nationwide until its importance declined when a municipal Latin school opened during the Reformation. In 1610 a Jesuit grammar school was built by Bishop Jakob Fugger, which finally replaced the cathedral school. Many canons received their first education there, which the grammar school often encouraged.

Cathedral library

The holdings of the cathedral library of the bishop and the cathedral monastery are not preserved today, but are distributed over several libraries. In its beginnings in the 6th century, its inventory was considered relatively small, but it was a good representative of contemporary documents. It was initially housed in the east wing of the minster, in which the cathedral school was also located. Around 1450 it was moved to the farm building. The library was often visited by the bishops and canons and used for study and study purposes. Since its foundation in the 11th century, the cathedral school has also had the privilege to use the cathedral library. In Constance there was a scriptorium at least up to the 13th century and book printing towards the end of the 15th century. In 1474, for example, the first printed missal was produced, but probably not directly in Konstanz, but at a location in the diocese, for example in Augsburg or Basel, since the first printer in Konstanz was only reliably recorded in 1505.

See also

Web links

literature

  • Brigitte Hotz: Papal placement at the Konstanz cathedral chapter. The Avignon period (1316–1378) and the community of canons during the transition to the schism (1378) . Ostfildern 2005.
  • Konstantin Maier: The Konstanz cathedral chapter . In: Elmar L. Kuhn (Ed.): The Bishops of Constance . tape 1 . Friedrichshafen 1988.
  • Konstantin Maier: The cathedral chapter of Constance and its electoral capitulations. A contribution to the history of the monastery and diocese in modern times . Stuttgart 1990.
  • Werner Kundert: The cathedral chapter . In: Board of Trustees of Helvetia Sacra (ed.): Helvetia Sacra. Department 1. Archbishoprics and dioceses 2. Diocese of Constance. The Archdiocese of Mainz. The diocese of St. Gallen. tape 2 , no. 2 . Basel / Frankfurt am Main 1993, p. 765-850 .
  • Uwe Braumann (Ed.): The year books of the Konstanz cathedral chapter (=  Monumenta Germaniae historica ). Hanover 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kundert, p. 765.
  2. ↑ a b Maier 1988, p. 249.
  3. ↑ Kundert, p. 766f.
  4. ↑ Kundert, p. 767.
  5. ↑ Maier 1988, p. 26.
  6. ↑ Maier 1988, p. 258.
  7. ↑ Maier 1988, p. 262.
  8. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 257f.
  9. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 250-252.
  10. ↑ a b Kundert, p. 775.
  11. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 252-255.
  12. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 255-256.
  13. ↑ Kundert, pp. 775f.
  14. ↑ Maier 1988, p. 256f.
  15. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 258f.
  16. ↑ Kundert, p. 769.
  17. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 125-135.
  18. ↑ Maier 1988, pp. 143-151.