Friedrich Foerner

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Friedrich Förner (oil painting in the possession of the Bamberg Seminary)

Friedrich Förner (also Friderich and Forner or Fornerus) (* around 1568 in Weismain ; † December 5, 1630 in Bamberg ) was vicar general and auxiliary bishop in Bamberg. He was considered "the soul of the Counter-Reformation " and at the same time was a relentless witch hunter in the Bamberg Monastery . Christianus Erdtmannus is a pseudonym for Friedrich Förner.

Life

Origin and education

City map of Bamberg from 1617
Bamberg in Förner's time. Excerpt from a colored re-engraving of the “Zweidler Plan” from 1602. A = Cathedral, C = St. Stephan, F = (Alt) St. Martin, G = Upper Parish, N = Seminarium Ernestinum

Förner's father was called Ambrosius, nothing is known about his work in Weismain. You don't even know the mother's name. Since Weismain's parish registers do not go back to the 16th century, Förner's date of birth is also uncertain. In one of his writings Förner himself gives a reference to the time around 1570; his biographer Lothar Bauer suspects the year 1568 as this best fits a contemporary age. Förner's father was originally a Lutheran, but converted to Catholicism.

Förner had six siblings, three brothers and three sisters. Two of his brothers, Johann and Andreas, also studied theology in Rome and became priests. Johann († 1638) followed Friedrich Förner in 1614 as parish administrator at the Upper Parish in Bamberg and finally became professor of theology in Ingolstadt , Andreas († 1629) is known as the author of polemical treatises against Lutherans and Calvinists. Moritz († 1629 or 1630), on the other hand, married and lived temporarily in Bamberg. All three sisters married: Barbara († 1604) had a daughter who entered the Dominican convent Heilig Grab in Bamberg as a nun . Margarethe moved to Eggolsheim with her husband , Anna had "many children" and was therefore given special consideration in Förner's will. No dates of birth and only some of the death dates of the siblings are known.

Förner attended the Kollegiatstift in Forchheim and in 1588 began studying philosophy at the newly re-established University of Würzburg , where he obtained his master's degree. In 1591 he wrote to the newly elected bishop of Bamberg, Neidhardt von Thüngen , who had been rector magnificus of the university in 1584 , that he now wanted to turn to theology. He was at Bamberger seminary was added, the seminary Ernestinum and received in the course of his studies there, the minor orders , in 1593 the vultures also for sub-deacon and deacon . That year, Bishop Neidhardt sent him to the Collegium Germanicum in Rome for further training . He stayed there for five years. In 1596 he was ordained a priest and in 1598 he obtained a licentiate in theology, shortly thereafter also a doctorate from the University of Perugia .

First activities in Bamberg

Förner's ownership entry on the mirror of a book from his library, today in the Bamberg State Library

After his return to Bamberg, Förner quickly proved to be a radical advocate of the Counter Reformation . In 1598, together with Johann Kostenreutter, on behalf of the bishop, he made a visit to the Bamberg diocese and reported to Neidhardt about Lutheran preachers near Weismain, which he considered extremely dangerous. According to him, the residents of Altenkunstadt in particular did not want to convert to Catholicism and could not be induced to do so by fines. The Weismainer Kastner Moritz Neydecker then occupied the place at midnight with a large group of “defensive citizens” from other communities and took the residents prisoner. Förner himself took advantage of this situation to force the Altenkunstädter to confess and communion according to Catholic doctrine, as he reported in a letter to the bishop. This violent approach went too far even for Neidhardt, who was inclined to the Counter-Reformation, and he ordered the action to be broken off and the prisoners to be released.

On December 26, 1598, Förner's patron, Bishop Neidhardt von Thüngen, who immediately appointed Förner to the “closest circle of his spiritual advisors” after his return from Rome and who had also given him a canonical on St. Stephen , died. Förner gave him the Last Unction and gave the funeral sermons, which he had printed 25 years later. Neidhardt's successor, Johann Philipp von Gebsattel , thought little of the counter-Reformation activities and was more characterized by religious tolerance. This seems to have led to a break in Förner's previously steep career.

In 1599, Förner was appointed parish administrator to Our Lady , that is to say at the Bamberg church known as the “Upper Parish”, where he stayed until 1613. In 1603 he was appointed cathedral preacher . The predicature was connected with a benefice . Since Gebsattel, according to Lothar Bauer's judgment, did not want to give Förner "an official say in matters of the bishopric", Förner initially maintained his relationships with those Catholic princes who advocated counter-reformation and recatholicization, in particular the Würzburg prince-bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn and the Duke von Bayern Maximilian , who also included him in his council in 1604. In 1608 even the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II appointed him to his council, probably at Maximilian's suggestion.

The conflict with Johann Schöner

The Libhardi Curia in its present form, greatly changed and expanded through renovations in the 18th and 19th centuries

The political conflict between this "Bavarian-Würzburg party", whose confidante Förner was considered to be in Bamberg, and Gebsattel broke out openly when the Bamberg auxiliary bishop Johann Ertlin died in the spring of 1607. At Gebsattel's suggestion, the Bamberg cathedral chapter chose as Ertlin's successor to Gebsattel's vicar general Johann Schöner , a theologian of the same age as Förner, who had also studied at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. This was followed by a violent argument between Schöner and Förner, which was fought by all means by both sides, including written denunciations in Rome, surveillance of the post office and accusations of financial irregularities and cohabitation . The appointment of Schöner as bishop by Pope Paul V was therefore a long time coming and only took place on July 28, 1608. On January 11, 1609, Schöne was ordained a bishop . This did not end the disputes, however, as there were already attempts in Rome to get Gebsaddle removed "because of his shameful way of life and his lameness in faith", among others operated by the Würzburg prince-bishop and the Bavarian duke. This became superfluous on June 26, 1609, when Gebsattel died while Schöne was still on his way back from a trip to Rome.

Within a month Johann Gottfried I von Aschhausen , a prominent representative of the Bavarian-Würzburg party, was elected as the new diocesan bishop and prince-bishop in Bamberg. He sent Förner to Rome to receive the papal confirmation and to make the ad limina visit on his behalf, which was still successful in 1609. Aschhausen immediately appointed Förner his vicar general and in 1610 also sent him, together with the provost Johann Christoph Neustetter , to the negotiations on the entry of the Bamberg bishopric to the Catholic League , which they successfully led. In addition, Aschhausen also strove to replace Schoner as auxiliary bishop with Förner. For this he was dependent on the Roman Curia, which, however, relied on mediation between Aschhausen and Schöner. An agreement was finally reached in the spring of 1612: Schoner, who had already made another trip to Rome at the end of 1609 and had not returned to Bamberg from there, but stayed first in Augsburg and then in Nuremberg, was to retain his episcopal dignity, but to the office of auxiliary bishop in Bamberg and be financially compensated.

As early as December 1611, Aschhausen proposed Förner as the new auxiliary bishop in Bamberg. Due to the previous conflicts, the confirmation procedure in Rome dragged on until September 1612, but was successful. On October 7, 1612 Förner was ordained bishop and received the diocese of Hebron as titular bishopric . The titular bishopric of Athyra, which was previously associated with the auxiliary bishopric in Bamberg, remained with Schöner. On November 11, 1613, Förner also took over the parish of St. Martin , which had been institutionally connected to the originally undoped auxiliary bishop's office since the 15th century by a papal bull in order to provide the auxiliary bishop with an income. Pope Paul V also assured Förner an annual pension for the office of auxiliary bishop. Förner remained vicar general, but in 1613 gave up his pastor's post at the upper parish and in 1614 his office of cathedral preacher. With his income, which was increased by a benefit in Pottenstein and a canonical in Forchheim , he was now able to acquire real estate, namely the Curia Libhardi in St. Stephen's immunity .

As vicar general and bishop

The Bamberg Monastery around 1700 (map by Johann Baptist Homann )

Förner immediately began work in the interests of re-Catholicization and Catholic reform. As early as 1609 he created for Aschhausen's information process , d. H. the procedure for its papal confirmation, a comprehensive report on the state of the diocese ("relatio status"), in which he addressed a matter that preoccupied him until the end of his life: the recatholization of the Protestant imperial city of Nuremberg , which under canonical law belonged to the diocese of Bamberg , but withdrew from the influence of the bishopric due to their political independence. Förner suggested to the Pope that an embargo on the monasteries of Bamberg and Eichstätt cut off the Nuremberg people's food supply and thus force them to re-admit Catholic services due to famine. This drastic plan was not taken up because it seemed politically impracticable.

In 1611 Förner was able to implement a project that he had already started under Bishop Neidhardt, but had to break off at the time, namely a visit to the Catholic parishes in the bishopric. He put together a comprehensive catalog of requirements and questions and carried out the visitation in about half of the parishes in June and July 1611. It was the first such visitation in 80 years. The aim was to get Protestant pastors and believers to convert or expel, but also to control the parishes. In his report, Förner was shocked by the grievances that, in his opinion, prevailed there: the sacraments were not administered in many places, the veneration of saints was in decline, evangelical preachers held services, the pastors used heretical books and did not read mass appropriately the Catholic requirements and lived in cohabitation. Pagan rites, fortune tellers, talkers and witches can be found everywhere, especially in places where Protestantism is strongly represented. Förner immediately took organizational measures to enable constant control of the parishes: he drafted a reorganization of the land chapters , statutes for them and a list of duties with comprehensive catalogs of tasks. In addition, he trained the clerical council of the Hochstift to become a permanent institution and drafted a catalog of tasks for the members.

In these projects Förner encountered considerable resistance from the communities, the clergy, the religious orders and the nobility. In particular, the imperial knighthood territories belonging to the diocese showed little inclination to join the Catholicization program. So the procedure turned out to be tedious and occupied the auxiliary bishop and vicar general for many years. He was able to rely on the support of the Prince-Bishops Aschhausen and Johann Georg II. Fuchs von Dornheim , who repeatedly made coercive measures available to him. But the counter-Reformation activities required strong personal commitment, such as multiple inspection trips and the implementation and holding of Rural synods in the country chapters, and took up a large part of his time. After Aschhausen 1617 also Bishop of Würzburg and Prince Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg had become, he lived for extended periods in Würzburg so Förner was largely responsible alone for the Bamberg diocese, and this immediately prior to the beginning of the Thirty Years' War .

As an example of the conflicts that Förner evoked with his unyielding approach, Lothar Bauer cites events around the Dominican nunnery Heilig Grab in Bamberg from 1613 to 1615. Aschhausen had demanded an annual accounting of the monastery, an examination for novices according to the rules of the Council of Trento and a more stringent enclosure of the monastery; Förner was instructed to enforce this with force if necessary. He made sure that a Vogt appointed by Aschhausen was imposed on the nuns , but their resistance continued. The nuns argued that Förner had threatened to arrest her and her prioress , whereupon Förner tried to identify the author of this statement. Only after the cathedral chapter intervened , which viewed such an approach as a violation of competencies, did the conflict calm down; Förner stated that the detention plan was "a mere rumor".

Aschhausen died in December 1622. Förner held the funeral sermons for him and wrote a prince's mirror the following year , in which he praised Aschhausen and Neidhardt von Thüngen as prime examples of clergy princes. The execution of the formal witness questioning (i.e. the informative process) for the successor elected by the cathedral chapter, Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim, was entrusted to Pope Gregor XV. the auxiliary bishop Förner. The process went smoothly and in 1623 the new Pope Urban VIII appointed Fuchs von Dornheim Bishop of Bamberg. Dornheim continued the counter-Reformation program of Aschhausen and Förner, but above all radicalized the persecution of witches .

Witch hunt

The parish church (old) St. Martin in Bamberg (pen drawing by Johann Caspar Stahl, 1804)

According to current research, at least 884 and probably around 1000 people fell victim to the witch hunts in the Bamberg Monastery, which took place in three large waves between 1612 and 1630. Of these, more than 600 belong to the last wave between 1626 and 1630, in which a large number of officials in the city of Bamberg were executed and burned for the first time, including the Prince-Bishop's Chancellor, Georg Haan .

Friedrich Förner is regarded as a "key figure" in these persecutions. The “grim witch dammer” is referred to in the literature as “one of the intellectual authors of the Bamberg witch trials”, Wolfgang Behringer called him the “evil spirit of persecution”. These judgments are based primarily on his Panoplia armaturae dei , printed in 1625 , a collection of 35 witch sermons in Latin, most of which he probably gave in German in his parish church in 1621 and 1622. The work bears a dedication to Johann Christoph von Westerstetten , the prince-bishop of the Eichstätt monastery , who was a major player in the witch hunt in the Ellwangen prince-provost and in the Eichstätt monastery . In the dedication, Förner attested to Westerstetten that he had ruthlessly eradicated the devilish idolatry in Ellwangen and Eichstätt and that he is still vigorously continuing this work today. The sermons of Panoplia described the different types of witchcraft and the spiritual remedies for it, from confession to exorcism . In addition to the Bible and the Church Fathers , Förner also cited contemporary witch theorists as authorities, in particular Martin Delrio , whose Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex (1599/1600) he largely followed. He also sprinkled his own experiences, often combined with direct exhortations to the Bamberg citizens to stay away from witchcraft, and to the authorities appointed by God to ruthlessly and ruthlessly destroy this evil. The devil's pact in particular played a major role here.

Britta Gehm assumes that these sermons were able to develop suggestive effects. She gives an example: In the ninth sermon, Förner wrote that he had personally known a boy to whom the devil appeared in visible form after reading the Historia by D. Johann Fausten . He had promised him the ability to fly witches in return for a prescription with his own blood and actually took him on a flight to Nuremberg. This prescription could be snatched from the devil using all available spiritual means. Förner added the admonition that the fathers of the family should hand over such magical books to their confessors so that they and their families could be saved from this evil. A very similar story emerged in a fourteen-year-old's witchcraft confession in June 1627. A maid who had confirmed this story under torture later revoked her confession, saying that she had received the suggestions for her testimony five years earlier at a sermon by Förner in St. Martin.

The execution of the witch trials was incumbent on the secular authorities of the bishopric, Förner had nothing to do with it. However, there is some evidence that he occasionally intervened practically in the persecution. In a Kronacherin , who was sentenced in 1622 by the Prince Bishop "Malefizkommission" of witchcraft to death, the auxiliary bishop ordered in addition to an exorcism. And a suspect in a witch trial of 1627 belonged to the clergy, so his professional privileges had to be withdrawn before he could be subjected to secular witchcraft justice. In this degradation process , Förner was in charge of the prosecution and at the same time headed the judging panel that deprived the accused of spiritual dignity. In addition, the Bamberg witch prison, the Drudenhaus , is said to have been built at Förner's suggestion.

In 1628 Förner himself was denounced as a sorcerer by unknown sources, as was the cathedral provost Johann Christoph Neustetter, called Stürmer . According to the reaction of Prince-Bishop Fuchs von Dornheim, he seems to have suspected an influential person with connections to the courts in Munich and Vienna behind this accusation. He wrote to the confessors of the Duke of Bavaria and the Emperor, Adam Contzen and Wilhelm Lamormaini , in order to prevent Förner from suspecting any suspicion, and also emphasized that Förner was much more committed to the eradication of witchcraft. The denunciation had no consequences for Förner.

The last months

Prince-Bishop Fuchs von Dornheim sent Förner to the Regensburg Electoral Congress in September 1630 . It was primarily a matter of enforcing the Edict of Restitution that Emperor Ferdinand II had issued the previous year. The edict aimed to restore the denominational status of the Passau Treaty of 1552, which would have meant forcing the return of all ecclesiastical goods that have since been taken over by Protestant estates. Fuchs von Dornheim had been entrusted by the Kaiser with the management of the commission that was supposed to enforce the edict in the Frankish imperial circle .

On the Elector's Day, Förner sought, with the help of the imperial authorities, to return to Catholicism those parts of the diocese of Bamberg that were not under the political power of the bishopric and were Protestant. It was about the imperial city of Nuremberg, for the re-Catholicization of which he had already made drastic proposals in 1609, the margravate Brandenburg-Bayreuth and the imperial knighthood areas of the Frankish imperial circle. Because of their imperial immediacy , there were hardly any real political prospects, especially since the emperor was forced to suspend the edict of restitution during the electoral day due to the opposition of the imperial princes, and a Swedish army under Gustav II Adolf had already landed in Pomerania. Förner could not achieve anything tangible.

Fuchs von Dornheim had also sent a delegation from his secular councilor to Regensburg to justify his witch trials to the Reichshofrat , with which the delegates were unsuccessful. It is not known whether Förner also raised this subject at his audiences with the Kaiser; however, there is a source which indicates that he informed the most distinguished councilors of the imperial court on the subject.

In mid-November 1630 Förner returned to Bamberg. He died on December 5th, the cause of death is unknown. He was buried in his parish church of St. Martin, as was customary with the Bamberg auxiliary bishops. His epitaph reported that he was known to the world for his spotless walk, his zeal for religion, his embassies, the wisdom of his counsels, the vivid recitation of the word of God, and his writings. During the secularization and the demolition of the church in 1805, the grave tablet was destroyed, but the words have survived in several copies.

Work and reception

Fonts

Förner has been an excellent preacher since he was a student in Rome. From 1594 to 1598 he was a permanent preacher for the Pontifical Swiss Guard . He usually designed a Latin concept for his sermons, at least later, during his time in Bamberg, he delivered them in the vernacular, i.e. in German.

Sermon collections and speeches

A considerable part of his numerous publications consisted of collections of Latin sermons, some of which he had not printed until many years after the oral lecture. For example, he held the Sermones Tricesimales (printed in 1627) at the beginning of his activity in Bamberg at the Upper Parish, almost 30 years earlier. These were sermons for the veneration of Mary , given as celebratory sermons in the time of the so-called woman in her thirties in August and September, between the feasts of the Assumption and the Name of the Virgin . The 102 sermons on Psalm 50 , published in 1619 under the title Rex hebronensis (“the King of Hebron”, meaning David ; Förner was titular bishop of Hebron), were already 20 years old according to the preface. Even 214 sermons on the Passion of Christ contains the two-volume work Paradisus Malorum Punicorum, cum pomorum fructibus (1623 and 1626), the title of the Song of Songs alludes ( "An orchard of pomegranates along with pleasant fruits"); According to Patrizius Wittmann, these are pulpit speeches from his time as cathedral preacher. The Sermones de natura sanctorum angelorum (printed 1627) consisted of 30 sermons on nature and the properties of the guardian angels , probably delivered in 1626/1627; Förner dedicated it to Fuchs von Dornheim, who introduced the Guardian Angel Festival in the diocese in 1626. In the dedication, he expressed the hope that through the intercession of the holy guardian angels, that "curse-worthy devil service of magicians and witches will be completely exterminated", against which the prince-bishop "uses the sword of justice according to his due and official duty". Finally, the sermon collections also included the 35 "terrible witch sermons" in the Panoplia armaturae dei , "God's complete armor against any devil service of superstition", printed in 1625.

Two other works by Förner also emerged from concepts for oral lectures. Duo Specula Principis Ecclesiastici (printed 1623) gathered their funeral sermons for the Prince-Bishops Neidhardt von Thüngen and Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen and put them in the form of two prince mirrors , i.e. examples of the virtues of (in this case: spiritual) princes. The work offers a wealth of biographical details for these bishops and is therefore an important source for historical research. Dieter J. Weiß notes that the depiction is based on patterns from the historiography of saints . Aschhausen's mother is said to have appeared to her son in pontificals during her pregnancy . Panegyris votiva gratulatoria (printed 1620) is based on a solemn address given in 1619 in the cathedral in honor of the newly elected Emperor Ferdinand II , from whom he hoped for "the great decisive blow against all non-Catholics, the victory of the Catholic Church" in the empire.

German-language polemics in the religious struggle

Förner's first published work in 1599 was a German-language polemic to justify the upcoming jubilee year 1600 and the associated full indulgence against the "falsely fictitious Calumnien" (slander) of the "Lutherans and Calvinists". He relied above all on the arguments of Robert Bellarmin and quoted extensively from Martin Luther's book On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church in order to demonstrate its contradictions. The work had a provocative effect on Protestant theologians, not so much because of its content as because of its publication in the vernacular German, a form which in the 16th century had been mainly the domain of the Protestants. In the following year, a counter- polemic by the Augsburg Lutheran Bartholomäus Rülich , a "Christian counter-report" to the "Bäpstischen Roman Jubilee and Indulgence", which opposed the "wrongly referred orthodox and summary report" of Förner, appeared in the form of nine sermons. In 1600 Förner published a new counter-writ to the “Self-defense and honor rescue of the Catholic religion” against Rülich's work, which the “half Lutheran, half Calvinist Predicant” had put into the world with “falsehood and defamatory words”. He printed Rülich's theses in full and then attempted to refute “Master Bärtl”, as he called his opponent. In the preface he put together the “blasphemies and swear words” that Rülich had used.

Historical works

After all, a large part of Förner's writings is due to his vivid historical interests. In these works Förner always aimed at current political and religious disputes. His Beneficia miraculosa (printed in 1620) dealt with the history of the Marienweiher pilgrimage site and the miracles that took place there , probably based on a similar report published in 1607 by the Würzburg auxiliary bishop Eucharius Sang on the history of the Dettelbach pilgrimage site . In the work, motivated by the author's vow during illness in the preface, Förner emphasizes that miracles did not occur there during the time of Protestant rule. God does not work miracles through Protestants, only orthodox Catholics can experience God as a thaumaturge . Miracles are the positive counterpart to the reformers' false prophecy , so the interpretation of William Bradford Smith. Even more extensive was the Palma Triumphalis of 1621, a work of over a thousand pages with a compilation of places of pilgrimage all over the world and the healing stories worked there, in which Förner again defended the veneration of Mary against the Reformers and also specifically rejected the "pseudo miracles" of the Rosicrucians . The book was dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand II.

Two other works by Förner are annotated editions of historical sources. With Leopoldi De Bebenbvrg Liber I (1624), Förner recommended Ferdinand II., To whom the work is dedicated, the more than 250-year-old writings of the Bamberg prince-bishop Lupold von Bebenburg , whom he as an exemplary representative of a unity of legal and political acumen with religious Represented zeal. In his edition of the meeting reports and documents of the Worms Religious Discussion of 1557 ( Historia hactenus sepulta Colloquii Wormatiensis , 1624) he tried to show that the conversation had failed because of the inner disagreement of the non-Catholics and called for unity in the Catholic camp.

The script Norimberga in flore avitae romano-catholicae religionis (1629), written under the pseudonym “Christianus Erdtmannus”, is a compilation of sources from the history of Nuremberg. Förner contrasted sources from pre-Reformation Nuremberg, which paint the image of a Christian city "in the prime of the inherited Roman Catholic religion", with sources from Nuremberg's Protestant history, including the decision to melt down the church treasures. In the roughly simultaneous work Relatio historico-paraenetica , written under the same pseudonym, he complained that the imperial regalia , especially the Holy Lance , had come under Protestant rule and were therefore withdrawn from the veneration of orthodox believers. Both writings aimed to provide material for the enforcement of the Edict of Restitution against Nuremberg, issued in the same year . They appeared not only under a pseudonym, but also with “abbreviations that could not be used sensibly” after the name of the author, the statement that he came from Strasbourg , and without the place of printing . The apparently deliberate misleading about the author was not particularly successful; Already in the following year Johann Müllner from Nuremberg suspected in a reply that Förner was the author, who then also appeared as a lawyer for exactly the same thing at the Regensburg Electoral Congress in 1630.

Complete works

The original publications of Förner's published writings include around 10,000 printed pages, mostly in Latin. However, there are also numerous internal documents. William Bradford Smith draws particular attention to the log books that were compiled under Förner's direction: 13 handwritten folio volumes that brought together detailed information about the individual parishes of the Bamberg diocese, above all documents about foundations, foundations and patronage . Förner was particularly interested in the period from the 14th century; almost every entry begins with a comment about whether the respective parish church was damaged or destroyed in the Hussite Wars . Again and again he was concerned with the critical times when the unity of the Catholic Church was endangered by 'heretical' attacks.

reception

Friedrich Leitschuh commented more than 250 years later: "We are the last to fail to recognize Förner's real and multiple merits, but his work in relation to the witchcraft cannot enjoy our applause."

In the film adaptation of Sabine Weigand's novel The Souls in Fire , he is embodied by Alexander Held .

Works

As an author under your own name

  • From the indulgence and jubilation Orthodox and summary report ... Angermayer in the Ederschen Druckerei, Ingolstadt 1599. Digitized at the Munich Digitization Center (MDZ)
  • Self-defense and honor of the Catholic religion and several of its most important articles of faith than of indulgences and Iubilaeo… . Angermayer in the Ederschen Druckerei, Ingolstadt 1600. Digitized at the MDZ.
  • Letter of the terrible downfall of six heretical persons ... Angermayer in the Ederschen Druckerei, Ingolstadt 1602. Together with Anon .: New / Unheard-of / terrifying / warhaped miracle story ... Along with a Baderborn-proof letter ... Digitized at the MDZ. At the same time with Georg Neukirch, Überlingen 1602. Digitized version of the Leipzig University Library
  • De Temulentiae Malo… Angermayer in the Ederschen Druckerei, Ingolstadt 1603. Digitized at the MDZ. German for example: On the evil of alcoholism ...
  • Christian Catholic children's teaching for the youth of the Stifft Bamberg ... Horitz, Bamberg 1612
  • Rex Hebronensis ... Psalmus L. Miserere Mei Deus, & c ... Elisabeth Angermayer, Ingolstadt 1619. Digitized at the MDZ. 2nd edition 1624, 3rd edition 1630. German for example: The King of Hebron… The 50th Psalm. Lord have mercy on me ...
  • Beneficia miraculosa tam vetera, quam recentia virginis deiparae Weyerensis… . Johannes Kinchius, Cologne 1620. Digitized at the MDZ
    • Translation into German by Andreas Möhr: Kurtzer Contents of the most noble and most memorable miracles, which happened in the world-famous image of grace to Maria Weyer ... Gärtner, Bamberg 1712. Digitized at GoogleBooks
  • Panegyris votive gratulatoria… Ferdinando II, Romanorum regi inaugurato et imperatori electo . Elisabeth Angermayer in the Ederische Druckerei, Ingolstadt 1620. Digitized at the MDZ. German for example: Solemn speech for Ferdinand II , King of the Romans and elected Emperor ...
  • Palma Triumphalis Miraculorum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Et in primis Gloriosissimae Dei Genitricis Virginis Mariae… Wilhelm Eder , Ingolstadt around 1621. Digitized at the MDZ. In German, for example: Prize for the miracles of the Catholic Church, and especially the most venerable Theotokos, the Virgin Mary ...
  • Duo Specula Principis Ecclesiastici, E Duorum Laudatissimorum Praesulum ac Principum… Ioannis Godefridi, Episcopi Bambergensis Et Herbipolensis… Et… Nythardi Episcopi Bambergensis, Praepositi Herbipolensis… Gregor Haenlin, Ingolstadt 1623. Digitized at MDZ. German for example: Two prince mirrors of the spiritual prince ... of Johann Gottfried , Bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg ... and of Neidhardt , Bamberg Bishop and Würzburg cathedral provost ...
  • Paradisus Malorum Punicorum, cum Pomorum Fructibus; Dominicae Passionis, Mortis, Resurrectionis, & c. … Concionibus Explicata… Volume 1: Gregor Haenlin, Ingolstadt 1623. Digitized at the MDZ. Volume 2: Gregor Haenlin, Ingolstadt 1626. Digitized at the MDZ. German for example: A paradise of pomegranates and fine fruits; of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord ... explained in sermons ...
  • Panoplia Armaturae Dei, Adversus Omnem Superstitionum, Divinationum, Excantationum, Daemonolatriam, Et Universas Magorum, Veneficorum, Et Sagarum, Et Ipsiusmet Sathanae Insidias, Praestigias Et Infestationes… Gregor Haenlin, Ingolstadt 1625/1626. Digitized at the MDZ (year 1625); Digitized at the Digital Historical Library Erfurt / Gotha (year 1626). German: God's complete armor against any devil service of superstition, fortune telling, sorcery and against all attacks by magicians, poisoners and Satan himself, and against all his dazzling work and hostility ...
    • Translation into German by Burghard Schmanck : Faith in demons and sorcery in 1625. The witch sermons of Bamberg Bishop Friedrich Förner . Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2015
  • Sermons Tricesimales De Felicissimo, Ex Hac Vita Transitu, Gloriosissima In Coelos Assumptione, & Susceptione, Regia inauguratione, & Corona Tione, Patrocinio, Cultu, atque Devotione, Augustissimae Hominum & Angelorum Reginae, Deiparae Virginis Mariae ... Wilhelm Eder, Ingolstadt 1627. Digitalisat the MDZ . 2nd edition 1631. German for example: Thirties sermons about the happiest transition from this life, the glorious ascension and acceptance into heaven, the coronation, the patronage and the veneration of the most venerable of men and queen of angels, the Virgin Mary giving birth ...
  • Sermones de natura… sanctorum angelorum… Cornelius Leysser, Bamberg 1627. Digitized at the MDZ. German for example: Sermons about nature ... the holy angels ...

Under the pseudonym Christianus Erdtmannus

  • Norimberga, in flore avitae romano-catholicae religionis, ex antiquissimis variorum monasteriorum, bibliothecis veteribusque monumentis, graphice delineata & expicta… o. O. 1629. Digitized at the MDZ. In German, for example: Nuremberg in the prime of the inherited Catholic religion, compiled from the oldest libraries of various monasteries and old documents and vividly described ...
  • Relatio historico-paraenetica, de sacrosanctis, Sacri Romani Imperii, reliquiis, et ornamentis pro coronatione Romanorum imperatorum Norimbergae asservatis… o. O. 1629. Digitized at the MDZ. In German, for example: Admonishing historical report on the most sacred relics of the Holy Roman Empire and insignia for the coronation of the Roman emperors, kept in Nuremberg ...

As editor and commentator

  • Leopoldi De Bebenbvrg… De Zelo Catholicae Religionis Vetervm Germaniae Principvm, Romanorvm Regvm, Imperatorvm: Liber I ante trecentos circiter annos conscriptus, nunc e veteribus bibliothecis erutus… Gregor Haenlin, Ingolstadt 1624. Digitized at the MDZ. German for example: Des Lupold von Bebenburg's writings on the zeal of the old German princes, Roman kings and emperors for the Catholic religion, compiled after about 300 years, today excavated from old libraries ...
  • Historia hactenus sepulta, Colloquii Wormatiensis: Auctoritate Ferdinandi I. Romanorum Regis, Ex Decreto Omnium Imperii Statuum, Inter Veteris Catholicae Ecclesiae, Et Augustanae Confessionis Theologos, Anno. MDLVII, instituti, In Quo Praeter Eximios Alios Theologos, RP Petrus Canisius, Societatis Jesu, Philippo Melanchthoni Confeßionis Augustanae Architecto, Et Sociis Eius Comministris, Oppositus, Sic Montes Tetigit, Ut Fumigarent… / E Codice Manu Scripto… Ingolstadt 1624,. Digitization at the MDZ. In German, for example: The hitherto hidden history of the Worms Religious Discussion ...
  • Rosa pentaphyllata Devotio augustissimorum V vulnerum Domini Jesu… widow of Augustinus Crinesius, Bamberg 1630. Digitized at the MDZ

Letters and wills

  • Anton Ruland (ed.): Letters from the Bamberg cathedral preacher and later auxiliary bishop Friderich Forner . Manuscript with copies of letters from Förner to Christoph Gewold , Bamberg 1871. Digitized at the Bamberg State Library. HV.Msc.410 is the printing template for the publication of the same name in the report on the work and status of the Historical Association for Upper Franconia in Bamberg: in the year 1871 , 34.1871, pp. 147-201 ( digitized version of the volume ).
  • Copy of the will of Auxiliary Bishop Friderich Förner 1630 . Manuscript from the Carmelite monastery in Bamberg . Digitized at the Bamberg State Library.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 361-365; Quotation: p. 364, reproduction of a passage from Förner's will.
  2. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 , p. 605.
  3. ↑ Lothar Bauer: Friedrich Förner (1568-1630) . In: Gesellschaft für Fränkische Geschichte (Ed.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , No. 1 (1967), pp. 182–209, here: p. 183.
  4. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 365-367.
  5. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 368-369. Bauer relies on reports from the visitors and letters from Förner and Kostenreutter to Neidhardt, which are preserved in the Bamberg State Archives .
  6. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 369-370; Quote: p. 370.
  7. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 370-371.
  8. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 371
  9. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 397.
  10. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 . Berlin / New York 2000, p. 606.
  11. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 397.
  12. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 . Berlin / New York 2000, p. 606.
  13. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 372-393.
  14. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 402f. Bauer quotes a letter from Cardinal Robert Bellarmin to Maximilian. Latin wording: "propter turpitudinem vitae et in fide claudicationem".
  15. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 398-407.
  16. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 407-437.
  17. ↑ The parish church of St. Martin, also known as the lower parish, stood where Maxplatz is today and was demolished in 1805. Today's Martinskirche on the Grüner Markt, built in the 17th century as a Jesuit church, took over the parish and also the name and patronage from the demolished city parish church.
  18. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 , p. 606.
  19. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 438-443.
  20. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 460.
  21. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 . Berlin / New York 2000, pp. 382-384; Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 419-422; Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg . In: Sixteenth century journal 36 (2005), pp. 115–128, here: p. 124.
  22. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 . Berlin / New York 2000, p. 384.
  23. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 443.
  24. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 448-449.
  25. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 . Berlin / New York 2000, p. 395.
  26. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, pp. 451-454.
  27. ↑ Britta Gehm: The witch hunt in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it . Olms, Hildesheim 2000 (plus dissertation at the University of Jena 1999), pp. 268–271 (final consideration) and passim .
  28. ↑ Britta Gehm: The witch hunt in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it . Olms, Hildesheim 2000, p. 50.
  29. ^ Friedrich Leitschuh: Contributions to the history of witchcraft in Franconia. Bamberg 1883, p. 42, online .
  30. ^ Friedrich Merzbacher: Förner (Forner), Friedrich . In: NDB , Vol. 5, Berlin 1961, p. 270.
  31. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: witch hunt in Bavaria. Folk magic, zeal for faith and reasons of state in the early modern period . Oldenbourg, Munich 1988, p. 204.
  32. ↑ Dating from Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg (1570–1630). In: Historisch -politische Blätter für das Catholic Deutschland , Vol. 87, Munich 1880, pp. 565–582 and 656–672, here: p. 659. Among other things, Wittmann can rely on the fact that Förner said the year in one of the sermons 1621 referred to as the past year ( Panoplia , p. 193).
  33. ↑ Panoplia , Epistula dedicatoria; Paraphrase based on Schmanck's translation.
  34. ^ Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg . In: Sixteenth century journal 36 (2005), pp. 115–128, here: p. 118.
  35. ↑ Cf. for example a quote from a lecture by Norbert Jung in Katja Auer: Gemartert und burnnt , in: Die Welt , February 10, 2013, online : “Well then, you authorities appointed by God, this is exactly where your fulfillment Most holy duty demanded: ... accuse, tear away and destroy, chastise and remove such kind of plague of the soul ... ". The quoted passage is a translation of the conclusion of Förner's second sermon, Panoplia , p. 29.
  36. ↑ Panoplia , pp. 87-88. Anton Ruland also points to this processing of the fist material by Förner: Letters from the Bamberg cathedral preacher and later auxiliary bishop Friderich Forner , p. 162.
  37. ^ Britta Gehm: The persecution of witches in the Bamberg monastery and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , pp. 116-118. The fourteen-year-old was Hans Morhaubt, the son of Christina Morhaubt .
  38. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , p. 456.
  39. ↑ Britta Gehm: The witch hunt in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , p. 141.
  40. ^ Britta Gehm: The persecution of witches in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , pp. 106 and 305; Source: Maleficent protocol book 1622 in the Federal Archives, Frankfurt / Main branch, FSg. 2/1 - F6.
  41. ^ Britta Gehm: The persecution of witches in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , pp. 140–141.
  42. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , p. 456; Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 , p. 424.
  43. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 457–459; Britta Gehm: The witch hunt in the bishopric of Bamberg and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , pp. 169–171.
  44. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , p. 459.
  45. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 460–468.
  46. ↑ Britta Gehm: The persecution of witches in the Bamberg monastery and the intervention of the Reichshofrat to put an end to it , p. 246 (Gehm refers to the holdings of Msc. 148 of the Bamberg State Library, No. 625a); Wolfgang Behringer: witch hunt in Bavaria. Folk magic, zeal for faith and reasons of state in the early modern period . Oldenbourg, Munich 1988, p. 329. Behringer's assumption that Förner traveled to Regensburg specifically for this purpose can, however, hardly be reconciled with the findings of Bauer and Gehm.
  47. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 469–471.
  48. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg . Bamberg 1964, p. 366.
  49. ↑ Anton Ruland (ed.): Letters from the Bamberg cathedral preacher and later auxiliary bishop Friderich Forner , p. 153f .; Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg , p. 569.
  50. ↑ The following descriptions are based on Anton Ruland's annotated lists of writings: Letters from the Bamberg Cathedral Preacher and later Auxiliary Bishop Friderich Forner , pp. 149–164, and Lothar Bauer: The Bamberg Auxiliary Bishops Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 495-526, as well as the remarks in Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg .
  51. ↑ Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg , p. 569.
  52. ↑ Quoted from Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg , pp. 658f .; Sermones de natura… , Dedicatio.
  53. ↑ Patrizius Wittmann: Friedrich Forner, Auxiliary Bishop of Bamberg , p. 659.
  54. ↑ Dieter J. Weiß: The exemte diocese of Bamberg 3: The series of bishops from 1522 to 1693 , p. 395.
  55. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter-Reformation in Bamberg , p. 511. Anton Ruland mentions that the speech was given in Bamberg Cathedral: Letters from the Bamberg Cathedral Preacher and later Auxiliary Bishop Friderich Forner , p. 155.
  56. ^ Thomas Kaufmann: Denomination and Culture. Lutheran Protestantism in the second half of the Reformation century. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, pp. 443, 446; William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , p. 119.
  57. ↑ Bartholomäus Rülich: Christian counter-report of the Bäbstischen Römischen Jubeljahr and indulgences ... Therein against the Liecht Divine Word are held The Bulla of the Publication and several noble articles apart from the misplaced Orthodox and Summary Report, which Friderich Forner has given in print… . Johann Saur, Frankfurt am Main 1600. Digitized at the Munich digitization center.
  58. ^ Anton Ruland (Ed.): Letters from the Bamberg Cathedral Preacher and later Auxiliary Bishop Friderich Forner , p. 151.
  59. ^ William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , pp. 116-117.
  60. ↑ Anton Ruland (Ed.): Letters from the Bamberg cathedral preacher and later auxiliary bishop Friderich Forner , p. 154.
  61. ^ William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , p. 124.
  62. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , p. 508; William Bradford Smith: Resisting the Rosicrucians. Theories on the Occult Origins of the Thirty Years' War . In: Church History and Religious Culture , Vol. 94 (2014), Issue 4, pp. 413-443.
  63. ^ William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , p. 121.
  64. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , p. 512.
  65. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 512–513.
  66. ^ William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , pp. 120-121.
  67. ↑ Lothar Bauer: The Auxiliary Bishops of Bamberg, Johann Schöner and Friedrich Förner. Contributions to the Counter Reformation in Bamberg , pp. 513–516; Quote: p. 513.
  68. ^ William Bradford Smith: Friedrich Förner, the Catholic Reformation and witch-hunting in Bamberg , pp. 116–117, 125.
  69. ^ Friedrich Leitschuh: Contributions to the history of witchcraft in Franconia. Bamberg 1883, p. 56, online .
  70. ↑ Quotation from Song 4:13.
  71. ^ Translation according to Burghard Schmanck, extract from the translation on bautz.de.
personal data
SURNAME Foerner, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop in Bamberg
DATE OF BIRTH around 1568
PLACE OF BIRTH Weismain
DATE OF DEATH December 5, 1630
Place of death Bamberg