Lorenz Gaul

Lorenz Gaul († September 21, 1508 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

Lorenz Gaul probably came from the advisable Gul family from the imperial city of Schwäbisch Gmünd .

Gravestone of Abbot Lorenz Gaul, today on the west wall of the north transept of the Murrhardt church

After the death of his predecessor Johannes Schradin , Gaul was elected abbot of the Murrhardt monastery on April 22, 1501. If the economic situation of the abbey was already more than tense due to the brisk construction activity of Abbot Schradin, the monastery under the leadership of Gaul experienced a complete decline both in the secular and in the clergy, as he himself in a letter to Duke Ulrich von Württemberg and the Würzburg Bishop Lorenz von Bibra had to admit in 1507.

Since Murrhardt had developed into a popular base for mostly large ducal hunting parties due to the abundance of game in the area, the monastery's debt burden rose dramatically due to the frequent catering. The successful participation of Duke Ulrich in the Landshut War of Succession also put a heavy strain on the abbey, as Murrhardt was fully integrated into the military presence of Württemberg on the one hand and the fighting also took place in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, in the Löwenstein county .

The main reason for the exploding indebtedness of the monastic community, however, lay in the convention's turn to worldly pleasures and a lush lifestyle - the representation of power and wealth came to the fore, while the monks always collected their income from the monastic properties in a timely and complete manner more neglected. Although Gaul had a large cellar and a prior advising Philipp Renner , both were not more capable than the abbot himself, both economically and spiritually. Already in 1503 Lorenz Gaul had completely slipped the management of the monastery business - the spiritual and pastoral care of the congregations subordinate to the monastery came to a complete standstill. The reason for this was probably a serious illness of Gaul; the abbot lost his sight and became completely blind in 1507 at the latest.

After a long illness, Abbot Lorenz Gaul died on September 21, 1508 in Murrhardt and was buried in the monastery church. The successor in this office was held by Johannes Vayh for a short period of eight months before the previous prior Philipp Renner was elected abbot of the Murrhardt monastery in 1509 .

Others

The completely restored tombstone with a snipe as the heraldic animal of Lorenz Gaul has been preserved to this day in the Murrhardt town church - it is located in the north wing of the transept:

Anno d (omi) ni Mccccc 〈viii /. 〉 Obijtt · Reuerendvs · [p (ate) r · et] · d (omi) n (u) s · d (omi) n (u) s · laurencivs · a) / Gavl · Abbas · hvivs [· / C] enobij · mvrhart · c (uius) · a (n) i (m) a · req (ui) escat · in · pace · amen

( In the year of the Lord 1508 the venerable father and Mr. Lorenz Gaul, abbot of this monastery Murrhardt died. His soul rest in peace. Amen. ).

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. 343-344.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Contrary to Fritz, the Gul family, in which the first name Lorenz occurs, has nothing to do with the Guland family. The Gmünder Gul had a coat of arms similar to that of the Murrhardt Abbot.
2. ↑ DI 37, Rems-Murr-Kreis, No. 99 (Harald Drös and Gerhard Fritz), in: www.inschriften.net, http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0238-di037h011k0009902 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johannes Schradin	Abbot of Murrhardt 1501–1508	Philipp Renner