Johannes Kassian Speiser

The coat of arms of Abbot Johannes Kassian Speiser

Johannes Kassian Speiser (real name Johannes Speiser ; born February 5, 1583 in Ochsenfurt , † July 17, 1640 in Münsterschwarzach ) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Münsterschwarzach from 1628 to 1640 .

Münsterschwarzach in front of Speiser

Half a century before Johannes Kassian took office as abbot of the Main Abbey, Münsterschwarzach was marked by reconstruction after destruction in the German Peasants' War and the Schmalkaldic War . At the same time, the embezzlement of the monastery property took on ever greater proportions. Abbot Leonhard Gnetzamer was even deposed from the convent in 1556 because of his misconduct. Under Wolfgang Zobel the situation improved a little.

Johannes IV. Burckhardt began to buy back the monastery properties in the surrounding area, which had been alienated in the centuries before, and drove forward the debt relief of the abbey. Johannes Krug , his successor, benefited from his policies and had more buildings built in the area of ​​the abbey. Together with the beginning of the Thirty Years War, the Little Ice Age and the splendor in which the abbots lived, the situation under Speiser's predecessor Johannes Martin escalated again: The Würzburg bishop had him deposed in 1627.

Life

Early years

Johannes Kassian Speiser was born on February 5, 1583 in the Würzburg city of Ochsenfurt in Lower Franconia . His baptismal name was Johannes, he only received the addition Kassian when he entered the monastery. Little is known about the young John's family. Schooling and training, probably university studies, are also not mentioned in the sources. In 1604 Speiser was mentioned as a professorship in Ortisei , the Augsburg city monastery.

Here he rose quickly. On June 12, 1604 he received the minor ordinations , on September 18 he became a subdeacon . He obtained his diaconate in 1605. He was ordained priest on March 31, 1607 in Dillingen. Speiser soon took on several offices within his Augsburg monastery. He has been handed down as pastor and sexton in Dillingen. On November 16, 1627, he was called to Münsterschwarzach by Prince-Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg to initially take over the office of prior.

Together with two other Augsburg brothers, Speiser should reform the abbey, which was founded under John VI. Martin was deeply in debt. The Thirty Years War had already broken out beforehand and had put additional strain on the monastery. Under pressure from the prince-bishop, an abbot election took place on Tuesday, August 1, 1628, in which the decision of the ten voters was influenced by the monastery beforehand.

As abbot

As expected, the Swabian monk feeder new abbot. On August 18 In 1628 he was confirmed before it on September 10 of that year benediziert was. The executive prelate was the Würzburg auxiliary bishop Jodokus Wagenhauber . The new abbot, however, had to promise his confreres not to bring any more Swabians to the Main Abbey. However, Speiser soon had to withdraw this assertion: in 1628 he appointed a new prior, who came from the Swabian monastery of Andechs .

In 1629, Speiser began paying off the high debts. Despite the war and the poor economic situation, he managed to pay off 4,000 guilders . In 1630 the abbot had a rosary brotherhood founded in the monastery town of Dimbach , whose central meeting place was the church of Maria de Rosario . In this way, Johannes Kassian promoted popular piety in the area that had been subordinate to the monastery.

In 1631, however, the abbey's small advances were destroyed in one fell swoop. The Protestant Swedes passed through Main Franconia and did not stop at the Benedictine, Catholic monastery. On October 12, 1631, the convent and its abbot had to flee to St. Stephen's monastery in Würzburg, which was friends with the Main Abbey. From here the abbot went alone to his old St. Ulrich monastery.

Flight and Exile

When the situation here became more serious, Speiser joined the fleeing Augsburg monks around Abbot John VIII Merk and left the city on April 6, 1632 in the direction of Hall in Tirol . The Münsterschwarzach abbot made a trip to Schwaz from here on December 10, 1632. Abbot Johannes Kassian did not return to the Main until the spring of 1636. He crossed Munich , Augsburg and Donauwörth and reached Münsterschwarzach on April 1, 1636.

Since the buildings of the monastery had in the meantime been used as soldiers' quarters and were therefore in a very poor condition, Speiser left for Würzburg a week later. Here he found asylum in the city's Scottish abbey . Again towards the end of 1637 he came to Schwarzach. However, the war brought him to Bamberg on September 21, 1639 because he had feared enemy troops would pass through.

Only at the end of 1639 did Speiser finally return to the destroyed monastery. Here he was met with the contempt of his confreres, for he had continued to live at the expense of the abbey during the years of exile . The splendid robes and rings that Speiser had worn in Tyrol had made the monastery even poorer. Speiser even collected interest in Tyrol. On July 17, 1640, Johannes Kassian Speiser died in Münsterschwarzach at about eleven thirty.

coat of arms

The abbot Johannes Kassian is the sixth prelate of Münsterschwarzach to have his own coat of arms. Description : An upright unicorn. The colors of the coat of arms are not known. In addition to a cartouche on his tombstone, the coat of arms is only preserved on a seal that was attached to a certificate of presentation for the parish of Sommerach in 1629.

literature

• Kassius Hallinger: Chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach a. M. (1390-1803). In: Abtei Münsterschwarzach (Ed.): Abtei Münsterschwarzach. Works from their history. Münsterschwarzach 1938.
• Rainer Kengel: The coat of arms of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach. In: Abtei Münsterschwarzach (Ed.): Abtei Münsterschwarzach. Works from their history. Münsterschwarzach 1938.
• Johannes Mahr: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey. Münsterschwarzach 2002.
• Leo Trunk: The Abbots of Münsterschwarzach. A comparative overview. In: Pirmin Hugger (Ed.): Magna Gratia. Festschrift for the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the Münsterschwarzach Abbey Church (1938–1988). Münsterschwarzach 1988.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ While most sources and representations indicate 1628, only Ussermann assumes the year 1630. Compare: Leo Trunk: The Abbots of Münsterschwarzach. P. 156 f.
2. ^ Johannes Mahr: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey. P. 29.
3. ↑ Kassius Hallinger: The chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach. P. 107.
4. ^ Johannes Mahr: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey. P. 29.
5. ↑ Kassius Hallinger: The chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach. P. 108.
6. ↑ Rainer Kengel: The coat of arms of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach. P. 147.

predecessor	Office	successor
John VI Martin	Abbot of Münsterschwarzach 1628–1640	Nicholas III Molitor