Johann von Forst

Johann von Forst , also Johannes von Forst (Vorst) , OSB (* around 1405 in Forst ; † June 4, 1452 in Cologne ) was a German Benedictine and abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias (1439–1447) and the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin (1449–1452) in Trier and the St. Pantaleon Abbey (1447–1452) in Cologne.

Life

Johann or Johannes came from a knight family from the Lower Rhine . At a young age he joined the St. Matthias Monastery in Trier to become a monk . On December 29, 1437, he took part as a sub- prior, together with Abbot Johannes as a representative of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias in Bernkastel, in a clerical meeting at which a lawsuit against the city of Trier was being prepared. Meanwhile holding the office of prior, he was elected abbot of St. Matthias Abbey in Trier on December 29, 1439. When he was appointed abbot Wilhelm von Helmstätts in Mettlach Abbey on January 5, 1440, he was the only witness. He took part in the provincial chapter of St. Maximin in Trier, which had met from April 23rd to 25th. His activities in the administration of the monastery property as Abbot of St. Matthias are attested by numerous preserved documents. In the first few years he increased u. a. parochial competence in Mondorf-Altwies and Weyer in Villmar he let the tithe lending repurchase. Further documents can be found about a complaint against Johann von Nassau-Beilstein because of a tithe dated March 31, 1445 as well as about a comparison to the conversion of Fronden into fixed natural deliveries with the Mieres in the manor “Abbey”.

The fact that Johann thought not only within the boundaries of his own abbey was also borne out by the monastic reform initiated by his predecessor, which he tried to continue and organize together with the Archbishop of Trier , Jakob von Sierck . When it came to the reform of the Abbey of St. Mansuy located in Fontenoy-le-Château , turned to Johann von Forst on April 25, 1444, the Bishop of Toul, Louis de Haraucourt . From 1441 to 1444, St. Matthias was the refuge of three reform-minded monks from the St. Laurentius monastery in Liège and the leader among them, the subprior Johannes de Lairdeu, was to become abbot of St. Mansuy. However, he died on the way home from Rome , where he had traveled for the purpose of his appointment. On April 8, 1445, Johann and a Carthusian prior were taken by Archbishop Jakob von Sierck to a visit to the monastery of Himmerod to support the Cistercian abbots visiting there. However, he was brought into distress by the archbishop when he got into a dispute in the cathedral chapter with two other abbots who were striving for reform and so was ultimately drawn into the elector's political plans. On January 29, 1447 Archbishop Jakob received a request from the Cologne Council that Abbot Johann (es) von Forst should be released for the Abbey of St. Pantaleon, as he had already had a reforming effect there in 1446. Because the latter had, it was said, 1446 on September 18 Absolutions - and Dispensvollmachten in large measure for the Trier abbeys and St. Pantaleon and assistant to the monastery nuns receive.

In 1447 he was appointed abbot in the St. Pantaleon monastery in Cologne and on April 30, 1447 he released all the conventuals in the St. Matthias monastery, whose abbot he had previously been, from their duties and homage. As the new abbot of St. Pantaleon, he worked alone, without essentially accepting the help of third parties, on the formation of a congregation ( confederacio ) of the monasteries of St. Matthias, St. Pantaleon and St. Marien in Trier, which he also succeeded in doing. After the death of Abbot Lampert von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen on May 12, 1449, Johann accepted the postulation as the new Abbot of St. Maximin in 1451. However, it was already the second postulation, since the previous one had been rejected by the Convention and it had to prevail against a strong opponent in a vote. But since he remained abbot of St. Pantaleon, the convent of St. Maximin did not agree to the desired congregation. After the early death of Abbot Johann (es) von Forst on June 4, 1452, the planned congregation could no longer be realized, and since he was its greatest sponsor and nobody could be found to pursue the idea, it remained unfinished at that time Vision.

Supplementary biography

After the death of the abbot of St. Maximin in Trier, Lampert ( Lamprecht ) von Praunheim Sachsenhausen who tried Kurtrierische Archbishop Jakob von Sierck reasons of family policy, a relative, the Hospitalar and treasurer of the Abbey White Castle , Rhine Count Conrad to White Castle, To procure abbotics. He was able to win over four of the eight Maximiner monks for this project, including the hospital clerk Rheingraf Wilhelm. Both he and Konrad's brother, the Trier cathedral scholaster Gerhard, campaigned for Konrad's election. Cardinal Nikolaus von Kues , who had already developed a plan to secure the reforms in the Abbey of St. Maximin, intervened in these efforts . His idea was that Johannes von Forst (Vorst), who had already reformed the Benedictine Abbey of St. Pantaleon in Cologne, should be provided as Abbot of St. Maximin for two years until Konrad von Weißenburg had become more familiar with these reform plans . In a first vote, which presumably took place on October 6, 1449, the dispute among the monks led to an undecided situation. One side stood up for Konrad von Weißenburg, while the other postulated Johannes Forst as the new abbot.

In the election on November 2, 1449, the monks ultimately decided in favor of Johannes von Forst. On November 6, 1449, the followers of Konrad sent a petition to Pope Nicholas V , but this remained ineffective, since the Pope had provided with the abbey at the instigation of Cardinal Johannes Forst before September 11, 1449. Later, Konrad von Weißenburg thanked Archbishop Sierk for his futile efforts and said that he wanted to stay hospitalist and treasurer in Weißenburg for the time being, since these offices would bring him 300 to 400 florins per year. A document from the spring of 1451 shows that he succeeded in merging (congregation) the three abbeys, St. Matthias, St. Marien and St. Pantaleon. The document of March 31, 1451 was confirmed and approved by Dietrich III. from Neuss, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery Heisterbach , on behalf of the papal legate Cardinal Juan Carvajal . The short term of office as abbot of St. Maximin, while maintaining his abbey of St. Pantaleon, was characterized by his diverse efforts to reform the monastery in the Trier and Cologne area and the double burden resulting from the distant abbeys. After Abbot Johann von Forst had read the high mass on the feast of the patron saint on May 29, 1449 , he died on the return journey from St. Maximin to St. Pantaleon Abbey on June 4, 1452. He was buried at St. Pantaleon in front of St. Paul Altar. Seals from him have also been received by St. Matthias, St. Pantaleon and St. Maximin. The best preserved oval seal impression for this abbatiat shows an abbot sitting in front of a late Gothic vault with a miter , staff and book. At his feet is a twelvefold died ändertes crest with heart shield and an inscription [] IS Abbatis SANCTI MAXIM (in) I SHAKER (ensis)

literature

• Alfons Friderichs (ed.): V. Forst, Johann , In: “Personalities of the Cochem-Zell District” , Kliomedia, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-89890-084-3 , p. 110.

Web links

• Entry on Johann von Forst in the Rhineland-Palatinate personal database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} "Johannes von Forst", GSN: 044-02237-001, In: Germania Sacra , accessed on February 29, 2020
2. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / inventory 210 - Trier, Benedictine monastery St. Eucharius or St. Matthias / Certificate 519 - Abbot Johannes von St. Matthias closes with Johannes, the permanent vicar of the parish church in Mondorf ("Momendorf") and the branch church in Waldwisse ( "Wys") makes a comparison about the parish competencies and grants him additional benefits, since he and the chaplain von Waldwisse have to look after both parishes.
3. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / inventory 210 - Trier, Benedictine monastery St. Eucharius or St. Matthias / certificate 520 - Godart von Walderdorff and his wife Anna sell Abbot Johannes and the convent of St. Matthias the tithe from Weyer (Gde. Villmar) on Donnerberg ("Dunerberge").
4. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / inventory 210 - Trier, Benedictine monastery St. Eucharius or St. Matthias / certificate 533 - instrument of the imperial notary and Mainz cleric Nikolaus Rauchfass of Frankfurt about a for Johannes von Vorst ("von dem Foirst"), abbot of St. Matthias, closed comparison of the St. Matthias Abbey with the four Meiers ("meygerich") of the communities Obermennig ("Menich"), Hentern, Pellingen and Lampaden because of different taxes. Accordingly, certain services ("fronen und dienste") are converted into taxes in kind, such as grain ("menten korns") and sheaves ("bynde garben").
5. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / Inventory 210 - Trier, Benedictine monastery St. Eucharius or St. Matthias / Certificate 543 - Abbot Johannes (von Vorst) of St. Pantaleon in Cologne hands over the Abbey of St. Matthias, of which he was previously, and releases them all local conventuals from their duties.
6. ↑ 3F 11 - The dioceses of the church province Trier. The Archdiocese of Trier 13. The Benedictine Abbey of St. Maximin in front of Trier, Johannes II. Forst (1449–1452), p. 310 f., In: Germania-Sacra , accessed on March 2, 2020
7. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / inventory 1C - files of the ecclesiastical and state administration / factual files 12515 - negotiations about the occupation of the Abbey of St. Maximin with the Rhine Count Konrad, treasurer in the Abbey of Weissenburg and the abbey of St. Pantaleon in Cologne with the participation of Cardinal Nikolaus from Kues.
8. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz / inventory 207 - Trier, Benedictine monastery St. Marien ad martyres (St. Mergen) / Certificate 428 - Dietrich, abbot of the Cistercian monastery Heisterbach, confirms the merger of the reformed Benedictine abbeys St. Matthias and St. Marien and St. Pantaleon.