Münsterschwarzach women's monastery

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A key from the 8th or 9th century that was excavated in 1939 is considered the only remaining remnant of the women's monastery

The Münsterschwarzach women's monastery (also Frauenschwarzach monastery , own names Monasterium Suuarzaha, Suarizaha ) was an early medieval monastery and the predecessor institution of the Münsterschwarzach Benedictine monastery . It was founded in the second half of the 8th century and abandoned around 877.

Geographical location

The geographical location of the former monastery can now be clearly traced , especially through archaeological finds. Until the 1990s, however, the situation of the women's abbey was controversial. The monastery was mostly located in the area of ​​the medieval town of Schwarzach , i.e. south of today's monastery complex. It is said to have been located on the "Kirchberg" at the site of the later Holy Cross Church .

As early as 1935, the foundation walls of a monastery church were excavated in the course of the construction of the Boßlet Church below today's abbey grounds, but this was identified with the construction of the men's monastery that had emerged from the Megingaudshausen monastery . Above all, the excavated round tower, which cut through a later attached transept , is now referred to as a remnant of the women's monastery. The monastery church was located in the area of ​​today's cloister garden south of today's. The floor plan of the first church has been determined since 1999.

history

Mattonic monastery

The history of the monastery is closely linked to the Carolingian ruling house. While the older literature directly identifies Charlemagne as the founder of Frauenschwarzach and describes the foundation as the Carolingian women's monastery, the newer literature dispenses with this ascription, since Karl never appeared as the founder of the monastery. Instead, members of the East Franconian noble family of the Mattonen were brought up for discussion as the founding clan. Büll refers to the sister of the Würzburg bishop Megingoz , Hruadlaug, who was probably the first abbess to preside over a "Casa sanctae Mariae" (Latin: House of Saint Mary) 762/763.

Hruadlaug could have handed over the founding of the noble monastery, which served the Mattons to care for their second-born daughters, to their niece Juliana. Juliana was Matto's daughter and a sister of Megingaud the Younger, who also founded the monastery. Together with her brothers, she handed over the Wenkheim monastery to the Fulda Abbey . In the accompanying document, however, it was stated that this monastery was not the seat of Abbess Juliana. Büll, on the other hand, points to Münsterschwarzach, with whom Juliana 789/794 can be connected.

Before that, the monastery had already passed from the Mattones to the Carolingian ruling house. Most likely Empress Fastrada , who came from the Mattonen family, transferred her property to her husband Charlemagne when she married him in 783. It is possible that the transfer of ownership was made in 788. At that time Charlemagne was staying in Würzburg to translate the bones of St. Kilian and his companions. In 793 the monastery church was inaugurated, perhaps in the presence of Charlemagne. → see also: Monastery Church (Münsterschwarzach, Carolingian predecessor)

The convent appeared for the first time in a document between 813 and 819 in the so-called "Notitia" of Benedict von Aniane . The list compiled the various imperial monasteries that Emperor Ludwig the Pious was to propose for privileges. Here appears the "Monasterium Suarizaha", which was to receive a free choice of abbesses and concessions in terms of taxes and military services.

The third (lay) abbess of the now imperial monastery could have been Theodrada . The daughter of Charlemagne and Fastrada was both associated with the ruling house and related to the Mattons. In 814 she received the Argenteuil monastery on the Seine from her father as "nobilissima abbatissa" (Latin for the most distinguished abbess). However, she left this place between 828 and 842 in the direction of Münsterschwarzach, because the Norman trains became more frequent around Paris.

Carolingian Imperial Monastery

Theodrada's move from Argenteuil to Münsterschwarzach allows some conclusions to be drawn about the economic condition of the abbey. Since Theodrada could be “compensated” with Münsterschwarzach, but Argenteuil was one of the richer monasteries in the Franconian Empire , this must also apply to the Münsterschwarzach women's abbey. The exact possessions of the abbey are not known, however, and later back projections of the divisional property along the main triangle are probably only very imprecise.

Theodrada's further dealings with her monastery in the subsequent period is the subject of a research debate. In a document from 844, Theodrada transferred her abbey to the Bishop of Würzburg . The older literature, however, assumed a complete transfer of all rights, while the younger refers to the fact that the women's monastery only went to the bishop as a fief and remained in the imperial possession. Theodrada also reserved a usufruct right until her death.

The Würzburg bishops did not immediately redeem their claims to the abbey and Theodrada changed her terms of use again after 844. She passed the women's abbey on to Blutenda (Blittrud). She was the daughter of Count Folkbert, who had died before 844 and was in charge of the Volkfeldgau in which Münsterschwarzach was located. Blutenda was probably a Matton woman. In any case, she could make better arguments for owning the monastery than Hildegard , the daughter of Ludwig the German . The Würzburg bishop Gozbald also campaigned for Blutenda.

Blutenda was last mentioned in the year 851. Perhaps she died before Theodrada, so that she had to control her abbey again. Before her death, Hildegard received Münsterschwarzach. However, it only appeared in a single document from Ludwig the German dated March 27, 857. At that time, Bertha , Hildegard's younger sister, was given the monastery for usufruct, while Hildegard moved to Zurich in the Fraumünster .

Bertha is the last abbess of the Münsterschwarzach monastery. With her death, also in the Fraumünster in Zurich on March 26, 877, Benedictine monks from the Megingaudshausen monastery in the Steigerwald took over the neglected monastery buildings on the Main and rebuilt the church in the period that followed. Now it has finally been converted into an episcopal monastery. However , the crossed abbot's rods of two convents, which still characterize the coat of arms of Münsterschwarzach today, give an indication of the women's monastery.

See also

literature

  • Franziskus Büll: The women's monastery Münsterschwarzach . In: Franziskus Büll (Ed.): Magna Gratulatio. 1200 years of Benedictine monastic community from Münsterschwarzach. 816–2016 (= Münsterschwarzacher studies, vol. 55) . Münsterschwarzach 2016. pp. 23–42.
  • Franziskus Büll: The Monastery Suuarzaha. A contribution to the history of the Münsterschwarzach women's monastery from 788 (?) To 877 (?) (= Münsterschwarzacher Studien Vol. 42) . Münsterschwarzach 1992.
  • Theodor J. Scherg: The Counts of the Mattonen and their religious foundations in Franconia, primarily Megingaudshausen in the Steigerwald and Schwarzach am Main . Brno 1909.
  • Franz Staab: Queen Fastrada, the third wife of Charles d. Great . In: Franziskus Büll (Ed.): Magna Gratulatio. 1200 years of Benedictine monastic community from Münsterschwarzach. 816–2016 (= Münsterschwarzacher studies, vol. 55) . Münsterschwarzach 2016. pp. 15–21.
  • Gabriel Vogt: On the early history of the Münsterschwarzach Abbey (= special print from Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch 32/1980) . Volkach 1980.
  • Alfred Wendehorst: The beginnings of the Münsterschwarzach monastery . In: Journal for Bavarian State History Vol. 24 . Munich 1961. pp. 163-172.
  • Carl Wolff: On the foundation and history of the Schwarzach am Main Abbey in the Carolingian Age . In: Münsterschwarzach Abbey. Works from their history. Official dedication of the church in 1938 . Münsterschwarzach 1938. pp. 187-231.
  • Carsten Woll: "Gold pales before your hair". Theodrada: From the imperial court to marriage to monastery life . In: Franziskus Büll (Ed.): Magna Gratulatio. 1200 years of Benedictine monastic community from Münsterschwarzach. 816–2016 (= Münsterschwarzacher studies, vol. 55) . Münsterschwarzach 2016. pp. 43–94.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wendehorst, Alfred: The beginnings of the Münsterschwarzach monastery . P. 164.
  2. ↑ Wolff, Carl: On the foundation and history of the Schwarzach am Main Abbey in the Carolingian Age . P. 195.
  3. ↑ Büll, Franziskus: The women's monastery Münsterschwarzach . P. 38 f.
  4. ^ Vogt, Gabriel: On the early history of the Münsterschwarzach Abbey . P. 11.
  5. ↑ Scherg, Theodor: Das Grafgeschlecht der Mattonen . P. 188.
  6. ↑ Büll, Franziskus: The women's monastery Münsterschwarzach . P. 24.
  7. ^ Büll, Franziskus: Das Monasterium Suuarzaha . P. 173.
  8. ^ Vogt, Gabriel: On the early history of the Münsterschwarzach Abbey . P. 11.
  9. ↑ Büll, Franziskus: The women's monastery Münsterschwarzach . P. 32.
  10. ^ Büll, Franziskus: Das Monasterium Suuarzaha . Pp. 113-131.
  11. ↑ Büll, Franziskus: The women's monastery Münsterschwarzach . P. 31.

Coordinates: 49 ° 48 ′ 16.2 "  N , 10 ° 13 ′ 51.9"  E