Jakob von Soest

Jakob von Soest (lat. Iacobus de Susato or de Sweve ) (* around 1360 in Schwefe bei Soest ; † after 1438 in Soest) was a Dominican , inquisitor and professor of theology at the medieval University of Cologne .

Life

He came from the Sweve ministerial family, who lived near Soest . He entered the Dominican monastery of Soest around 1377 . A short time later he was a student in Minden and at the Charles University in Prague . In 1394 he was there baccalaureus and 1399 master of theology. As such, he also taught there. He turned there in writings and disputations against the Hussites in particular . In 1400 he was appointed Praedicator generalis of the order province of Saxonia. Like other German-speaking scholars, he eventually had to leave Prague. He left the city around 1405 and became a theology professor in Cologne. There he officiated as confessor for the Archbishops Friedrich III. von Saar Werden and Dietrich II. von Moers . In 1407 he became dean of the theological faculty. He held this office for about ten years. From 1409 he was also the inquisitor for the Cologne church province . As such, he led two lawsuits against alleged heretics. In 1422 he returned to Soest, where he devoted himself to writing and reforming some Dominican monasteries.

plant

He left a very extensive scientific work. About 50 manuscripts from him have survived. These included numerous writings on homiletics , some of which were encyclopedic. He also dealt with the situation of the Church during the Western Schism . About the activities of the Inquisition he wrote “de officio Inqusitionis.” He also wrote a chronicle of the world (“Chronica mundi”), a chronicle of the church in the Archdiocese of Cologne (“Chronicon episcoporum Coloniensium”) and a chronicle of the Dominican Order. This reached from the beginning of the order's history up to the year 1415. Later the work was revised and continued by other Dominicans.

Works (selection)

• Chronicon episcoporum Coloniensium , 1420 In: Johann Suibert Seibertz (Hrsg.): Sources of Westphalian history. Vol. 1. Arnsberg, 1857 digitized

literature

• Paul-Gundolf Gieraths:  Jakob von Soest. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 319 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Michael Tilly :  Soest, Jakob von. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1484-1486.
• Karl Werner :  Jakob von Soest . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, p. 556.

Web links

• Iacobus de Susato in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"
• Entry on eckhart.de