Johann VI. from Saalhausen

Episcopal coat of arms in Wurzen Castle

Johann von Saalhausen , also Salhausen, Salhusen, Salhawssen (born November 5, 1444 in Thammenhain (today Lkrs. Leipzig) (questionable ) , † April 10, 1518 in Stolpen ), was Bishop of Meißen from 1488 to 1518 .

Life

Johann's father was Friedrich von Saalhausen ; his mother's name was Dorothea Munzig (Muntzk). From that marriage came a younger brother Georg and two sisters. In the winter semester of 1460, Saalhausen began studying at the University of Leipzig , where he obtained the lowest academic degree of a Baccalaureus of the Seven Liberal Arts in the summer semester of 1463 . Determined to the clerical status, he became canon in Wurzen on April 14, 1466 , became provost there before 1469 , continued his studies at the University of Erfurt in the summer semester of 1470 , rose to dean of the Meissen Monastery in 1476, and received his doctorate before 1480 in Rome Doctor of the two rights and had at the Saxon princely court with Friedrich III. acted as council by Saxony .

After he had also become dean of the Meissen Cathedral before 1480 , he was unanimously elected Bishop of Meissen by the Meissen Chapter before November 12, 1487 and confirmed in office by Pope Innocent VIII on February 8, 1488 . On May 28, 1488 he was solemnly introduced to his office in the cathedral of Meißen by the Merseburg bishop Thilo von Trotha and the Naumburg bishop Dietrich IV von Schönberg . He completed his thirty-one year tenure very effectively.

He died in Stolpen in 1518 and was buried in St. Marien Cathedral in Wurzen .

Act

From 1491, Bishop Johann VI rebuilt the castle in Wurzen from scratch

Johann had taken over a diocese that was economically in decline. From his residence, which he had mainly moved into in Stolpen and occasionally in Wurzen, he directed the fortunes of his diocese.

He improved the estates of the bishopric, increased the income of the cathedral church, settled debts left behind, promoted agriculture in particular, ensured the reclamation of desolate areas, bought new land, built farm buildings, had meadows, sheep farms and fish ponds laid out, refined tree-growing, acquired new districts, gave the hunting law a more functional design and founded five new villages in his diocese. So he let z. B. rebuild fish ponds in Seeligstadt and Wilschdorf , a mill in Schmölln and more than 60 storage cellars for the Wurzener brewery.

In structural terms, Bishop Johann had the Kreuzkirche in Dresden , the churches in Stolpen, Bischofswerda , Göda , Briesnitz , Coswig , Zschauitz, Alt- and Neu-Mügeln , then the parish buildings of Wurzen, Thallwitz , Tätzschwitz and Röcknitz , as well as the episcopal castles repaired put. From 1491 to 1497 he built for 14,000 dollars , the Schloss Wurzen from scratch, knew it with two towers and a gate tower, with prisons and the moat . When two quarries were found near Wurzen, "duabus lapidicinis inventis," Johann gave this city a special benevolence. He built a granary with two mills and the high choir of the cathedral, built new chapels and designated one of them as his tomb. At the same time, he erected two altars in honor of St. Anne and Mary , St. John and Donatus, and three stone statues of saints.

Missale Misniense (1495) with the coat of arms of Johann VI.

Johann stuck to his faithfulness to the Catholic faith until the end of his life, did a great deal to improve church life, and in 1502 gave the church in Kamenz permission to write in festo inventionis s. crucis held a solemn intercourse “cum figuris” and donated abundant indulgences. Johann ensured that a large number of clergymen were employed in his diocese and that their income improved. So he made the owners of some Oberlausitz parishes the duty to keep an auxiliary chaplain who spoke the Sorbian language, since sometimes individual pastors preferred to have a Sorbian vicar come to hear confession only once a year in order to save costs. Johann was also active in his office in the literary field. So he not only improved the statutes of the Meissen cathedral chapter, but also had the mass, prayer, reading and hymn books printed with the help of the Meissen canon Wilhelm Betschitz and Andreas Proles and in 1500 admonished the clergy in Guben to sing well-sounding church songs to practice. The archives in Weimar still contain the main features of a new order for church chant, which came into force at his instigation.

He is said to have generously supported his relatives, who lived in modest circumstances, so that they could buy Püchau in addition to the Lauenstein , Trebsen , Schieritz and Tetschen estates , although there is no evidence as to whether the funds were given from the episcopal income or from his patrimonial property .

Works

In 1490 there was another “breviary” , then a “Viaticum secundum chorum ecclesiae Misnensis,” a “Historia sanctissimae laneeae et clavorum cathedral. nostri J. Christi ” and a “ Historia Sancti Josephi ” . In Melchior Lotter in Leipzig further appeared in 1502: "Viaticum secundum rubricam ecclesice Misnensis" in octave, then a "Officium Beatae Virgin Virginis juxta Ecclesiae Misnensis Rubricam modorante Praesulatum Misnensem Domino Joan. de genere Salhusen ”. In 1503 a "Missal" was published in folio, without the place of printing, the name of the typographer and without specifying the year. In 1504 the "Statuta synodalia Episcopatus Misnensis" appeared in Leipzig, which contains various chapters of spiritual regulations under the following titles:

De vita et honestate clericorum
Quando presbyteri sive beneficiati non debant intresse divinis
De sclavis plebisanis
De symbol apostolic et orationis dominicae pronunciatione

This is followed by the collection "Et famulos tuos", some chapters on the bulls of the Corpus Christi feast, the proclamation of the feast, excluding Sundays and from the order of worship. Furthermore this contains

De vasis per chrysmate in the middle
De coemeteriis et fructibus in ice crescentibus
De reemtionibus censuum beneficialium
De casibus episcopalibus
De proclamationibus per alios quam judices competentes audiantur
De clericis vagis et peregrinis
De religions, terminarios se asserentibus
De quaestoribus et denunciatoribus indulgentiarum
De his qui se notaries publicos asserunt
De exemtione debita mandatis et processibus facienda
De mulieribus abortivos parientibus
De sepulture ecclesistica et ejus libera electione
De statu moniaclium et rectoribus scholarum
De parochiis et alienis parochianis
De decimis et oblatioibus
De provisoribus, qui vitrici seu altarmanni ecclesiae dicuntur
De testamentis, de legatorum divisione etc.

Finally, there are chapters on statutes that run counter to ecclesiastical freedom, on the constitutions of Emperors Friedrich II , Carl IV. And Sigismund , the confirmation document of Pope Johann XXIII. , regarding those constitutions, from the founding of the cathedral church in Meissen and the content of the founding document of the diocese of Meissen by Emperor Otto I. The bishop had these synodal statutes of the diocese through his General-Official Dr. Wilhelm Betschitz compile and have it published for the entire clergy to review. In 1510 a new edition of the Meißner missal came out in folio with the year 1512, which was perhaps the year the diocese missal was published.

In 1511 the “Diurnale horarum canonicarum” appeared in Duodez with 237 pages, in 1512 a “Benedictionale sive Agenda secundum ritum et consuetudinem Ecclesiae Misnensis, divinorum actorum liber, formulam et ritum continent” etc. Then came in 1515 in Leipzig a “Missale Ecclesiae Misnensis” in folio as well as in quart a “Liber actorura divinorura” , 1517 a “Breviarius juxta veram Rubricam ingenuae Ecclesiae Misn. pars hiemalis ” with title and woodcuts, on which the patron saint of the monastery and the Saalhaus coat of arms are depicted. Johann also published a catechism , but it no longer exists.

rating

Johann von Saalhausen was often criticized in later Saxon historiography because he did not yet join the emerging Reformation of Martin Luther . The question is already anachronistic. In addition, Johann, who is described by contemporary witnesses as a strict and uncompromising patriarch , could hardly have prevailed against his sovereign Georg of Saxony , who rejected Luther's Reformation.

exhibition

My faith, my power - Johann von Saalhausen in Wurzen, St. Wenceslai town church from May 21 to October 3, 2018

literature

Christian Ruf: 1496: Wurzener Stiftskapital elects Johann VI. zum Probst - The exhibition “My Faith, My Power” pays tribute to the future Bishop of Meissen . 4-column newspaper article in the Leipziger Volkszeitung (print edition), Multentalkurier, August 27, 2018, page 28
Uwe Schirmer : The administrative report of Bishop Johannes von Meißen from 1512 . In: New Archive for Saxon History, Vol. 66 (1995), Weimar 1996, pp. 69–101.
Siegfried Seifert: Salhausen, Johann von (1444-1518). In: Erwin Gatz : The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire 1448–1648. A biographical lexicon. Berlin, 1996, p. 612.
Ralf Thomas: Johannes von Salhausen - Bishop of Meißen 1487-1518 . In: The panorama. Kulturspiegel der Kreis Wurzen-Oschatz-Grimma, H. 1 (1988), pp. 26-28.
Julius Leopold Pasig: Johannes VI. Bishop of Meissen: a contribution to the Saxon church and state history, especially the history of the Meissen Monastery. ( Online ) Leipzig: JC Hinrichs, 1867.
Eduard Machatschek : History of the bishops of the Meissen Monastery in chronological order: At the same time it is a contribution to the cultural history of the Mark Meissen and the Duke and Electorate of Saxony. Edited according to the Codex diplomaticus Saxoniae regiae , other credible sources and proven historical works. Dresden: CC Meinhold, 1884.

Matthias Donath: The grave monuments in Meissen Cathedral. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2005, ISBN 9783937209456 , pp. 385f.

Individual evidence

↑ In most of the literary information, Thammenhain appears as the place of birth, this information is based on information from Pasig, but Pasig could not prove that the name Saalhausen could be found in Thammenhain, part of Falkenhain (Lossatal) . In the registers of the University of Leipzig , he indicates his place of origin as Oschatz. It is possible that his place of birth was Thalheim, now part of Oschatz , in which the Saalhausen district is located.
↑ one married Berthold von Techwitz on Golmsdorf and the other Christoph von Maltitz on Dippoldiswalde
^ Georg Erler: Matriculation of the University of Leipzig
^ Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf deed book of the Meissen Monastery. Verlag Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig, 1867, vol. 3, p. 186, no. 1119
^ JC Hermann Weissenborn: Acts of the Erfurt University. I., p. 337
↑ Here, however, only the doctorate on canon law is recorded in literary terms
^ Supplement to the archive for Austrian historical sources. 1855, volume 5, p. 127
^ Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf: Document book of the Hochstift Meissen, vol. 3, p. 336, no. 1363
↑ Father Nikolaus, mother Anna von Sebnitz (called Große), 1497 archdeacon of Lusatia, canon in Meißen and Naumburg, advisor to Friedrich the Wise and Johann the Steadfast, Dr. jur., † May 2, 1517. Gustav Köhler: New Lusatian magazine . 35. Vol. Görlitz, 1859, p. 15; maybe a relative?
↑ These seem to be forgeries
↑ Kai-Uwe Brandt: Lord Mayor opens exhibition in the St. Wenceslai town church - entirely under the sign of Wurzen Bishop Johann VI. von Salhausen, the exhibition “My Faith, My Power” has been in the Wenceslaikirche since Whit Monday. The mostly original exhibits can be seen until the beginning of October. Leipziger Volkszeitung , online portal. Retrieved May 27, 2018 .

Web links

Commons : John VI. von Saalhausen - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Entry on catholic-hierarchy.org
Johann von Salhausen. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 33, Leipzig 1742, column 892 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann V. von Weißenbach	Bishop of Meissen 1487–1518	Johann VII von Schleinitz

personal data
SURNAME	Saalhausen, Johann VI. from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Salhausen; Salhusen; Salhawssen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bishop of Meissen
DATE OF BIRTH	November 5, 1444
PLACE OF BIRTH	Thammenhain (Thalheim)
DATE OF DEATH	April 10, 1518
Place of death	Stumble

[1] In most of the literary information, Thammenhain appears as the place of birth, this information is based on information from Pasig, but Pasig could not prove that the name Saalhausen could be found in Thammenhain, part of Falkenhain (Lossatal) . In the registers of the University of Leipzig , he indicates his place of origin as Oschatz. It is possible that his place of birth was Thalheim, now part of Oschatz , in which the Saalhausen district is located.

[2] rried Berthold von Techwitz on Golmsdorf and the other Christoph von Maltitz on Dippoldiswalde

[3] Georg Erler: Matriculation of the University of Leipzig

[4] Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf deed book of the Meissen Monastery. Verlag Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig, 1867, vol. 3, p. 186, no. 1119

[5] JC Hermann Weissenborn: Acts of the Erfurt University. I., p. 337

[6] Here, however, only the doctorate on canon law is recorded in literary terms

[7] Supplement to the archive for Austrian historical sources. 1855, volume 5, p. 127

[8] Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf: Document book of the Hochstift Meissen, vol. 3, p. 336, no. 1363

[9] Father Nikolaus, mother Anna von Sebnitz (called Große), 1497 archdeacon of Lusatia, canon in Meißen and Naumburg, advisor to Friedrich the Wise and Johann the Steadfast, Dr. jur., † May 2, 1517. Gustav Köhler: New Lusatian magazine . 35. Vol. Görlitz, 1859, p. 15; maybe a relative?

[10] These seem to be forgeries

[11] Kai-Uwe Brandt: Lord Mayor opens exhibition in the St. Wenceslai town church - entirely under the sign of Wurzen Bishop Johann VI. von Salhausen, the exhibition “My Faith, My Power” has been in the Wenceslaikirche since Whit Monday. The mostly original exhibits can be seen until the beginning of October. Leipziger Volkszeitung , online portal. Retrieved May 27, 2018 .