Henry III. (Murrhardt)

Henry III. († 1364 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Abbot of the Murrhardt Monastery

As the successor to Albrecht II, Heinrich was elected the new abbot by the convent of the monastery in 1320 . The local sovereign Count Nikolaus von Löwenstein and the Würzburg auxiliary bishop Wolfram von Fleckenstein were present . Getting along with the Lords of Löwenstein as monastery bailiffs was important for Heinrich's administration . One of his first official acts was to regulate the anniversary foundation of Count Albrecht I von Löwenstein , who had designated the Murrhardt monastery church as a burial place for himself and his family.

The economy of the abbey experienced a period of prosperity and prosperity under Heinrich's leadership, which promoted the benevolence of the Murrhardt monks' college and led to a long term of office of over forty years at the time. This included the effects and crop failures of the late medieval "Little Ice Age" and a devastating plague epidemic in 1348 . The death of an estimated one third to one half of the population reduced the sources of income of the monastery in the long term and noticeably. The Lords of Löwenstein finally demanded higher taxes and levies from the Murrhardt Monastery in order to secure their lifestyle and proper representation. The request of Count Albrecht II was rejected by the abbot and members of the convent, which - apart from the bailiwick - allowed the legally completely independent status of the monastery. Heinrich could not defuse the developing conflict with the sovereign because he died in 1364 in the Murrhardt monastery. His successor as abbot was Konrad von Maienfels .

literature

• Gerhard Fritz: City and monastery Murrhardt in the late Middle Ages and in the Reformation period (= research from Württemberg-Franconia. Vol. 34). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-7634-7 , pp. 328-330.

predecessor	Office	successor
Albrecht II.	Abbot of Murrhardt 1320-1364	Konrad von Maienfels