Jodokus Hess

Jodokus Heß (also Jost Hesse , Jodocus Hessus, Hessius ; * 1484 in Geislingen an der Steige ; † September 23 or November 3, 1539 in Erfurt ) was prior of the Carthusian monastery in Astheim, Franconia , from 1520 to 1528 . He then stood as prior of the Erfurt Charterhouse until his death . Hess was also an important writer.

The monasteries in front of Hess

The Astheim Charterhouse was finally established on the Main Loop at the beginning of the 16th century . This was also due to the fact that the Würzburg prince-bishop Lorenz von Bibra, as overlord over the monks, took over the protection and patronage of the monastery in 1502 . As early as the end of the 15th century, the stone economic and administrative buildings, which were mostly still made of wood, had been rebuilt.

As in Erfurt, however, Astheim had to contend with a decline in the number of young monasteries. As a result of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther , fewer and fewer young men went to the monastery, so that on Erfurt's Salvatorberg, the priors were even decided by the General Chapter from 1525 onwards . Before that, the members of the convention decided in an election for their future head.

Life

Jodokus Heß was born in 1484 in Geislingen an der Steige, which at that time belonged to the area of ​​the imperial city of Ulm . The sources are silent about the parents of the future prior; they are probably to be found in the middle class of the small Swabian town. Hess went to study at the University of Tübingen . He still had no intention of embarking on a spiritual career later. After completing his studies, he took on the post of teacher and married.

Hess taught in the Swabian towns of Blaubeuren and Ravensburg , and perhaps he was drawn to Rottweil in Baden . After the death of his wife, Heß joined the Ittingen Federal Charterhouse around 1510 . Hogg suspects that he stayed here until 1525, although Hess can be shown to have experienced the events of the Peasant War in Astheim. What is certain is that the Carthusian monk conducted a lively correspondence with the Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli , in which he unsuccessfully tried to convince him of the correctness of Catholic teaching.

Before he was transferred to Astheim, Hess stayed at the Buxheim Charterhouse for a while. After Wieland, Hess was appointed the new prior as procurator of the Charterhouse Pons Mariae in Astheim in 1520 after the resignation of Prior Markus. Hess had probably made a second profession on the Astheim Charterhouse. In 1525 the German peasant uprising also reached the Franconian areas along the Main Triangle and the arable citizens of the nearby town of Volkach moved to Astheim.

Here they, together with the residents of Astheim, plundered the Carthusian monastery and took the booty to Volkach. The prior had fled to the safe imperial city of Schweinfurt together with the procurator and some archive material . When the farmers from the city of Gerolzhofen reached the looted buildings in Astheim, they wanted to set the buildings on fire, but were prevented from doing so by the residents of the village because they were afraid that the fire could spread to the neighboring buildings.

Jodokus Hess returned to Astheim in 1526. He now pushed for the restoration of the destroyed monastery buildings and also organized the punishment of the ringleaders of the uprising against the authorities . The wooden monk cells in particular had been completely destroyed. How long Hess stayed in Astheim is again unclear, while Hogg assumes the year 1531, Wieland mentions the new priors John II Brizbach as early as 1528.

After his time in Astheim, Hess returned to the Buxheim Charterhouse and held the position of vicar here for a few years (Wieland assumes six) . In 1531 Jodokus Hess probably gave a sermon to the General Chapter of the Carthusians in the Grande Chartreuse. In 1534 the superiors appointed him the new prior of the St. Salvatorberg Charterhouse in Erfurt. Hess was supposed to revive the convent that had almost been destroyed by the Reformation . Jodokus Hess wrote several sacred works in Erfurt.

In Erfurt, Hess also had contact with the humanist Helius Eobanus Hessus , who had built up a circle of like-minded people in the city. Heß also worked with Hessus on a joint work on the school, which appeared in 1537. The many spellings of Hess's name are probably due to the collaboration with Eobanus, who is also known as Hessus. Even contemporaries could have confused it. Jodokus Hess died on September 23 and November 3, 1539 in Erfurt.

Works (selection)

• Collatio Carthusie Anno a Christo nato.MD XXVI.pridie Kalendas May declamata magna patru ... . 1526.
• Oratio de optimi pastoris officio deque ovium praefectura . Erfurt 1531.
• EYn verantvorttung Podagrae before the judge: ruler over vilfaltige accuse the poor ... . Erfurt 1537.
• PODAGRAE LVDVS (e uulgari Germanico in Latinum carmen coacta, per H. Eobanum Hessum) . Erfurt 1537.

literature

• James Hogg: The Astheim Charterhouse . In: Michael Koller (ed.): Carthusians in Franconia (= Church, Art and Culture in Franconia. Volume 5) . Würzburg 1996. pp. 109-118.
• Ignaz Schwarz: The Astheim Karthaus. A picture of history . Gerolzhofen 1903.
• Friedrich Stöhlker: The Astheim Charterhouse and its residents . In: Ute Feuerbach (ed.): Our Main Loop. 1978-1992 . Volkach 2008. pp. 59-63.
• Michael Wieland: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . In: Archive of the historical association of Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, Vol. 38 . Würzburg 1896. pp. 1-35.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wieland, Michael: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . P. 15. While Wieland mentions this period, Stöhlker (P. 62) assumes the years 1526 to 1531. Hogg (p. 116 (note)), on the other hand, assumes the years 1527 to 1531.
2. ↑ Schwarz, Ignaz: The Astheim Charterhouse . Pp. 13-15.
3. ↑ Hogg, James: Astheim Charterhouse . P. 116 (note).
4. ↑ Cf.: Wieland, Michael: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . P. 15.
5. ↑ Hogg, James: Astheim Charterhouse . P. 116 (note).
6. ↑ Schwarz, Ignaz: The Astheim Charterhouse . P. 18.
7. ↑ Stöhlker, Friedrich: The Astheim Charterhouse and its residents . P. 62.
8. ↑ Cf.: Wieland, Michael: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . P. 17.
9. ↑ Hogg, James: Astheim Charterhouse . P. 116 (note).