Johann Kruse (lay brother)

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Johann Kruse (* probably in Wismar ; † after 1345) was a lay brother of the Cistercians in Doberan Monastery .

Life

Johann Kruse, who probably came from Wismar, was a lay brother of the Cistercians in the Doberan Monastery around 1330-1337 and is considered the leader of the Wendish party, consisting of members of the order from the Hanseatic cities of the southern Baltic coast in the monastery in the first half of the 14th century, who opposed the preference of the Saxon party of the Doberan monastery by the mother monastery Amelungsborn in Lower Saxony turned and sought to expand the influence of the urban patriciate from Lübeck to Rostock with the help of the Mecklenburg ducal house. Johann Kruse and with him the lay brother Hinrich Reddewisch stood in open opposition to the Saxon abbot Konrad IV (1332–37) of Doberan in the 1330s. Planned assassinations of Duke Albrecht II of Mecklenburg as well as of the two Doberan lay brothers led to the expulsion of three Cistercian monks in 1336. A planned arrest of Kruse and Reddelich by Abbot Konrad IV had already evaded in 1335. Kruse succeeded in capturing the abbot with the help of the Mecklenburg knighthood, but the abbot escaped from his dungeon. An understanding between the monastery and the Wendish lay brothers was not possible despite papal intercession from Avignon on a corresponding petition for clemency. Abbot Conrad IV refused both of them entry to the monastery. On November 27, 1336, Kruse attacked the Doberan Monastery and kidnapped a number of monks. The abbot had gone to the safety of the Amelungsborn mother monastery in good time. On March 15, 1337, however, the prior of Doberan, the Saxon Hinrich von Hameln, came under their control. They severed one leg under his knee and left him to his fate.

On May 11, 1337, the parties were able to come to an agreement. Abbot Konrad IV. Had to resign as abbot from his office. The two ringleaders Kruse and Reddelich were not included in the understanding, and their trail is lost below. The abbots of almost all Cistercian monasteries in northern Germany took part in the understanding in Doberan. In 1345 the abbot Jakob von Doberan sued the Amelungsborn mother monastery for the costs of this debacle for the Cistercian order.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Kruse, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lay brother of the Cistercians in Doberan Monastery
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Wismar
DATE OF DEATH after 1345