Helmarshausen Monastery
The Helmarshausen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Helmarshausen at the Diemel (today part of Bad Karlshafen ) in Northern Hesse founded and was the end of the 10th century. The abbey was initially an imperial monastery , later it was subordinate to the diocese of Paderborn . In the course of the Reformation , the monastery was closed. It was of great importance in the Middle Ages for its gold and silver work and its scriptorium , which created some of the most important masterpieces of Romanesque book illumination .
Founding time
In 944 there is evidence of a royal court in Helmarshausen , which was later owned by Count Ekkehard. This and his wife Mathilde founded a Benedictine settlement around 987, which was consecrated to Maria and Salvator Petrus and from 1107 also to Modoaldus . Before 997 the monastery was founded by Emperor Otto III. and Pope Silvester II confirmed. In addition, Helmarshausen was granted immunity with the same rights as Corvey . Market, coin and customs law were also associated with this. In fact, several coins minted in Helmarshausen have survived.
Transfer to the diocese of Paderborn
The descendants of the deceased founder complained to Emperor Heinrich II about the loss of their rights. The case was heard in 1017 at the Fürstentag von Leitzkau , and the monastery was placed under the control of Bishop Meinwerk von Paderborn by the emperor . Thiermar, a brother of the Billung duke Bernhard II , was one of the heirs affected . He did not agree with the emperor's decision and plundered the Paderborn area. A final settlement did not take place until 1024.
It was Bishop Meinwerk who consecrated the monastery church in 1011. As a result, Helmarshausen was an own monastery of the bishops of Paderborn, who sought to lead it in the Benedictine sense and promoted it to the best of their ability. Under Bishop Heinrich II. Werl was based on a model of the second Abbot wino which specifically to Jerusalem had traveled at the nearby Krukenberg, based on the stylistic Grabeskirche assembled, the first-mentioned 1107 Johanneskapelle. Little is known about the inner history of the monastery in the first few decades.
The Counts of Northeim and the Counts of Winzenburg were successively bailiffs of the monastery. They were followed by Henry the Lion .
High point under Abbot Thietmar II.
In the time of Abbot Thietmar II. (1080-1112) did the translation of various relics . Probably the most important of them were the bones of St. Modoald von Trier, who became the patron saint of the monastery alongside Peter. The contemporary text Translatio Modoaldi reported on Thiermar's trips to Trier . The abbot also brought relics of the abrunculus from Trier.
The hope of miraculous healings attracted pilgrims, who contributed to the material prosperity of the monastery through their gifts. The monastery was awarded rich estates by important greats in the region such as the Counts of Reinhausen, von Poppenburg , von Schwalenberg , von Dassel , von Ziegenberg or the lords of Malsburg , Eberschütz and Padberg . The gifts of goods by laypeople are recorded in the Helmarshausen Traditionscodex (today in Marburg). These donations were the material basis for the expansion of the monastery church.
During this time the monastery was raised to a Paderborn archdeaconate . The artistic boom of Helmarshausen also fell in the time of Abbot Thietmar II. The abbey became famous soon after the death of Abbot Thietmar for its scriptorium and its artisans.
Blacksmith's workshop
The monks created outstanding works of art, especially in the field of gold and silversmiths. These included valuable crucifixes, but also small bronzes were made. The priest-monk Roger (von Helmarshausen) could have headed this workshop. Whether he was a goldsmith himself cannot be proven. Between 1107 and 1130 the workshop created support altars, reliquary crosses and valuable book bindings. Two supporting altars, today in the Diocesan Museum Paderborn , are likely to come from this workshop. The identity with the author Theophilus of the textbook “Schedula diversarum artium” for the production of parchment, paints and inks, but also for the processing of gold, silver and other metals for book production, which has been assumed for many decades, cannot be proven.
Scriptorium
Helmarshausen replaced Corvey as the leading center for book production in northern Germany in the 12th century. In the period between 1120 and 1200, the writing room created not only documents but also magnificent manuscripts. A writer known by name was the monk Heriman. The close connection with the Rhine and Maas area was important for the development of the Helmarshausen School . Through the reception of models from the west of the empire, the Romanesque style of book illumination by Helmarshausen around 1120–1130 gained acceptance in the Saxony area . Sometimes there was also collaboration with other monasteries. While ornamentation in particular was cultivated in Helmarshausen, other parts, such as figurative decorations, came from elsewhere. Manuscripts from Helmarshausen, such as the Gnesen Gospels , were delivered to distant clients.
Around 1150 the number of works produced increased, but most of the clients now came from the Saxony area. Even laypeople now increasingly appeared as buyers. In the last quarter of the 12th century, the scriptorium experienced a renewed upswing, particularly through orders from Henry the Lion. Based on presumably English models, the splendid psalter was a completely new type of book for laypeople, such as the Duchess Mathilde. The magnificent gospel book of Heinrich the Lion was created around 1180 in Helmarshausen, unsurpassed in its time in terms of luxury furnishings and the quality of the book decoration. In the following time, for example with the Trier Gospels, a division of labor in the scriptorium developed. Although they broke with the Romanesque traditions, the School of Helmarshausen no longer found connection to Gothic book illumination. This was one of the reasons for the decline in book production.
The production of magnificent manuscripts ended around 1200. The competition between the scriptoria in the episcopal cities, some of which were lay workshops, became increasingly noticeable, as these were closer to the book market. The conflict between the monastery and the bishops of Paderborn over the restoration of imperial immediacy also played a role.
The monastery at the time of territorial formation
Heinrich the Lion lost the Vogtamt in 1180 together with the tribal duchy of Saxony. As a result, the region around Helmarshausen was also involved in the formation of the territory.
The relationship between the monastery and the diocese of Paderborn began to deteriorate in the second half of the 12th century. In the monastery, documents were forged under Abbot Konrad II in order to underpin the alleged independence of Paderborn. Pope Alexander III around 1160 confirmed the subordination of Helmarshausen to the Bishop of Paderborn. The climax of the dispute between the monastery and the diocese falls in 1191 when Pope Celestine III. Helmarshausen confirmed his possessions and privileges. The newly elected Abbot Thietmar III. rejected an investiture by the bishop of Paderborn Bernhard II. The latter responded by excommunicating the abbot.
Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne took advantage of these disputes to extend his sphere of influence in Westphalia (the Duchy of Westphalia ) to the Weser . Around 1220 half of the city of Helmarshausen was transferred from the monastery to the archbishopric. In return, Cologne guaranteed the protection of the abbey. As a result, the city was fortified. To protect the monastery, the Krukenburg was built around 1220 . Helmarshausen became one of the most important outposts of Cologne in the Weser area.
After the lost battle of Worringen in 1288, the Archbishops of Cologne were severely weakened and lost their influence in the Weser area again. The Paderborn bishops used this power vacuum to regain their influence on the Helmarshausen monastery. As early as 1326, Bishop Bernhard V had again the spiritual supervision rights over the monastery. This also came into possession of the Cologne half of the city of Helmarshausen and the Krukenburg. Abbot Reimbold now established connections with the Archbishopric of Mainz . Half of the part of the city of Helmarshausen that still belonged to the monastery was sold to Mainz.
The monastery itself had already started to decline. Because the income was no longer sufficient, more and more properties were pledged or sold.
Since the outcome of the Mainz-Hessian War of 1427 , which was victorious for them , the Landgraves of Hesse brought more and more possessions of the Archbishopric of Mainz in the region under their control. In 1479 the abbot of Helmarshausen also had to come under the protection of the landgraves.
From the Reformation to today
In 1538 the monastery was closed during the Reformation . After a long legal battle, the diocese of Paderborn renounced all rights to the monastery in 1597. The Hessian Landgrave Philip I had a tithe office set up in the monastery complex. The monastery's possessions were given to noble families as fiefs.
Only the east wing of the complex and a chapel are preserved today. The monastery church partially collapsed in 1604. A large tithe barn was built from the stones in 1749.
In 1848, the monastery buildings were taken over by the city of Helmarshausen and subsequently used as a school. A Protestant kindergarten and a youth home have been housed there since 1965.
literature
- Gerhard Köbler : Imperial Abbey of Helmarshausen. In: Historical Lexicon of the German States. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 4th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-35865-9 , p. 243.
- Friedhelm Biermann: The aristocratic rule on Upper and Middle Weser of the 13th and 14th centuries . Diss. Münster, 2005 (pp. 328–332) Digitized version (PDF; 8 MB)
- Virginia Roehrig-Kaufmann: Helmarshausen . In: John M Jeep (Ed.): Medieval Germany. An Encyclopedia , Routledge, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8240-7644-3 (p. 339) Partial digitization
Web links
- Helmarshausen Monastery
- Eco path Archeology Helmarshausen (PDF file; 823 kB)
- Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nathalie Kruppa: Billunger and their monasteries , in Concilium medii aevi (2009) p. 24 (see sources there)
- ^ Paul Leidinger: Investigations into the history of the counts of Werl. Paderborn, 1965 (p. 39)
- ↑ On the Theophilus / Roger question: Andreas Speer and Wiltrud Westermann-Angerhausen: A handbook of medieval art? On a relecture of the Schedula diversarum artium, in: Christoph Stiegmann and Hiltrud Westermann-Angerhausen (eds.): Treasure art at the rise of the Romanesque. The Paderborn Cathedral portable altar and its surroundings, Munich 2006 , pp. 249–258.
- ^ Andrea Worm: The Helmarshausen Gospels in Gnesen. Visual program and iconography. In: Journal of the German Association for Art History. Vol. 56/57 (2002/03), pp. 49-114.
- ↑ Harald Wolter von dem Knesebeck: Book culture in the spiritual network of relationships. The Helmarshausen scriptorium in the High Middle Ages digitized
Coordinates: 51 ° 37 ′ 48.5 ″ N , 9 ° 27 ′ 13 ″ E