Heinrich von Ahaus

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Heinrich von Ahaus (also Heinrich von Schöppingen , Latin Henricus de Scopingen ) (* around 1371 in Schöppingen ; † February 14, 1439 in Münster ) was a follower of the Devotio moderna . He made a significant contribution to the transfer of the brothers and sisters from living together from the Netherlands to today's Germany, especially to Lower Germany .

family

His year of birth was between 1369 and 1371. He was an illegitimate and therefore not entitled to inheritance son of nobleman Ludolph von Ahaus and his mother Hadwig, who came from Schöppingen. His aunt Jutta von Ahaus was abbess in Vreden . One half-sister was Margaretha von Ahaus , abbess in Freckenhorst . Another half-sister, Agnes von Ahaus , was an abbess in Nottuln.

Life

He belonged to the clergy in 1396 at the latest and was ordained a priest at the age of 25. Possibly at this point he already held a position as cathedral vicar (not to be confused with canons) at St. Paul's Cathedral . It was only possible to prove that he had been in this position since 1422. It was probably through his aunt Jutta that he came into contact with the Devotio moderna. Around 1400 he lived for a year in the Fraterhaus in Deventer . Heinrich probably no longer came into contact with Florentius Radewyns , who had died that same year. Life in the community made a deep impression on him and he saw in it a rebirth of the early Christian community .

He returned to Münster in 1401. There he met a group of clergy and laypeople who thought alike and had formed a small community. She was also in contact with Deventer, where they asked for advice. The rector from Deventer traveled to Münster for this purpose and was accompanied by Heinrich von Ahaus. He was involved in establishing similar forms of living together in Münster that he had got to know in the Netherlands. According to this, two or more priests, together with other clergy and lay people, should live in humility and chastity, help one another, and host pious people as guests.

In the following years the community was able to expand its property and bring it to a modest level of prosperity. In 1409 Heinrich von Ahaus donated the ter Wyck house to the community, which became the seat of the community . In 1409 he was named as the rector of the institution. He held this position until his death, even if he was temporarily absent.

In 1416/17 he was also the founder of the house zum Weidenbach in Cologne . At times he also managed this. Heinrich von Ahaus traveled to the Council of Constance in 1418 . There, together with others, he successfully defended the way of life of the brothers and sisters of living together against criticism, especially from the Dominicans . Matthias Grabow in particular stood out as an opponent. This portrayed living together in poverty and chastity without religious rules as sinful. Heinrich von Ahaus and his colleagues succeeded in condemning Grabow's theses. No official ecclesiastical recognition of the way of life was connected with this, but the suspicion of heresy could be removed.

Heinrich von Ahaus returned to Münster in 1424 and again took over the direct management of the Fraterhaus there. In 1427 he was involved in founding the Marienbrink sister house in Coesfeld . Among other things, he was also involved in the founding of the Fraterhaus and the sister house in Wesel and the Marienbrink sister house in Borken , which was built around 1400 as the first sister house on Munster soil. He was not able to realize all of his founding intentions and goals, rather he often encountered considerable resistance from clerics and lay people.

Heinrich von Ahaus attached importance to equipping the communities with spiritual books. Only those brothers who could read were to be accepted. In the fraternity houses he founded there were scriptoria that copied books in high quality. Other clerics who contributed to a spiritual renewal in Lower Germany followed his example. The network of relationships around Heinrich von Ahaus also included numerous lay people, mostly from the bourgeoisie, but extended to the high nobility.

Heinrich von Ahaus sought to unite the houses in a fraternization (confederatio). Such a connection came about between the Frater houses in Münster and Cologne in 1425. From this, in 1431, at the instigation of Heinrich von Ahaus, the Münster colloquium emerged as a loose association of the brothers and sisters houses east of the Rhine. These included the brother houses in Münster, Cologne and Herford as well as the sister houses in Schüttorf , Borken, Coesfeld and Wesel. Further facilities were added later. Every year the colloquium met to approve start-ups. Visits to various houses were also decided and discussed about the management of the houses. The houses under his influence struck a middle ground between adhering to the original independence and a certain approximation to religious life, without giving up the basic principles. A merger of all houses in Germany, however, did not succeed at that time.

Heinrich von Ahaus was described as an "een heerlie prediker". As a preacher, he orientated himself on the founder of the Devotio moderna Geert Groote and used dialogical elements in his sermons. However, he was not a great theologian or spiritual writer.

For a long time Heinrich von Ahaus was considered to be the founder of the way of life of the brothers and sisters from living together in Germany. In the middle of the 15th century Johannes Busch referred to him as " magnus reformator et illustrator Westphaliae ." Recent research has put this image into perspective insofar as Westphalian connections to the Dutch Devotio moderna had existed before him. Nevertheless, its great importance for the spread of the movement remains undisputed.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Tschuschke: The noble lords of Ahaus. A contribution to the history of the Westphalian nobility in the Middle Ages. Edited by Landeskundliches Institut Westmünsterland. 1st edition. Vreden 2077, ISBN = 3-937432-12-4, 149
personal data
SURNAME Heinrich von Ahaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heinrich von Schöppingen; Heinrich Ahuys
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Supporters of the brothers and sisters of common life
DATE OF BIRTH around 1371
PLACE OF BIRTH Schoeppingen
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1439
Place of death Muenster