Johannes Schradin (Abbot)

Johannes Schradin († 1501 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

The so-called witch tower , part of the city wall extended by Schradin

After the death of his predecessor Wilhelm Egen , the Murrhardt convent elected Schradin as the new abbot of the monastery in April 1486. As a representative of the Wuerttemberg friendly faction within the monastery convent, he continued its policy of closely following the monastic protective and umbrella bailiwick of the Counts of Wuerttemberg. This bond avoided the conflicts that had overshadowed the term of office of his predecessor as abbot, Herbord , and allowed Schradin to concentrate more on the internal affairs of the Murrhardt monastery.

Johannes Schradin completed the expansion of the city of Murrhardt, which his predecessor, Abbot Egen, had started - the work on the ditches and lakes around the city as well as the restoration of the Murrhardt city wall, which had become dilapidated over time, should be mentioned here also experienced a not inconsiderable expansion. The only defensive and prison tower of the Murrhardt city fortifications still preserved today, the so-called Hexenturm , was built in 1499 under the supervision of Schradin.

In addition to the construction activity within the Murrhardt city walls, the monks and their abbot had the monastery church embellished and decorated to a considerable extent from the nineties of the 15th century. In addition to a cycle of stained glass from 1498, which is no longer preserved today, and which contained the founding legend of the Murrhardt Monastery, at least two altars were built in 1496, of which the All Saints Altar still adorns the Murrhardt town church today.

These sacred buildings were an expression of the piety of the monks promoted by Abbot Schradin; under Johannes Schradin, prayer and the observance of church services were much more important in monastic life than had been the case in the past. He also endeavored to raise the intellectual level of the monastic community - so around 1495 he ordered several brothers from his convent to visit the universities of Basel and Tübingen .

Like his predecessor, Schradin was also a participant in the Württemberg state parliaments in shaping the political will of his time. As a member of the rural movement, he was directly involved in the deposition of Duke Eberhard II by the countryside in 1498. In addition, Abbot Schradin was called in in 1499 as a witness to the conclusion of the contract of engagement between Duke Ulrich von Württemberg and Sabina von Bayern .

Johannes Schradin died in Murrhardt in the spring of 1501 and was buried next to Abbot Wilhelm in the nave of the monastery church. To his successor as Abbot in Murrhardt, Lorenz Gaul , he left a flourishing monastery with an intact convent; due to its lively construction activity, however, also very high financial burdens - the germ of the decline of Murrhardt Abbey.

literature

• Gerhard Fritz: City and monastery Murrhardt in the late Middle Ages and in the Reformation period (= research from Württemberg-Franconia. Vol. 34). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-7634-7 , pp. 342-343.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1]. DI 37, Rems-Murr-Kreis, No. 69 † (Gerhard Fritz), in: www.inschriften.net, urn: nbn: de: 0238-di037h011k0006907 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilhelm Egen	Abbot of Murrhardt 1486–1501	Lorenz Gaul