Gottfried Bishop

Gottfried Bischof (* around 1619 in Sommerach ; † September 22, 1688 ) was abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery in Oberzell in Zell am Main from 1648 to 1688 .

Oberzell before the bishop

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Oberzell monastery was characterized by brisk construction activity. The church choir was demolished and a Marienkapelle built on the site of the abbey. These renewal efforts were suddenly interrupted by the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War . Between 1631 and 1634 the abbot Leonhard Frank even had to leave Oberzell because the Protestant Swedes had occupied nearby Würzburg.

Life

Gottfried Bischof was born around 1619 in the Münster-Blackachian village of Sommerach. The sources are silent about the family of the future abbot, and the school career of Bishop is also not known. Although Sommerach was through the monastery Münsterschwarzach rather Benedictine dominated, but Gottfried came early to the Order of Premonstratensian at. At the age of 22, Gottfried Bischof made his profession in Oberzell Abbey. He became a priest around the age of 25.

When the longtime abbot Leonhard Frank died in September 1648, a new election became necessary. From this, Gottfried Bischof emerged victorious at the age of twenty-nine. The monastery possessions had been alienated from the abbey by the long war and the young prelate tried to recompose the traditional rights. For this purpose, new fief books were created in 1664 and 1674 , in which the possessions of the convent were compiled.

A third fief book, particularly elaborately designed, was created from 1688 and was completed under the successor of the bishop. With these initiatives, Bishop tried to restore the depressed monastery economy. He had some success in doing so. In the years 1659/1660 the receipts amounted to only 1989 Rhenish guilders , they rose to over 4000 guilders by the year 1663/1664. Later the income leveled off at around 3,000 guilders.

At the same time Abbot Gottfried tried to promote the scientific education of his convent. Shortly after taking office, he was able to convert the so-called Zellerhof in Würzburg into a study house that was closely related to the university . Under Abbot Bishop the famous doctor Wolfgang Upilio from the Franconian medical family of the same name was appointed to the monastery. Gottfried Bischof died on September 11, 1688 after almost forty years in office.

literature

• Helmut Flachenecker , Stefan Petersen: Personnel lists for upper and lower cell . In: Helmut Flachenecker, Wolfgang Weiß (ed.): Oberzell - From the Premonstratensian Monastery (until 1803) to the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Childhood of Jesus (= sources and research on the history of the diocese and bishopric of Würzburg, volume LXII). Würzburg 2006, pp. 521-570.
• Leo Günther: Oberzell Monastery. From foundation to secularization 1128–1802 . In: Festschrift for the 800th anniversary of the Norbertus monastery in Oberzell . Würzburg 1928. pp. 5-55.
• Johann Ludwig Klarmann: The Steigerwald in the past. A contribution to Franconian cultural studies . Gerolzhofen ² 1909.
• Markus Naser: The Oberzeller Lehenbuch from 1689 . In: Helmut Flachenecker, Wolfgang Weiß (ed.): Oberzell - From the Premonstratensian Monastery (until 1803) to the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Childhood of Jesus (= sources and research on the history of the diocese and bishopric of Würzburg, volume LXII) . Würzburg 2006. pp. 221-225.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klarmann, Johann Ludwig: The Steigerwald in the past . P. 210.
2. ^ Günther, Leo: Oberzell Abbey . P. 29.
3. ^ Günther, Leo: Oberzell Abbey . P. 32.
4. ^ Naser, Markus: The Oberzeller Lehenbuch from 1689 . P. 221.
5. ↑ Flachenecker, Helmut (among others): Personal lists for Ober- and Unterzell . P. 350 (footnotes).

predecessor	Office	successor
Leonhard Frank	Abbot of Oberzell 1648–1688	Lorenz Hetzer