Machar Wais von Fauerbach
Machar Wais von Fauerbach (* in the 15th century; † November 16, 1509 in Speyer ) was a Benedictine and abbot of the Limburg monastery .
Live and act
Benedictine and abbot
He came from the aristocratic family of the Wais von Fauerbach, who lived in the Wetterau . It is unclear whether Machar is the baptismal name or a religious name.
Machar Wais von Fauerbach became a Benedictine and joined the Limburg convent at the age of 12. In 1481 the Bursfeld Congregation began extensive reforms there. Anselm Ulner von Dieburg ruled as abbot from 1483 and resigned in 1490. Machar, who already served as prior under him, was elected as his successor as 55th abbot of Limburg monastery. He was supposed to be the last abbot to rule the monastery in its old splendor. Johannes Trithemius , who was present when he was installed in Limburg, characterizes him as a gentle, modest and peaceful man who distinguished himself through the impeccability of his conduct and who adhered to strict monastic discipline . The local historian Johann Georg Lehmann writes of him: "He was a learned and virtuous man, devoid of any passion, at the same time agreeable to deal with and gifted with a ravishing eloquence."
In 1492 he renewed the traditional fiefs for the Counts of Leiningen . Nevertheless, the warlike Count Emich IX tried . von Leiningen-Hardenburg permanently diminish the rights of the abbey. There were constant disputes with him, but thanks to the protection of the mighty Electoral Palatinate , the monastery was largely able to assert itself. As 1504, the Landshut War of Succession broke out and Elector Philip of the Palatinate with the imperial ban was proved to Emich IX rose. immediately against him. He crossed the Electoral Palatinate with Landgrave Wilhelm II of Hesse and left a trail of devastation , especially on Bergstrasse .
Destruction of the monastery
In July 1504, the Leininger resigned from the abbot on his fiefdom, which made Machar Wais von Fauerbach fear an attack on his monastery. He called on an Electoral Palatinate protection force, which on July 23 of that year, with a strength of 400 men , moved into the abbey under Captain Friedrich von Sponheim . Under her protection, Abbot Machar had the church treasury, the library and the archive relocated to Speyer. He himself accompanied the transport, but fell ill with a fever in Speyer and had to stay there. The prior of Limburg was ordered to evacuate other furnishings, especially furniture and altarpieces, which the Electoral Palatinate troop commander Friedrich von Sponheim refused because he feared panic among the residents of the area. On August 29, 1504, the Palatinate Guard had to withdraw due to the war when they were to be deployed elsewhere; the remaining monks joined the soldiers.
Count Emich IX fell the next day. about the convention. He stole everything that seemed useful to him, had the crypt open, the corpse of his father buried there transferred to Bad Dürkheim and set fire to the 500-year-old monastery. In order to cause the greatest possible damage, the fire was maintained artificially for 12 days. All buildings were destroyed, including 21 altars. While the convent building began to be rebuilt later, the church remained in ruins and was only partially restored for worship. With this event, Limburg Abbey largely lost its importance and only led a shadowy existence until its final dissolution.
Stay in Wachenheim
Machar Wais von Fauerbach moved with 4 conventuals to the Limburger Gutshof (called Münzhof) in Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse . He placed most of the homeless monks in other monasteries. In July 1505, at the Reichstag in Cologne , he accused the Count of Leiningen as “a criminal arsonist and destroyer of his abbey” . He brought an identical complaint to Pope Julius II in Rome . King Maximilian I ordered an investigation into the matter, which, however, remained without tangible results. Machar demanded reparation from the people of Leiningen for the damage caused, which kept the relationship with them permanently tense.
The abbot therefore no longer wanted to revive the monastery near the Leiningen headquarters, the Hardenburg , and planned to relocate it to Wachenheim. For this purpose he sold the Friedelsheim Castle, which belonged to the abbey, and tried to use the proceeds to implement the project. At the beginning of 1508 he appointed Johann von Deidesheim as prior and called the Limburg monks back to Wachenheim. In the same year he acquired the parish church of St. Georg in Wachenheim from the Premonstratensians , had the associated rectory expanded and bought houses and land to build a new monastery. However, that did not happen. Machar Wais von Fauerbach died in Speyer in November 1509 and, according to his wishes, was buried in the choir of the church of Wachenheim - the presumptive abbey church. His successor Werner Breder von Hohenstein , whom he had appointed as prior of the Naumburg branch convent in 1505 , did not pursue the move plan any further, but began to rebuild the old abbey.
Machar's successor, Apollo von Vilbel († 1536), was probably related to him, as his grandmother also came from the family of the orphans von Fauerbach.
literature
- Franz Xaver Remling : Documented history of the former abbeys and monasteries in what is now Rhine Bavaria , Volume 1, pp. 134–141, Neustadt an der Haardt, 1836; (Digital scan)
- Johann Georg Lehmann : History of the Limburg Monastery near Dürckheim an der Haardt , Frankenthal (Pfalz), 1822, pp. 56-61 and 71-75; (Digital scan)
- Wilhelm Manchot : Limburg Monastery , Mannheimer Altertumsverein, 1892, pp. 25–28
- Richard Charles Hoffmann: Fishers' Craft and Lettered Art: Tracts on Fishing from the End of the Middle Ages , Volume 12 of: Toronto medieval texts and translations , University of Toronto Press, 1997, p. 36, ISBN 0802078532 ; (Digital scan)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Geib: The sagas and stories of the Rhineland , Mannheim, 1836, page 51; (Digital scan)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Orphan from Fauerbach, Machar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Benedictine abbot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 16, 1509 |
| Place of death | Speyer |