Ratzeburg Cathedral Monastery

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The Ratzeburg Cathedral with a lion statue

The Ratzeburg Cathedral Monastery (often referred to as the Ratzeburg Cathedral Chapter ) was an ecclesiastical administrative body in the Ratzeburg diocese that was entrusted with administrative and liturgical rights and tasks and existed until 1683.

The diocese and the cathedral monastery were founded in 1154 by Heinrich the Lion , Duke of Saxony, most likely as a subsidiary of the Magdeburg monastery of Our Lady . After Christoph von der Schulenburg , the last Catholic bishop of Ratzeburg, abdicated on October 5, 1554, the cathedral monastery initially remained formally faithful to the old faith, but introduced the Augsburg denomination in 1566 in the cathedral and monastery area . In 1648, after the end of the Thirty Years' War , the cathedral monastery was abolished by the Peace of Osnabrück , but continued to exist in an institutionally restricted manner until the death of the last canon in 1683.

The cathedral church and cathedral district are located near the old town of Ratzeburg, but are geographically separated from it and are located in Lake Ratzeburg on an island that is connected to the rest of the city by two ferry dams, formerly wooden bridges.

Unlike most of the other cathedral monasteries, the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery has not just one patronage , but two, St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist . This can probably be explained by the fact that the cathedral monastery was originally located in St. Georg auf dem Berge , but moved to the cathedral church in Ratzeburg around 1158 and took on another patronage with the new church building.

history

Location of the Ratzeburg diocese around 1250

Emergence

The cathedral monastery was established in 1154 by Heinrich the Lion on the occasion of the re-establishment of the Ratzeburg diocese. This raises the question of whether not only the diocese but also the cathedral monastery is the successor to a similar institution, which cannot be answered with certainty based on the sources. Only the chronicler Adam von Bremen deals with the first founding of the Ratzeburg diocese in the area of ​​the Abodrites in his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum . The new diocese was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Bremen-Hamburg . The re-establishment of the diocese and the associated establishment of the cathedral monastery , according to the rules of the Premonstratensian order , was confirmed by Pope Hadrian IV in 1158 with a solemn privilege. The area in which the bishopric and cathedral monastery were founded was largely uninhabited or uninhabited around 1154 and only in some areas was inhabited by pagan Slavs. Since the members of the Premonstratensian Order in Brandenburg and Havelberg had dedicated themselves to the missionary work, it can be assumed that this was also the case in Ratzeburg, although nothing more is known about this.

middle Ages

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, important changes took place in the cathedral monastery. For example, the provost of the cathedral had to accept losses in terms of his powers, which in turn benefited the prior and other chapter offices , which are increasingly to be found due to growing areas of responsibility. From records from the time of Provost Eckhard Hake, 1319 to 1342, it can be seen that the cathedral monastery was economically heavily indebted at that time. This level of debt should therefore be controlled by means of increased control of the provost by means of a committee of four. In addition, a commission was set up by the cathedral monastery in 1330, the task of which was to settle any differences of opinion between the cathedral monastery and provost, or even individual canons . A donation from the cathedral provost to the cathedral monastery from 1367 testifies that at that time it was impossible to provide the canons with food and clothing in the conventional way due to the plague and the associated devastation of the surrounding area of ​​Ratzeburg. Since the economic situation of the cathedral monastery did not improve in the following years either, it was forced to rearrange its income in 1372 due to high debts. It is not yet clear from the known sources whether this measure was ultimately successful.

The first information about the existence of the canon courts from the years 1438/39 and 1457 suggests that the vita communis of the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery was probably only given up at the beginning of the 15th century. In these canon courts, the canons lived with their own household and no longer lived together in the cloistered area, as provided for in the vita communis. Another change in the cathedral monastery was the increasing number of secular priests , which had progressed since the 14th century . They worked primarily as vicars at the side altars and read the memoirs donated by clergy and lay people.

Conversion into a collegiate foundation and Reformation

The year 1504 is seen as a turning point in the history of the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery. This is due to the fact that the cathedral monastery played a pioneering role, as it was the first to discard the rule of the order, which the other two Premonstratensian monasteries, Brandenburg and Havelberg, was only approved by the Pope in 1507. The respective sovereigns had already tried to abandon the rule of the order, which was unsuccessful at first. This conversion into a secular canon monastery was made by the Ratzeburg bishop Johannes von Parkentin and the dukes Johann IV. And Magnus I by Pope Alexander VI. requested and based on the fact that the canons of the monastery had not lived according to the rules of the order for decades. A draft letter from Johannes von Parkentin and Alexander VI. of August 1, 1503 not only proves that the sovereigns supported the demand, but the goals that were pursued with this conversion. For example, the cathedral monastery should provide the princes with legally educated and learned courtiers. The request was finally confirmed by Pope Julius II on May 22, 1504 and the conversion of the Premonstratensian foundation into a collegiate foundation approved. A total of 14 members of the cathedral monastery then accepted the world clergy and all the privileges associated with it. In addition, the cathedral monastery was supplemented by eight new canons with preambles during the conversion .

How the situation of the cathedral monastery developed from the transformation into a secular monastery to the Reformation and the accompanying acceptance of the Lutheran denomination has not been researched. It is therefore not clear whether the princes' hopes for the conversion of the cathedral monastery have been fulfilled in the long term. However, under Johann IV the tendency of the princes of Saxony-Lauenburg to extend their secular rule to include the bishop and cathedral monastery became noticeable. In 1492, the prince, in this case Johann IV., For the first time occupied the monastery property with concerns , referring to the old custom. Under his son Magnus I, the pressure on the cathedral monastery and the bishop not only increased, but the conflict escalated from 1517. As a result, the cathedral monastery had to flee to Lübeck, where the archive and cathedral treasures were also kept, and had to stay there temporarily . Furthermore, the dispute between the prince and the cathedral monastery led to the latter filing lawsuits before the emperor and the pope. In 1517 the Cathedral Chapter and the Bishop of Ratzeburg then Pope was Leo X . a protection privilege issued. The hoped-for calming down of the conflict with the now banned Duke did not materialize and the dispute over the taxes he claimed continued. As a result, the cathedral monastery and bishop brought another lawsuit against Magnus I at the Worms Reichstag in 1521 . The resulting process before the Imperial Court of Justice ended in a judgment against the prince in 1524, but it did not bring about any lasting peace. The dispute was probably no reason for the cathedral monastery to accept the prince's brother, Johannes, as provost of the cathedral in 1529, after he had renounced the diocese of Hildesheim two years earlier . This was followed by further disputes and an ongoing legal process, which was only temporarily ended in 1532 before the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer through a settlement between the two parties in favor of the cathedral monastery. The costs of this process were so high that in 1530 the cathedral monastery was forced to sell large parts of the church treasury in order to be able to cover them. The I of Duke Magnus uncalled by way of levies Church property were neither by himself, nor by his successor Francis I returned. The latter also had to be requested several times by the emperor not to collect any further taxes from the cathedral monastery. Overall, these legal disputes with the prince, which lasted into the 17th century, represented an immense financial burden for the cathedral monastery. Duke Franz I also tried to elect his son Magnus as the new bishop of Ratzeburg after the death of Bishop Georg von Blumenthal allow. In the 1550 election, however, the cathedral monastery unanimously decided in favor of the previous cathedral provost Christoph von der Schulenburg . The prince then retaliated by commissioning the mercenary leader Vollrad von Mansfeld and his men , who had become unemployed after the surrender of Magdeburg in 1551, to put pressure on the cathedral monastery. They attacked the cathedral on May 23, 1552 and looted both the church and the canons' curia. They ravaged the interiors and captured any canons that could be found. These were then compelled to recognize the son of Prince Franz I, in a new declaration, as the elected and accepted Bishop of Ratzeburg. Furthermore, the occupiers stayed under the count for two months and extorted a payment of 4,000 Reichstalers from the cathedral monastery so that they would not burn the cathedral down. After this incident, the relationship between the cathedral monastery and the duke was irretrievably disturbed and the Askanians were no longer given a chance at the bishopric.

In 1554 the Evangelical aligned Bishop Christoph resigned von der Schulenburg to the Bishopric of Ratzeburg, which he of Duke Johann Albrecht I. an indemnity of 10,000 Rhenish guilder received. The Duke was also able to ensure that his 17-year-old brother Christoph zu Mecklenburg was postulated from the cathedral monastery to the succeeding bishop, although he only acted as administrator due to his young age. At this point in time, the split in faith had already taken hold in the cathedral monastery; Canons have been known since the 1530s who were inclined to Protestant teaching. Further personal history information is not known in this regard and would have to be investigated. Joachim Blücher is the first known canon who resigned himself to his canon in 1538 and married, although this was initially an isolated case. Most of the canons were still practicing the Catholic faith at that time. This shows that the papal confirmation of the administrator Christoph zu Mecklenburg, who came of age in 1561, was criticized because of his Lutheran denomination, which suggests that Protestantism was even less strongly represented. It was not until 1566 that the cathedral monastery established the introduction of Lutheran doctrine, which specifically meant the abolition of Catholic ceremonies, the introduction of sermons in the Lutheran sense and the permission of canons to marry. As a result, Georg Usler was appointed as the first Protestant cathedral preacher in Ratzeburg in 1566. From 1581, the Augsburg Confession formed the basis for admission to the cathedral chapter.

Annulment and later fate

Chapter 8 of the Treaty of Westphalia concluded with Sweden after the Thirty Years' War in 1648 contained the abolition of the Ratzeburg Cathedral Foundation. In the event of a vacancy , offices should not be filled again and the ecclesiastical benefices should be transferred to the ducal table. The cathedral monastery opposed these regulations and after a few years was able to reach an agreement with the duke on December 15, 1652, which regulated the further use of property and the administration until the death of the last canon. The remaining canons, eight in 1649, continued to receive care, exercised patronage and school rights and took care of asset management. The history of the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery ends with Heinrich Hoinckhusen, who died in 1683 as the last of the canons of the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery.

How the functions of chapter buildings and cathedral churches have changed since the introduction of the Reformation up to the present requires further investigation. It is certain that the rooms and buildings that were connected to the cathedral monastery continued to be used by the canons after 1652. They continued to live in their curiae until the time of their death, whereby the cathedral did not lose its ecclesiastical center function and continued to serve as a sovereign burial place. Another remnant of the tradition of the medieval cathedral monastery, which has survived to this day, is the designation of the pastor at the Ratzeburg cathedral as cathedral provost.

Constitution and Administration

Constitution of the monastery and religious affiliation

Unlike most of the other cathedral monasteries in the empire at that time, the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery belonged to the Premonstratensian order. It shared this religious affiliation with the Havelberg cathedral monastery, which was re-established in 1149/50, and the Brandenburg cathedral monastery, which was re-established in 1161, and remained loyal to it as one of the only three Premonstratensian cathedral monasteries until it was converted into a collegiate monastery in 1504. The cathedral monastery had various rights and duties in the diocese of Ratzeburg and functioned among other things as the largest spiritual landlord, the most influential clerical community, holder of archidiaconal rights and owner of numerous patronages . Pope Hadrian IV confirmed the cathedral monastery in 1158 the right to bishopric. However, this was initially incompatible with the investiture right claimed by the Saxon Duke Heinrich the Lion , which he wanted to assert for the dioceses of Ratzeburg , Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Oldenburg-Lübeck . It followed that in 1178/80 Isfried , the previous provost of the Premonstratensian Monastery of Jerichow , who was not a member of the Cathedral Monastery, was installed as Bishop of Ratzeburg. In 1180 the investiture problem came to an end when the Guelph Duke was deposed. With the exception of two other bishops, all others emerged from the ranks of the cathedral monastery itself. The first of these exceptions was Lambert von Barmstede , who in 1228 was given by Pope Gregory IX . was providential but only officiated for a few months. The second exception to be mentioned is Wipert von Blücher, who comes from the regional nobility, who was awarded the office of bishop mainly for reasons of territorial policy, but was neither a member of the cathedral monastery nor the canonically required age of 30 years.

The exact course of the election of a bishop from the death of the predecessor to the election of the next bishop is given in the election notification from the cathedral monastery to Pope Boniface IX. from the year 1395. 22 of the Ratzeburg bishops emerged from the cathedral monastery, of which 19 had previously worked as church officials, nine of them as provosts and three as priors. Heinrich Bergmeier , Georg von Blumenthal and Christoph von der Schulenburg , the last three bishops of Ratzeburg, were previously members of the cathedral monastery as secular clergy. What needs closer investigation, however, is the often tense relationship between the bishop and cathedral monastery. For example, the Bishop of Ratzeburg, Pardam von dem Knesebeck, was the first owner of the bishop's seat to be asked to surrender the elections . Due to the constitution of the order, interventions by the bishop in the business of the cathedral monastery were rare and only took place in special cases, such as the action against canons who had committed criminal offenses. The activities of the bishop also depended in many respects on the consensus with the cathedral monastery, which included financial matters, but also included the incorporation of parish churches, the approval of contracts or the founding of monasteries and the introduction of festive days. In contrast to many other dioceses, however, the joint membership of the cathedral monastery and bishop seems to have facilitated cooperation between the two parties. Most of the Ratzeburg bishops had their residence in their castle in Schönberg since Marquard von Jesow, whereby the bishop's court near the cathedral was also used from time to time. According to a resolution from 1372, one third of the dues to the papal curia and other taxes were to be borne by the provost and two thirds by the cathedral monastery. Even later taxes and duties were mostly divided according to this principle.

Composition of the cathedral pen

Only late medieval sources allow a conclusion about the approximate composition of the cathedral monastery, although there is the problem that most of the Premonstratensians are only mentioned by their first names in these documents. The social composition of the monastery was mostly mixed, but until about the middle of the 14th century, as far as the name could be recognized, the regional nobility was prominently represented, while in the following period the bourgeois portion of the monastery dominated. At the time of the conversion into a secular canon, four of the 14 canons were of noble origin, while the other ten belonged to the bourgeoisie, which seems to have continued to be in the majority. Most of the bourgeois canons of the monastery came from Rostock, Wismar, Lübeck and their surroundings, with the sons of Ratzeburg citizens also being accepted. However, this was prohibited in 1493 due to political disagreements. The noble members of the cathedral monastery came mainly from the duchies of Mecklenburg and Saxony-Lauenburg , as well as from the duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg .

Secular priests who, like Christian Coband, joined the cathedral monastery in 1399 had to forego all benefices that belonged to them and, like every new addition, had to pay an admission fee to the monastery. Reliable statements about the social and geographical composition of the cathedral monastery from the 16th century onwards cannot be made due to the sources and the lack of research. New members of the cathedral monastery had to be born in wedlock in order to be accepted. The admission ceremony took place through a solenne profession , as well as through the issuance of a separate profession certificate for the accepted canon. After the conversion into a collegiate foundation in 1504, these principles no longer applied, as can be seen from the relevant papal deed. Newly elected and accepted canons had to take an oath and, in addition, pay the mentioned admission fee of 100 Luebian marks as statute money. After 1504, acceptance into the cathedral monastery took place either through co-optation from the monastery itself, through the presentation of canonicals selected by the patron saint, or through papal commission.

Sources report that the size of the cathedral post is constantly fluctuating and unsteady. Apparently, the number of members originally considered ideal was 13, but could well exceed this in individual years and range between 14 members and 25 members. These numbers probably came about because neither the economic system nor the constitution of the order stipulated an exact number of canons. Nevertheless, in 1301 the cathedral monastery postulated the upper limit of 25 canons, consisting of the provost, 16 priests, four deacons and four sub-deacons, which was also reached in 1301 and 1327. The sub-deacons themselves were not yet fully-fledged canons and were still subject to the scholaster until they were emancipated and were promoted to full canons. However, in order to be accepted into the cathedral monastery, the consent of the majority of the canons was required. For example, in 1331 the provost was accused of accepting canons without the required majority approval from the cathedral monastery.

When the Premonstratensian monastery was converted into a collegiate monastery in 1504, it had 14 dignitaries and canons. In addition, the Bishop and the Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg each endowed two and six further canonicals with parishes, so that the number of these grew to a total of 22. However, the canonicals were probably not always occupied, which is evidenced by the election of bishops following the conversion, in which only 18 canons participated and two were prevented, which means that the remaining two canons were probably vacant. In addition, so-called lay brothers were still to be found up to the 14th century , whose task was to manage the monastery property. Their number was limited to ten in 1308, but is likely to have mostly been fewer. The secular canons, whose number increased sharply over time, were mostly employed as vicars and held a special position. In 1500, before the transmutation, their number was 16 and continued to grow in the following years.

Staff of the cathedral monastery

Provost

The provost held the highest office in a cathedral monastery, although from the 14th century he was subject to a far-reaching loss of function. Before that, he served as superior of the vicars and canons and head of the entire community. The regulation of how the collegiate offices should be filled and the granting of pastoral care were also among his tasks. Initially, the administration of the financial and economic affairs, as well as the representation of the cathedral monastery outside and in front of the order belonged to his duties. The provost of the Ratzeburg diocese also had archdeaconal powers. He was usually elected and put into office by the cathedral monastery, although individual traditions from the 14th century onwards also report occasional papal commissions. In 1486 Pope Innocent VIII raised the title of provost to the highest level after that of the bishop and also postulated that a provost could be elected by the cathedral monastery, but that he still had to ask for papal confirmation within four months. Due to his progressive loss of function, the provost gradually separated himself from the vita communis .

prior

The Prior held the second Prelature after the provost in Prämonstratenser. He was initially the provost's deputy and thus profited greatly from his loss of function. His main duties were leading the church service and choral prayer, which meant that he was the first to arrive in the choir and the last to leave. He also supervised the vicars of the cathedral monastery, which was already established at the time when the first two vicarages were founded in 1319. From the 15th century, the prior was given more and more powers that the provost had lost. He gained domestic and foreign policy powers, such as representing the cathedral monastery at meetings of the order or provincial synods. In addition, he gained jurisdiction towards the end of the 15th century and was able to use the designation ordinarius loci . From the conversion in 1504, the prior was called dean.

Scholaster

As can be seen from the papal deed about the conversion in 1504, only the provost and the prior held dignities , while all other functions of the members of the cathedral monastery were mostly designated as offices. Since the scholaster , which is mentioned for the first time in 1238, hardly appears in the documents, it cannot be said exactly whether it was counted among the dignities or the offices and what significance it actually had for the collegiate school . Usually a cleric is named in his place, who worked as schoolmaster and was responsible for these matters. The scholaster is not even mentioned in the papal deed from 1504, in which all offices and dignities of the monastery are mentioned, so that it is questionable whether the canonical of the scholaster was still there. The only scholaster of the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery mentioned in the documents is the scholaster Heinrich in 1238.

Cathedral treasurer

The cathedral treasurer has different names in the traditions in the course of time in Ratzeburg. In the years 1198, 1211 and 1291 he was still referred to as custos , in 1337 he was mentioned as custos seu thesaurarius and was later only called thesaurarius . His task was to take care of everything that was connected with the preparation and implementation of the divine service and the liturgy, i.e. the church treasures, the holy oil, mass wine and paraments to the lighting of the room. In 1211 the cathedral monastery was given by Bishop Philipp von Ratzeburg, among other things, vasa sacra and other relics, but also special income for the custodian, as he was also given the task of procuring the chrism . Towards the end of the Middle Ages a sexton was also appointed to support the custodian, although he was not a member of the cathedral monastery, but merely a layperson. After the conversion, the thesauruses were called custodians.

Other offices

Another office first mentioned in 1217 is that of chamberlain. He had the task of looking after the canons' clothes and shoes and of administering them, which was only practicable as long as the vita communis was still practiced in the cathedral monastery, i.e. as long as the canons still lived together in their curia. In the papal deed of 1504, the eunuch is no longer mentioned.

In addition, there was also a cathedral master builder who was first mentioned in 1261 as a magister operis and was usually called a structurarius in the late Middle Ages . As the name suggests, his tasks consisted of building the cathedral and everything that went with it, including, for example, running the brickworks of the cathedral monastery.

The office that was responsible for the economic administration and maintenance of the cathedral monastery and the associated buildings was called officialis maior and has probably existed since around 1355. This office was usually filled by someone from within the cathedral monastery In the 19th century, another economic administrator was added, the officialis minor . This dealt with the growing pension income from the memories and other foundations, which were distributed with the help of so-called distributors as attendance money to the canons present at the respective festivals. The economic books of the cathedral monastery, which have been preserved since 1444, document the activities of the economic administrator.

The collection of the memory money fell to another agent, as well as the administration and distribution of these funds, both of which probably came from the group of canons. Records also tell of a hospital master and numerous messengers, notaries and other subordinate officials who are mentioned from time to time.

Offices and dignities after 1504

For the dignities of the Ratzeburg Premonstratensian Monastery, i.e. provost and prior, the conversion into a collegiate monastery had hardly any impact. The provost still held the top position, but due to the advanced loss of function, he had to cede most of his actual competencies to the prior, who was now referred to as the dean, whereby the latter de facto took over the leadership. Even the cantor is added to the dignitaries of the cathedral chapter from that date; other functionaries held a chapter office or officium . From 1504 onwards, a senior capituli , i.e. a chapter elder , is often mentioned in the documents and is usually named after the provost and the dean. The provost was also to reside in either Ratzeburg or Mechow , as regulated from 1504 . The dean, on the other hand, should always reside directly on site, which was also necessary due to his obligation to be present in the choir. The offices and dignities cannot be detached from the institution of the cathedral monastery, which included all full-fledged canons and represented the church's decision-making power in the monastery area. It can be assumed that the cathedral monastery originally met daily, while in the late Middle Ages only weekly meetings were common. From the dean's oath from 1551 it can be seen that he called the meeting on Fridays. Extraordinary meetings are also reported, for example if a vacant office should be filled by election or other important matters require the attention of the canons, who were also called up for this purpose from outside. One of the most important and well-known duties of the cathedral monastery is the election of the dignitaries of the monastery and above all that of the bishop. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the holders of the offices of the monastery and some other positions were finally elected by the cathedral monastery. The cathedral monastery regulated most domestic and foreign affairs with the help of statutes, which, however, have mostly not been preserved. To solve more specific questions and problems, the cathedral monastery was able to set up working committees, as it did in 1330, to settle internal disputes.

Religious and spiritual life and work

The Premonstratensian Monastery of Gramzow , which was founded around 1177 in the diocese of Kammin in the Uckermark, is a subsidiary of the Ratzeburg Cathedral Monastery. This can be seen on the one hand from the fact that both monasteries had the same patronage, St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist . On the other hand, there are places in the surrounding area and near Gramzow such as a desert with the name Ratzeburgk in the Gramzower Forest, the former Ratzeburgische Strasse and the large and small Rathsburgsee. Taken together, the Ratzeburg Cathedral Abbey owned ten parishes that transferred their patronage rights to it or incorporated them into the Abbey Canteen. With the conversion into a secular canon monastery, eight further canonicals were established, which were formed on the secular side by the patronage parishes Berkenthin , Seedorf , Büchen , Siebeneichen , Stapel and Lauenburg and on the clerical side by the episcopal parish churches Nusse and Herrenburg. The patronage relationships of these institutions were retained, which is why one cannot speak of an incorporation in these cases.

Since there is no liber ordinarius from the Ratzeburg cathedral monastery , i.e. an order of worship, very little can be said about daily liturgical business. Only individual documents mention the hore canonice , the choir prayer, or the divina officia , the celebration of high mass or the processions that took place in the cathedral church. What is known, however, is that each canon had a specific task to do in these matters, such as the weekly readings of the gospels. While the old-faith customs and rites were abolished in 1566 with the introduction of Lutheran doctrine, choir prayer continued in the now Protestant cathedral monastery. The vicars, whose offices for mass priests had been established from time to time since the beginning of the 14th century, were increasingly obliged to take part in processions and liturgical feasts on certain holidays, as well as in Vespers and high mass.

In the first time after the re-establishment of the cathedral monastery, proselytizing the pagan population living in the surrounding area was a high priority for the canons. No details have been passed on about the preaching activities of the canons, although they were included in the area of ​​pastoral care, which was carried out at least until 1401.

A prominent place of pilgrimage for the cathedral monastery has been the tomb of the, non-canonized, Saint Ansverus in the cathedral since the end of the Middle Ages . Historically, it cannot be said with certainty whether the remains of Ansverus were actually not in the cathedral but in the church St George and were only relocated to the cathedral by Bishop Evermod . Traditions of the cult of Ansverus in the cathedral are only preserved from the beginning of the 14th century. In the case of Bishop Ludolf I, however , the traditions are much clearer. He died in 1250 as a result of his imprisonment by Duke Albrecht I of Saxony-Lauenburg and was venerated like a saint in the cathedral monastery as early as 1340, even before his canonization. A deed of foundation shows that his bones were to be carried around in procession on his feast day, March 29, provided the bishop gave his consent. Nevertheless, in the surviving structural registers of the cathedral monastery, only Bishop Ansverus is listed among the important saints' feasts.

Little is known about the relics that were in the possession of the cathedral monastery. The cathedral was given a pixis argentea by Bishop Philipp von Ratzeburg in 1211 , but it is not known which relics it should have contained. The bishops Ansverus and Ludolf I also held a prominent position with regard to the relics due to their importance for the cathedral monastery. Some relics of the cathedral monastery are known, which are named in the records of the sale of the cathedral treasure in 1530. These include two crosses with the wood from the cross of Christ, three pieces of silver jewelry with relics, an arm of St. James, an arm of St. Viktor and Gereon, as well as two monstrances that contained unspecified relics. Other relics may have been present, but this is not historically certain.

The activity of historiography was probably neglected by the Ratzeburg canons. However, a Lista episcoporum ecclesiae Raceburgensis et eorum facta , a series of bishops, has been preserved, which was drawn up by a canon and in which, among other things, the bishops' way of life is detailed.

The mention of a scholaster in 1238 suggests that a school existed in the cathedral monastery. Since the scholaster belonging to the cathedral monastery is only mentioned at this point in time, a cleric would otherwise have worked as a schoolmaster who was employed for a fixed annual income. The schoolmaster's salary, which amounted to 14 Lübische Marks per year, was usually paid by the provost. For the young canons or sub-deacons it was probably customary to complete this school in the cathedral monastery. Some of the students at the cathedral school also took part in the role of altar boys or choralists in choral prayers and mass celebrations. The fact that an increasing number of canons also attended a university from the 15th century onwards does not necessarily have to be related to the school in the cathedral monastery. Even after the cathedral monastery changed denomination in 1566, the monastery school continued to operate. However, every canon now had to pay for one of the cathedral students. The cathedral school was re-established in 1655, was now located in the closed area and was there until around 1845. Ultimately, the cathedral school was then replaced by the Lauenburg scholar school, which was initially located in the same premises as the cathedral school before.

See also

List of the bishops of Ratzeburg

Web links

literature

  • Hans Bernhöft: The Premonstratensian cathedral monastery in Ratzeburg in the Middle Ages. Constitution, class, education . Lauenburgischer Heimatverlag, Ratzeburg i.Lbg. 1932.
  • Erwin Gatz , Clemens Brodkorb, Helmut Flachenecker (eds.): The dioceses of the Holy Roman Empire from their beginnings to secularization. Freiburg im Breisgau 2003, p. 590-598 .
  • Wolfgang Huschner , Ernst Münch , Cornelia Neustadt, Wolfgang Eric Wagner (eds.): Mecklenburg monastery book: manual of the monasteries, monasteries, coming and priories (10th / 11th - 16th centuries). 1st edition. tape 1 . Hinstorff, Rostock 2016, p. 651-714 .

Individual evidence

  1. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 651-654.
  2. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 654-655.
  3. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 654-655.
  4. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 655-657.
  5. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 655-657.
  6. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 655-657.
  7. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 657-658.
  8. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 657-658.
  9. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 658-659.
  10. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 658-659.
  11. See Huschner et al. a. P. 659.
  12. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 659-662.
  13. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 659-662.
  14. See Huschner et al. a. P. 662.
  15. See Huschner et al. a. P. 659.
  16. See Huschner et al. a. P. 660.
  17. See Huschner et al. a. P. 660.
  18. See Huschner et al. a. P. 660.
  19. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 660-661.
  20. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 661-662.
  21. See Huschner et al. a. P. 675.
  22. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 676-677.
  23. See Huschner et al. a. P. 678.
  24. See Huschner et al. a. Pp. 680-681.
  25. See Huschner et al. a. P. 681.
  26. See Huschner et al. a. P. 681.
  27. See Huschner et al. a. P. 682.