Heinrich Vritzen

Grave slab depicting Heinrich Vritzen, Brandenburg Cathedral

Heinrich Vritzen (also Heyne Vrittze or Heinrich Vritze ) († 1380 or later) was a lay brother . By him in is the cathedral of Brandenburg , a grave stone with his presentation preserved. It is an example of the bourgeois sepulchral culture of the 14th century.

Live and act

Heinrich Vritzen was named in several documents . He was a citizen of the city of Treuenbrietzen . According to a document dated June 23, 1370, he donated his soul after his death 40 shock broad dime , two houses and four morning grazing. The patrons of the churches of St. Mary and St. Nikolai were to distribute two thirds of the income from these goods to the poor twice a year. Heinrich Vritzen was buried as a lay brother after his death in 1380 in the south transept of the cathedral. His well-preserved tombstone is the only one of a lay brother in the cathedral. In an incised drawing it shows Heinrich Vritzen praying in lay clothes and without headgear. The exact date of death is not noted, so that it is assumed that the grave slab was made before Heinrich's death. According to the inscription, Heinrich Vritzen should have been converted . The designation as conversus was common at that time for anyone who submitted to a monastic rule, such as the Benedictine rule .

The grave slab

The inscription on the tombstone reads:

“ANNO · DNI M ° · CCC ° LXXX [...] O FRATER HINRICVS · VRITZEN · COVERS HVI ECCE · CVI AIA · R · I PACE AM”

"138 [...] the friar Heinrich Vritzen, lay brother of the monastery, died, his soul rest in peace, amen"

Individual evidence

↑ R. Begau (ed.): Inventory of architectural and art monuments in the province of Brandenburg , on behalf of the Brandenburg Provincial Parliament, Vossische Buchhandlung , Berlin 1885, reprinted by Verlag Klaus-D. Becker, Potsdam 2012, ISBN 978-3-88372-030-2 , p. 231.
↑ Wolfgang Schössler (Ed.): Regesta of the documents and records in the Cathedral Monastery Archive Brandenburg: 948-1487 , Böhlau, 1998, ISBN 978-3-8305-0189-3 , p. 188 f.
↑ Renate Johne: The bishop's tombs - Brandenburg bishops in the mirror of their grave slabs. Friends of the "Dom zu Brandenburg" (ed.), Druckhaus Köthen, Brandenburg an der Havel 2005, ISBN 3-936303-02-9 , p. 73.
↑ M. Heffter: Guide through Brandenburg and its antiquities. Adolf Müller, Brandenburg 1850, p. 36.
↑ Wolfgang Schössler (Ed.): Regesta of the documents and records in the Cathedral Monastery Archive Brandenburg: 948–1487 , Böhlau, 1998, ISBN 978-3-8305-0189-3 , p. 499.

personal data
SURNAME	Vritzen, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Vrittze, Heyne; Vritze, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lay brother
DATE OF BIRTH	13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH	after 1380

[1] R. Begau (ed.): Inventory of architectural and art monuments in the province of Brandenburg , on behalf of the Brandenburg Provincial Parliament, Vossische Buchhandlung , Berlin 1885, reprinted by Verlag Klaus-D. Becker, Potsdam 2012, ISBN 978-3-88372-030-2 , p. 231.

[2] Wolfgang Schössler (Ed.): Regesta of the documents and records in the Cathedral Monastery Archive Brandenburg: 948-1487 , Böhlau, 1998, ISBN 978-3-8305-0189-3 , p. 188 f.

[3] Renate Johne: The bishop's tombs - Brandenburg bishops in the mirror of their grave slabs. Friends of the "Dom zu Brandenburg" (ed.), Druckhaus Köthen, Brandenburg an der Havel 2005, ISBN 3-936303-02-9 , p. 73.

[4] M. Heffter: Guide through Brandenburg and its antiquities. Adolf Müller, Brandenburg 1850, p. 36.

[5] Wolfgang Schössler (Ed.): Regesta of the documents and records in the Cathedral Monastery Archive Brandenburg: 948–1487 , Böhlau, 1998, ISBN 978-3-8305-0189-3 , p. 499.