Johann von Hattstein (Grand Prior)

Graphic representation of the grave slab for the Grand Prior Johann von Hattstein in the church of Heitersheim

Photo of the grave slab for the Grand Prior Johann von Hattstein in the church of Heitersheim

Head of the grave slab of Grand Prior Johann von Hattstein, his coat of arms, coat of arms of the Order of St. John

Johann von Hattstein (* around 1447, presumably in Usingen / Taunus ; † April 4, 1546 in Speyer ) was a nobleman, knight of the Order of St. John , Catholic priest, from 1505 to 1512 Großbailli of the Order of St. John and from 1512 until his death German St. Grand Prior.

family

He came from the noble Hattstein family and was born the son of Philipp von Hattstein and his wife Imgard nee. from Reifenberg .

Life

Johann von Hattstein joined the Order of St. John (now the Sovereign Order of Malta ). With eight other German knights he took part in the defense of Rhodes against the troops of Sultan Mehmet II in 1480 .

In 1483 he was promoted to commander of the Palatine Johanniter branch in Heimbach . On July 3, 1512, Johann von Hattstein was appointed Johanniter Grand Prior of the German Order Province, which he remained until his death. With this position he took over the combined offices of a commander of the religious houses of Utrecht , Freiburg im Breisgau , Bubikon and Wädenswil . He had been court judge in Heidelberg since 1503, and in 1519 he also became president of the Speyer Chamber of Commerce. Johann Nepomuk Lengenfelder cites 1783 in the Brief, Pragmatic History of the High Order of Malta as the reason for the appointment as President of the Supreme Court, "because at that time there was no more learned man in the Reich than Hansen von Hattstein".

He tried to ward off the penetration of Protestant teachings and was able, with patience and skill, to save some of the religious goods threatened by the Reformation. In the Brandenburg Ballei , Hattstein recommended the master master Veit von Thümen to take decisive action against religious superiors who supported the new teaching. In 1530, in lengthy negotiations, he achieved the return of the Basel religious order by the Reformation Council, and in 1535 he secured a compromise agreement with Pfalz-Zweibrücken , which had become Protestant and had taken over the Kommende Meisenheim located on its territory , at least the one outside of Pfalz-Zweibrücken located property of the Meisenheim Commandery . According to the Historical Lexicon of Switzerland , the Order of St. John owes him the survival of the religious houses in Basel and Bubikon beyond the Reformation.

Historical view of the Johanniter Castle in Heitersheim, which was expanded by Johann von Hattstein

Since 1505 Heitersheim im Breisgau was the seat of the German Grand Prior. Here Johann von Hattstein had the Johanniter Castle expanded from 1512 and a new parish church built in 1527. In 1529 Hattstein took part in the defense of Vienna against the Turks together with a group of knights . Here he is said to have fought with great bravery - despite his old age.

Remains of the Heimbach church

Johann von Hattstein died in the Speyer Johanniterhaus in 1546, at almost a hundred years of age. This religious court was one of his main places of residence. In the parish church of St. Bartholomew in Heitersheim, which was newly built at the beginning of the 19th century, his tombstone with a full figure has been preserved. It says that he "did the order vil Guts and rebuilt this church" . The inscription also states that he was buried in the church of the Heimbach Commandery (near Speyer), of which only very small remains exist today.

It is reported about Johann von Hattstein that he sometimes held very progressive views for the time. From his earlier contact with the Muslims, for example, he often defended their doctrines and customs. He was also of the conviction that Muslims, Jews and people of different faiths could go to heaven after having paid off their trespasses in purgatory . On the basis of this insight, he particularly sharply rejected Protestantism, since they denied purgatory, which Hattstein saw as a special gift of grace from God.

Commemoration

In the church of Heitersheim there is a memorial plaque (stone slab). A street in Freiburg im Breisgau is named after him.

literature

Walter Gerd Rödel: The Johanniterkommende Heimbach in the Palatinate and its membrane , in: Blätter für Palatine Church History and Religious Folklore , Annual Volume 1973, pp. 14-16, Association for Palatinate Church History, Speyer, 1973
Heinrich Meisner: German Johanniterbriefe from the sixteenth century. in: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine, Volume 49, 1895, pp. 565–631 Digitized in the Internet Archive

Web links

Website for Heitersheim Castle, with a photo of the tombstone of Johann von Hattstein
Website for Heitersheim Castle (with photos of the Grand Prior's coat of arms and description of the construction work he carried out)
Data page in the German biography
Christoph Maier: Hattstein, Johann von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Image of the grave of Grand Prior Johann von Hatstein in: Photo Archive Photo Marburg - Image index of art and architecture

Individual evidence

↑ Heinz-Peter Mielke: The Niederadligen von Hattstein, their political role and social position , p. 81, volume 24 of: Publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau , 1977; (Detail scan)
↑ Hieronymus Megiser : Propugnaculum Europae , Leipzig, 1606, page 236; (Digital scan)
↑ Johann Nepomuk Lengenfelder: Briefly pragmatic history of the high Order of Malta , Munich, 1783, p. 57; (Digital scan)
^ Annette Kugler-Simmerl: Bishop, Cathedral Chapter and Monasteries in the Diocese of Havelberg 1522-1598: Structural Change and Loss of Function , Volume 1 of: Studies on Brandenburg State History , Lukas Verlag, 2003, p. 97, ISBN 3936872074 ; (Digital scan)

↑ Website on the history of Heitersheim ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

^ Wolf-Dieter Barz: The Heitersheim rule of rule of the Order of St. John, Order of Malta from 1620 , LIT Verlag, Münster, 1999, p. XX and XXI, ISBN 3825845001 ; (Digital scan)

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Heggenzer von Wasserstelz	Grand Prior of the German Order of St. John and Lord von Heitersheim 1512–1546	Georg Schilling from Cannstatt
Johann Heggenzer von Wasserstelz	Grand Bailli of the Order of St. John 1505–1512	Konrad von Schwalbach

personal data
SURNAME	Hattstein, Johann von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German nobleman, Grand Prior of the Order of St. John
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1447
PLACE OF BIRTH	unsure: Usingen
DATE OF DEATH	April 4, 1546
Place of death	Speyer

[1] Heinz-Peter Mielke: The Niederadligen von Hattstein, their political role and social position , p. 81, volume 24 of: Publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau , 1977; (Detail scan)

[2] Hieronymus Megiser : Propugnaculum Europae , Leipzig, 1606, page 236; (Digital scan)

[3] Johann Nepomuk Lengenfelder: Briefly pragmatic history of the high Order of Malta , Munich, 1783, p. 57; (Digital scan)

[4] Annette Kugler-Simmerl: Bishop, Cathedral Chapter and Monasteries in the Diocese of Havelberg 1522-1598: Structural Change and Loss of Function , Volume 1 of: Studies on Brandenburg State History , Lukas Verlag, 2003, p. 97, ISBN 3936872074 ; (Digital scan)

[5] Website on the history of Heitersheim ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[6] Wolf-Dieter Barz: The Heitersheim rule of rule of the Order of St. John, Order of Malta from 1620 , LIT Verlag, Münster, 1999, p. XX and XXI, ISBN 3825845001 ; (Digital scan)