Konrad of Marburg

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Konrad von Marburg: Detail of a glass window in the Marburg Elisabeth Church

Konrad von Marburg (* around 1180 - 90 ; † July 30, 1233 in Beltershausen near Marburg ) was a high medieval priest and master , successful crusade preacher , later inquisitor and confessor of Elisabeth of Thuringia , later Saint Elisabeth.

biography

There is hardly any biographical evidence about Konrad von Marburg, which can indicate that he comes from an insignificant background. Even in his personal testimonies, there is not a single reference to his origin, which is unusual for this time.

First appearance

Conrad first received verifiable public attention in 1214 through sensational sermons . Since he is often referred to as a master's degree (equivalent to today's doctor ) and “educated” in historical sources , he seems to have studied, probably at the University of Paris. This fits the evidence that he first worked in Alsace . He later moved through the Rhineland to Thuringia and held his mass-effective crusade sermons in the open air, which contributed to the emergence of a new crusade movement.

For this he was in 1215 from Pope Innocent III. in this context he had also received disciplinary powers to improve the way of life and pastoral care of the German clergy .

Influence on the Thuringian landgrave family

In the course of his wandering activity, he became friends with the Thuringian landgrave family . He was appointed confessor to the young Elizabeth. In this office he strengthened the tendency of the young landgrave to very hard piety exercises and brought the long unwilling Ludwig IV to take part in the crusade enterprise of Emperor Frederick II . A further increase in power for Konrad consisted in the privilege of assigning the spiritual offices in Thuringia on behalf of the Landgrave who was absent from the crusade.

Landgrave Ludwig died in Italy and left a very young widow, who later became Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia. After Ludwig's death, he staged himself as a protector and, in a dispute with the landgrave's family, fought for the surrender of considerable widows' estates . The two of them moved at his instigation, from the Wartburg to Marburg . Pope Gregory IX Konrad himself had appointed Elisabeth's guardian in a missive and authorized her to protect her rights vis-à-vis her relatives after her husband's death as a “defensor”. Konrad used the access to Elisabeth's assets to set up a hospital in agreement with her to care for the sick and poor, in which the former princess worked as a nurse. Konrad carried out his pastoral office towards Elisabeth in a cruel manner; he took the children away from her and isolated them by ordering her not to have contact with her friends. Since Elisabeth had previously committed herself to him by vows, she could not defend herself against it without breaking the vow. He whipped her and spied on her. The young woman's health was not able to cope with this for long. She died in 1231 at the age of just 24. After Elisabeth's death, public attention for Konrad cooled significantly. He then staged himself as a fighter for the canonization of Elizabeth. Tales of divine miracles soon grew around the corpse of the benefactress of the sick and poor . Conrad made a request for canonization in Rome himself . For this purpose he also wrote a brief summary of Elisabeth's life. This Summa vitae is his only surviving literary work and, along with the Libellus de dictis quatuor ancillarum sanctae Elisabeth confectus , which contains the statements of Elisabeth servants Guda and Isentrud von Hörselgau , is one of the most important historical sources for the life of the saints.

Public reputation

His credibility benefited from the fact that he kept the celibacy applicable to priests , i.e. the vow of chastity , and lived in a consciously chosen personal poverty. According to historical sources, some followers followed him from place to place. So he initially offered the image of a typical preacher of the religious poverty movement , which was alive in all European countries at this time.

New career as a persecutor of heretics

This poverty movement, however, also had an important branch remote from the church or heretical branch, here above all the Cathars and Waldensians should be mentioned. The Roman Church relied on the violent extermination of these heretics . To get closer to this goal, Pope Gregory IX. the office of inquisitor , that is, a special agent who is independent from the normal episcopal courts to fight heretics.

One of the first of these inquisitors with a direct papal mandate was Konrad von Marburg. Now, as an official heretic judge, he was allowed to pass judgment on the bishops.

Persecution of heretics in Germany increased in scope and severity under Konrad; Authorized to do so by a decree from Pope Gregory, he was allowed to shorten the inquisition process and have the accused executed at the stake without observing the time-consuming procedural rules that were customary up to now . He took several of the heretics that Konrad persecuted to be devil worshipers . His descriptions prompted Pope Gregory IX. in 1233 to send out the papal letter Vox in Rama , in which this heresy was informed.

death

Since Konrad did not shy away from counts, bishops and princes, he aroused fear, hatred and resistance even in aristocratic circles. Henry III. von Sayn and his wife Mechthild von Sayn were the foster parents of the two little daughters Elisabeth and Ludwig (Sophie and Gertrud) since their mother had to give them up at Konrad's behest. Konrad accused him of being a heretic friend. Heinrich managed, however, that his case was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Inquisition and transferred to an imperial court in Mainz Cathedral with the participation of the German King Heinrich (VII) . There he was able to resort to traditional judicial procedures such as oath assistants , who pleaded his innocence, and thus obtain an acquittal.

Konrad faced an unexpected defeat. Accompanied by two familiar monks, he made his way home to Marburg in Upper Hesse. At what is now the hamlet of Hof Capelle, southeast of Marburg, about 2 km northeast of Beltershausen in the Ebsdorfer Grund, six mounted men lay in wait for him. a. Members of the von Dernbach family (it is unclear whether they were members of the family from the Westerwald - which is more likely because of their proximity to the Count's house of Sayn - or from the Gießen area) and killed him and his servants on July 30, 1233.

Reception since the 19th century

In the second half of the 19th century there was a wave of publications on Konrad von Marburg, monographs , dissertations and edification pamphlets. Even a play as a dramatic adaptation of the subject has been preserved: Konrad von Marburg, German heretic master and Grand Inquisitor: tragedy in five acts; freely adapted from the story by Hans Hagen (Leipzig 1890). The volume was 100 pages. This interest in fashion soon died down again. After the turn of the century, a few dissertations were still published. In post-war Germany, hardly any author or publisher had the idea to work on this material, unless with reference to the city of Marburg or academically to the relationship between the sexes . However, Konrad appears as an important supporting character in Wiebke von Thadden's youth novel Philipp between Kaiser and King from 1989.

In the French comic short series La troisième testament (1997-2003, in four parts, German as Das third Testament bei Carlsen ), the hero is a former inquisitor "Conrad de Marbourg" (German "Konrad von Marburg"). This adventure series is a medieval fantasy story without reference to the historical Konrad.

In the musical Elisabeth - The Legend of a Saint , which premiered in 2007 in Eisenach , Konrad appears in his role as Elisabeth's confessor as the main male role. He is played by Chris Murray .

Thomas Mann has Konrad von Marburg named in his novel The Magic Mountain by the enlightening-minded protagonist Lodovico Settembrini as a named example of the "dehumanized atrocities" and "murderous intolerance" of his era. These are compared with the “ Jacobins ' desire to exterminate ” in an extensive dispute .

literature

Source editions

  • Giuseppe Alberigo (Ed.): Conciliorum oecumenicorum decreta . Freiburg 1962.
  • James Fearns (Ed.): Heretics and the fight against heretics in the High Middle Ages, Göttingen 1968 (Historical texts / Middle Ages; Volume 8).
  • Ludwig Förg: The persecution of heretics in Germany under Gregory IX. Their origin, their meaning and their legal basis . Berlin 1932 (historical studies 218), ND Vaduz 1965.
  • Othmar Hageneder among others: The Register Innocenz 'III .; Volume 2: 2nd year of the pontificate, 1199/1200 . Texts / edited by Othmar Hageneder, Werner Maleczek and Alfred A. Strnad , in: Publications of the Austrian Cultural Institute in Rome. Dept. 2, Sources; Row 1, Rome; Vienna 1979.
  • Dietrich Kurz: Beginnings of the Inquisition in Germany in: Peter Segl (Hrsg.): The beginnings of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages. With an outlook on the 20th century and a contribution on religious intolerance in the non-Christian area . Cologne 1993 (Bayreuth Historical Colloquia; Volume 7).
  • Joannes Dominicus Mansi (Ed.): Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima Collectio . Volume 23, ND Graz 1960.
  • Kurt Selge (Ed.): Texts on the Inquisition, Gütersloh 1967.
  • Emil Zenz (ed.): The deeds of the Trier . Gesta Treverorum. Volume 3, Trier 1959.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerd Schwerhoff: The Inquisition. Heretic persecution in the Middle Ages and modern times. 3. Edition. Munich 2009, ISBN 9783406508400 , p. 42 f.
  2. ↑ Thomas Mann: The Magic Mountain . 1924, p. 543 .
personal data
SURNAME Konrad of Marburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Inquisitor and Politician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1180
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1233
Place of death Beltershausen near Marburg (Lahn)