Court clergy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial to court preacher Abraham a Santa Clara (1644–1709), Vienna
Grave of the former court chaplain Anton Steiner, Vienna Central Cemetery

With court clergy is defined as the totality of the sacred ministers in a Fürstenhof .

history

In the Middle Ages, the court chaplain was used both for spiritual care ( capellanus , chaplain at the court chapel ) and - due to his education - for typing ( cancellarius , chancellor at the court chancellery ). At first he did not live at court, but as a member of a monastery or monastery in the area of ​​the territorial ruler. Materially he was provided for by benefices and not by the court. Sometimes the chaplain accompanied the ruler on trips and in war.

With the development of the professional notary in the late Middle Ages , the clerical office-holder increasingly concentrated on the political field. He appeared as a prince or king's advisor. In addition, he exercised significant cultural influence at court, for example as the author of court texts in the vernacular. These include the authors of Lucidarius , Heinrich von Veldeke and Herbort von Fritzlar .

As in the 15th century Hofburg Chapel in Hofgemeinden walked, there was a differentiation offices. In Vienna, for example, the court chaplain, in 1435 the court pastor, the court preacher or the almsman stepped up . The court clergy now became a complete part of the court .

In the Catholic area, certain orders were included in the court from the 16th century. d. R. a Jesuit the role of confessor .

In the Protestant area, too , an independent court clergy developed; the court preacher (e.g. Georg Spalatin ) provided the services and official acts at court.

From the 16th century, the Catholic, but also the Protestant court preacher played an increasing political and ecclesiastical role.

1613 took place in Dresden a further differentiation of offices with the Oberhofprediger , who, like the court preacher, was subordinate to the Oberhof- or Hofmarschall . The court preacher presided over the members of the court orchestra .

When Johann Sigismund converted to Calvinism in the same year , the court preachers were almost the only Reformed preachers in the otherwise predominantly Lutheran Brandenburg-Prussian state until the Uniate Church was formed in 1817 .

In Hessen-Kassel or Hessen-Darmstadt the court preachers made a significant contribution to the formation of the regional churches .

In the course of the 17th century the self-image of the Protestant court preacher changed, the counselor became the admonishing theologian, who in some cases tied in with the emerging criticism of absolutism .

Nonetheless, in the 19th century the court preacher, as an exponent of conservatism, was often himself the target of public ridicule.

gallery

See also

literature

  • Timo Reuvekamp-Felber: vernacular between the pin and farm: Hofgeistliche in literature and society of the 12th and 13th centuries . 8th edition. Böhlau, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-412-17602-8 , pp. 414 .
  • Robert Bireley: Court confessors and politics in the 17th century . In: Michael Sievernich , Günter Switek (Ed.): Ignatianisch. Character and method of the Society of Jesus . Freiburg 1990, pp. 386-403.
  • Winfried Müller : Court confessors and spiritual advisors at the time of the Counter Reformation . In: Winfried Müller, Helmut Zedelmaier, Wolfgang Smolka, (Ed.): University and education. Festschrift Laetitia Boehm on her 60th birthday . Munich 1991, pp. 141-155
  • Rudolf von Thadden : The Brandenburg-Prussian court preachers in the 17th and 18th centuries. A contribution to the history of the absolutist state society in Brandenburg-Prussia , Berlin 1959.
  • Wolfgang Sommer : fear of God and princely rule. Studies on the understanding of authority by Johann Arndt and Lutheran court preacher at the time of the old Protestant orthodoxy . Göttingen 1988 (Research on Church and Dogma History, 41).
  • Wolfgang Sommer : The Lutheran court preachers in Dresden. Basics of its history and proclamation in the Electorate of Saxony . Stuttgart 2006.

Web links