Johannes Worth

Johannes Worth (* 1604 in Rietberg ; † April 10, 1671 in Grafschaft Abbey ) was abbot of Grafschaft Abbey from 1633 to 1671 .

Life

He made his profession in 1625 and was ordained a priest at a time that can no longer be determined. On April 8, 1633, after the move from Gabel Schaffen to the Abdinghof monastery, he was elected as the youngest conventual abbot of the Grafschaft monastery. Worth also succeeded as dean of the Bursfeld congregation .

During his time, the Grafschaft child witch trials took place in 1641 . After a confession, the oldest suspect, aged twelve, was executed. The other accused children were sent to the monasteries Grafschaft, Glindfeld and Wedinghausen to repent. After the children returned to their families, they claimed, without being asked, that they could continue to do witchcraft, which led to new trials. These proved difficult because of the youthfulness of the accused. Finally the four children were brought to Arnsberg and the procedure was taken over by the local witch commissioner. The execution by the heads took place unusually in Cologne .

His tenure also fell during the Thirty Years' War . The monasteries in the region suffered from the attacks in particular by the soldiers of Duke Christian von Braunschweig . The Odacker nunnery , which is subordinate to the Grafschaft monastery, was severely affected . After 1648 Johannes Worth restored the monastery and gathered the scattered nuns.

After Ferdinand von Fürstenberg had been elected Bishop of Paderborn in 1661 , coming from Rome he stopped at the Grafschaft monastery, whose bailiwick was held by his family. He was impressed by the monastic discipline and the cleanliness of the monastery and church. He then donated new altars and several annual memorials for his family. These memories were held at least until the 19th century. During a further visit in 1668 it was agreed that the two red bars of the monastery coat of arms standing upright in the golden field would be added to the coat of arms of the Fürstenberg family because of the protective bailiwick over the county.

After his death, Worth was buried in the center of the choir of the monastery church.

literature

• Karl Böckler: Historical information about the Benedictine abbey Grafschaft in the Duchy of Westphalia. In: Journal for patriotic history and antiquity, vol. 17/1856 221–222
• Lea Steinrücke, Michael Hermes: Directory of the abbots and monks of the St. Alexander monastery in Grafschaft (1598-1853). In: Südwestfalenarchiv, 2004 p. 31
• Tobias A. Kemper: "... the still growing blooming youth as a hideous example ...". Child witch trials in Oberkirchen (Duchy of Westphalia). In: SüdWestfalen Archive, volume 4/2004. Pp. 115-136

predecessor	Office	successor
Create fork	Abbot of Kloster Grafschaft 1633–1671	Godfried Richardi