Judas Thaddäus Sigerst

The coat of arms of Judas Thaddäus Sigerst

Judas Thaddäus Sigerst OSB (born June 10, 1735 in Poppenlauer , † May 6, 1806 in Würzburg ) was the last abbot of the Benedictine monastery Münsterschwarzach before secularization from 1794 to 1803 .

Münsterschwarzach and secularization

Since the second half of the 17th century, Münsterschwarzach was organized in the so-called Pactum religiosum . This was a loose union of various, mainly Franconian, monasteries. This was unable to assert itself sufficiently against the Würzburg prince-bishops . In addition, the Enlightenment put a strain on monastery life on the Schwarzach in the late 18th century, young monks left the monastery and thus damaged the abbey. Billeting occurred during the Napoleonic Wars at the end of the 18th century.

At the same time, Electoral Palatinate Bavaria came closer and closer to Napoleonic France, as it hoped to compensate for its lost areas on the left bank of the Rhine. The plan worked on February 25, 1803, when the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss decided to dissolve the spiritual German states. The prince-bishopric of Würzburg, the last protector of the monastery, became Bavarian. After the occupation of the city, a commission was set up to promote the dissolution of the former prince-bishop's monasteries.

Life

Until the benediction

Judas Thaddäus Sigerst was born on June 10, 1735 in Poppenlauer, today a district of Maßbach . On the day of his birth he was baptized in the name of the local patron, Judas Thaddäus . His father, Ulrich Sigerst, was the official cellar of the Würzburg prince-bishops in Poppenlauer. His mother Agnes came from the patrician family of the Balbus from Volkach, who, with Christophorus, placed one of Sigerst's predecessors as abbot in Münsterschwarzach.

Sigerst began his school education in Münnerstadt . He received a humanistic upbringing in the Augustinian monastery there. After that he moved to Würzburg to at the local university to study philosophy. After moving several times, he finished his studies in 1752. He joined the Münsterschwarzach Abbey on September 29, 1752. Under his uncle Abbot Christophorus Balbus, he made his vows as a monk on October 11, 1753 .

In the monastery he deepened his philosophical studies and expanded it with theology. In 1759 he moved to St. Stephen's Monastery in Würzburg, where he attended other law lectures at the university. On September 18, 1756 he was ordained a subdeacon, he became a deacon on December 17, 1757. His ordination took place on November 21, 1759 in the house chapel of Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal . In 1760 he was given the power of pastoral care.

After completing his law studies, Sigerst was repeatedly used for administrative tasks in the monastery. First he started as an official in the monastery chancellery, from 1773 he took over the office of the monastery cellar in Münsterschwarzach. At the same time, Sigerst was invited to the monastery village of Dimbach as a keynote speaker , where he carried out pastoral activities from 1780–1785. In 1788 he was appointed head steward of the monastery by the church authorities in Würzburg.

Until secularization

On February 25, 1794 Judas Thaddäus Sigerst was elected the seventieth abbot of the Münsterschwarzach monastery. He had received 17 of 30 votes in the first ballot. On June 22 of that year he was the Würzburg Bishop Andreas ferryman benediziert . At this point in time, Sigerst was already 59 years old and kept the office of cellarer in order to better take care of the economic renovation of his monastery. He managed this very well, so that the monastery could be dissolved debt-free.

With the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the dissolution of the monasteries was discussed again and again; specifically, they had been considered since 1802. On November 21, 1802, Abbot Sigerst visited the Bavarian Commissioner General Johann Wilhelm von Hompesch zu Bolheim to talk to him about the future of his abbey. Hompesch demanded the submission of a monastery budget , had the monastery inmates swear the oath to the new government on December 9, 1802 and take possession of the monastery.

On February 8, 1803, the abbot wrote a letter to the General Commissariat in which he formulated the request for the abbey to be dissolved. Sigerst wanted to forestall a plan that included the relocation of other convents to the spacious monastery. In a second letter dated February 9th, Sigerst specified his wish to dissolve. The abbot hoped to gain advantages in the provision of supplies for himself and his confreres by accommodating. On May 7, 1803, the Münsterschwarzach Abbey was dissolved.

Until his death

After the dissolution of the monastery, Judas Thaddäus was housed in the Zehnthof of the Stadelschwarzach community , which was originally the administrative building of the abbey in the village. At times, however, Sigerst continued to live in the abbey, where he was tolerated as a guest. The right to live in Stadelschwarzach was also linked to the right to hunt in Gerlachshausen, which the former abbot was able to exercise during this time despite his advanced age.

One year after the dissolution, the sale of the monastery goods began and Sigerst had to vacate the buildings. He asked the government for an increase in his pension , which he was granted from 1805. At the age of seventy he rented a house in the second district of Würzburg, house no. 338. On May 6, 1806, Sigerst died there of pneumonia . Two days later the last abbot of Münsterschwarzach was buried in the cathedral cemetery.

coat of arms

Dimbach's coat of arms

The abbot's coat of arms of Judas Thaddäus Sigerst shows a blue bar accompanied by three 2: 1 set six-pointed stars, all figures silver. Blue is the color of the Münsterschwarzach monastery, while the silver stripe indicates the innovator Egbert .

The symbols appear in the coat of arms of the formerly independent community of Dimbach as an indication of the former affiliation of the place to the monastery property of Münsterschwarzach. Sigerst worked there in pastoral care before his appointment as abbot. In addition, the coat of arms is on the office building of the monastery in Stadelschwarzach, where Sigerst had his retirement home.

literature

• Kassius Hallinger: Chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach a. M. (1390-1803) . Münsterschwarzach Abbey (Ed.): Münsterschwarzach Abbey. Works from their history . Münsterschwarzach 1938.
• Johannes Mahr: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey . Münsterschwarzach 2002.
• Eleutherius Stellwag: The end of the old Münsterschwarzach . Münsterschwarzach 1980.
• Alfred Wendehorst: The sinking of the old abbey church Münsterschwarzach . Münsterschwarzach 1953.

Web links

Commons : Judas Thaddäus Sigerst  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mahr, Johannes: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey . P. 61.
2. ↑ Stellwag, Eleutherius: The end of the old Münsterschwarzach . P. 15.
3. ↑ Stellwag, Eleutherius: The end of the old Münsterschwarzach . P. 61.
4. ^ Wendehorst, Alfred: The downfall of the old abbey church Münsterschwarzach . P. 8.
5. ↑ Hallinger, Kassius: Chronology of the Abbots of Münsterschwarzach . P. 125.

predecessor	Office	successor
Ludwig Beck	Abbot of Münsterschwarzach 1794–1803	( Plazidus Vogel )