Ludwig III. from Arnstein

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Arnstein Monastery, founded by Count Ludwig III. in the place of his castle; here he is buried in the monastery church

Ludwig III. von Arnstein (* 1109 Arnstein Castle ; † October 28, 1185 in Gommersheim Monastery , today Gau-Odernheim ) was a count and founder of several monasteries. He became a Premonstratensian , is traditionally venerated as a blessed and with him his sex died out in the male line.

biography

Origin and family

His family were the Counts in Einrichgau . The exact genealogy is controversial and largely unknown. About Count Ludwig III. his original Vita Gesta comitis Ludewici exists , which also mentions his direct ancestors and an unspecified blood relationship with the Hohenstaufen Duke Friedrich II of Swabia (father of Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa ). Based on information that has been verified to date, this source is considered to be very reliable; It was written around 1200 by the Arnstein Premonstratensian Luwandus. The noble family took its name from Arnstein Castle near Seelbach in the Rhein-Lahn district , which Count Ludwig III. converted into the still existing Arnstein monastery .

Life

Peterskirche Bubenheim (Pfalz), foundation of Count Ludwig III. from Arnstein
St. Norbert Monastery Church, Enkenbach, donated by Count Ludwig von Arnstein

He was the son of Count Ludwig II and his wife Udelhild von Odenkirchen . Ludwig II died prematurely (around 1115). After her son had reached the age of majority, the mother withdrew to the Odenkirchen estate, which she owned as a morning gift. Later she lived as a canoness and donated her inheritance to the Archdiocese of Cologne ; she was buried in Cologne Cathedral .

Count Ludwig III. entered into the rights of his late father very early. Because of his lack of upbringing, without a father, he led a dissolute and violent life; his castle became the starting point for dreaded raids. Around 1125 he married Countess Guda von Bomeneburg, whose home is localized by recent historical research on the Altenbaumburg near what is now Altenbamberg . She belonged to the emichons .

The marriage remained childless and Ludwig III. made a radical inner change. His superficial world-weary, he decided - initially against the declared opposition of the wife - to devote spiritual purposes its goods and some yourself for the monastic state in 1139, he convened a group of 12 Premonstratensians from. Monastery grace of God in Calbe an der Saale to him and gave them his ancestral castle, which he rededicated to the Arnstein monastery. He himself entered there as a lay brother at the age of 30. The foundation of the new monastery from the beginning included Bubenheim (Palatinate) and its St. Peter's Church , which the count possibly owned from his wife's marriage property. The donation to the Arnstein monastery in 1140 is also the first documentary mention of the village of Bubenheim. The existing Bubenheim church was rebuilt in 1163 by the priest Gottfried von Beselich on behalf of the Arnstein monastery . It is considered to be the oldest Romanesque village church in the Palatinate and has an edification inscription by the Arnstein clergy with his portrait; the new building was likely to have been carried out in close coordination with the donor, who often stayed here as a religious.

Ludwig's wife Guda lived as an inclusion in Arnstein after entering the order . The couple donated their entire fortune to the church, from which numerous other monasteries grew.

When visiting his estates in Bubenheim, Count Ludwig III. more often in what is now Rheinhessen , stopping off at service men of the Metz bishopric. Through this he received the Gommersheim property of the bishopric in 1146 so that he could establish a monastery of the Premonstratensian women there as a branch of Arnstein.

As early as 1144 he had reactivated the nearby Münsterdreisen monastery and occupied it with Premonstratensians from the Divine Grace Monastery. His own chaplain, Marquard, became the first provost there in 1145 .

Count Ludwig III. also looked after the Premonstratensian choir women in Bethlenrode monastery near Kirdorf . He also transplanted these to the Palatinate , first settling them in Stetten near Bubenheim and finally founded the Marienthal Convent for them around 1146 , which was legally subordinate to the Münsterdreisen monastery. In 1148 the foundation of the Premonstratensian monastery in Enkenbach followed , as a further subsidiary of Münsterdreisen.

The Beselich women's choir monastery also belongs to Count Ludwig von Arnstein's surroundings. The initiator was Gottfried von Beselich, who also worked in Bubenheim, but the count, who lived there as a converse, undoubtedly played an important role in the founding of the Arnstein monastery in 1170 as a branch convent , especially since he was responsible for the church that had previously been built there and given to his monastery obtained a letter of protection from Archbishop Hillin von Trier as early as 1163 .

death

Ludwig III. von Arnstein died in 1185 in Gommersheim Monastery, where he was on one of his inspection trips to the Palatinate monasteries and properties. Provost Burkard von Münsterdreisen gave him the sacraments there . People from all the surrounding villages rushed to mourn the founder of the monastery. The body was laid out for two days in the Gommersheim monastery church, on the third day it came to the Eberbach monastery , one day later to Kirdorf and from there was taken to the Arnstein monastery for burial.

Count Ludwig u. a. Tradition has it that he took off clothes and gave them away to beggars, which is why his vita draws a parallel to St. Martin of Tours . It says there:

“ He had shared his cloak with his arms, like Saint Bishop Martin, with it he acquired a robe of grace of purple and silk, the eternal joy of heaven. "

Commemoration

Ludwig von Arnstein is listed in many saints legends and Arnstein Monastery, his former castle, still exists today. The other monasteries he founded all went under. The monastery church of St. Norbert in Enkenbach-Alsenborn , the Peterskirche in Bubenheim and the remains of the monastery church of Marienthal have been preserved . His name and his intention live on in the modern religious community of the Arnstein Fathers . Although they are officially called the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Eternal Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar , in the German-speaking world they call themselves the Arnstein Fathers , after their local mother house in the Arnstein Monastery.

literature

  • Ernst Zais:  Arnstein, Ludwig III. Count v. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 597 f.
  • Christian von Stramberg : Memorable and useful Rhenish antiquarian , 2nd section, 3rd volume, pp. 261–264, Koblenz, 1853; (Digital scan)
  • Johann Heinrich Hennes: History of the Counts of Nassau , Part 1: Up to the year 1255 , pages 69-71, Cologne, 1842;
  • Bruno Krings: The Premonstratensian Monastery Arnstein ad Lahn in the Middle Ages (1139–1527), in: Publications of the historical commission for Nassau, Volume 48, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 392224484X

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gredy (Gau-Odernheimer Chronik; Volume 1); P. 290 f
  2. ↑ Historical website for the monastery Gommersheim or Gummersheim
  3. ^ Website of the diocese of Münster to the Blessed Ludwig III. from Arnstein
  4. ^ Biographical website on Gottfried von Beselich
  5. ↑ Website on the lost Gommersheim / Gummersheim monastery
  6. ↑ Alfons Hoffmann, “Kloster Marienthal am Donnersberg” , 1956, pp. 5-7
  7. ^ Johann Heinrich Hennes: History of the Counts of Nassau , Part 1: Up to the year 1255 , page 70, Cologne, 1842; (Digital scan)
  8. ↑ Annals of the Association for Nassau Antiquity and Historical Research , Volume 4, Wiesbaden, 1850, page 113; (Digital scan)
  9. ^ On the founding of the Enkenbach monastery as a subsidiary of Münsterdreisen
  10. ↑ Website on the history of the Beselich Monastery ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Christoph W. Martin: Gottfried von Beselich: Life and Work , Beselicher Schriften Nr. 11, 1999, ISSN  0934-036X , pages 19 u. 52-55
  12. ^ Johann Heinrich Hennes: History of the Counts of Nassau , Part 1: Up to the year 1255 , page 70, Cologne, 1842; (Digital scan)
  13. ^ Official website of the Arnstein Fathers
personal data
SURNAME Ludwig III. from Arnstein
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Count Ludwig III. from Arnstein
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count, monastery founder and Premonstratensian
DATE OF BIRTH 1109
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1185
Place of death Gau-Odernheim , Gommersheim Monastery,