Marquard Lord God

Marquard Herrgott also Marquardt (born October 9, 1694 in Freiburg im Breisgau ; † October 9, 1762 in Bad Krozingen ) was a Benedictine monk , priest, diplomat and historian, librarian, imperial councilor and envoy.

Life

Franz Xaver Herrgott, who later became Father Marquard, came from a Freiburg bourgeois family that was closely associated with the Benedictine monastery of St. Blasien in the Black Forest . Herrgott's uncle Johann Kaspar Brenzinger was married to a sister of Abbot Romanus Vogler and was his court painter. Lord God’s cousin was the future abbot Franz Schächtelin . Another cousin worked as a secular civil servant for St. Blasien in Krozingen and Freiburg. Finally, as a monk of St. Blasien, Father Marquard's nephew Franz Kreutter was to become the monk of the abbey and to emerge as the first historian in front of Austria. After studying in Strasbourg , Freiburg and Porrentruy as well as working as a private tutor in Paris, Herrgott joined the monastery of St. Blasien at the age of 20. After the one-year novitiate, he took the religious vows in 1715. For unknown reasons he took the religious name Marquard, perhaps after St. Marquard von Porrentruy , a 12th century abbot. The monastery of St. Blasien then made it possible for Herrgott to study at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. The Lord stayed in Rome for four years, where he was ordained a priest in 1718. In 1721 he returned to his home monastery, where his interest in historical research was encouraged in the following years, for example through a study trip to Vienna and to the Melk monastery . In 1724, St. Blasien sent him to the St.-Germain-des-Prés monastery in Paris, the leading spiritual center of the Benedictine order. St.-Germain-des-Prés belonged to the Congregation of St. Maurus , whose members had committed themselves to scientific research, especially in the field of history. In St. Germain, Jean Mabillon , Bernard de Montfaucon and others had developed historical sources.

Father Bernhard Pez in Melk Monastery, whose work had already been shaped by the masons, suggested that Lord God publish historical commentaries on the Rule of Benedict in print. Herrgott was able to complete this edition work in Paris. In 1726 the "Vetus disciplina monastica" was published, the first printed collection of the comments on the Rule of Benedict from all monasteries in Europe, which have so far only been handwritten. The Lord God’s introduction to this book caused a scandal in the Order because it advocated a relaxation of the prayer, fasting and work rules of St. Benedikts had started - especially for those monks who were studying humanities ... The displeasure with the text prompted Herrgott's recall from Paris to St. Blasien. However, when Herrgott's cousin Franz Schächtelin took over the abbot, the scandal was soon forgotten. Lord God became the main cellar of the monastery until the abbot sent the cosmopolitan and highly educated monk on a diplomatic mission to the imperial court in Vienna.

From 1728 to 1748 he was the diplomatic representative of the Breisgau estates at the imperial court in Vienna. There Herrgott began his extensive studies on the history of the House of Habsburg , the first fruits of which he published in 1737 as "Genealogiea diplomatica Augusta Gentis Habsburgicae". His main work is the four-volume work “Monumenta Augustae Domus Austriacae”, in which the seals, coins, pictures and tombs of the House of Habsburg are systematically recorded, described and illustrated in the form of copperplate engravings. More than a third of these illustrations come from Peter Mayer from St. Blasien. The fourth and last part of this work was, since it was completely burned in 1769, reworked by Martin Gerbert and published in 1772.

Envoy in Vienna

In 1738 the first section of the work, the genealogy, aroused a great deal of attention and earned much praise, but also various sharp criticisms. In any case, it was an impressive appearance, if only because of the magnificent topographical decoration and the decoration with numerous vignettes and copper plates , which were attached to it for visual explanation. Because Lord God had taken the engraver Peter Meyer from Freiburg to Vienna. Emperor Charles VI. was so pleased with the three tomes that he not only presented the author with a medal, but also appointed him his councilor and historiographer. While the Pope gratefully acknowledged him for sending the work in a most flattering brief . The publication of the last two works took place under his student and confidante Rustenus Heer . The work, like almost all of these efforts, was intended to praise the House of Habsburg, which had sovereignty over the monastery so that the monastery could continue to exist and develop, but this did not succeed, as later became apparent. After 20 years in Vienna , where he was increasingly sidelined as a representative and the prelate , he averted his dismissal through a discreet tip from a minister under Maria Theresa and returned to Krozingen in 1747. When the abbot assured him in writing that he would be allowed to spend his old age here, he had the provost house (1578), which came from Abbot Kaspar II (the successor to Caspar Molitoris ), rebuilt by the builder Johann Caspar Bagnato . The rooms got marble fireplaces. He also had the palace chapel (1608), which was still built by Martin Meister I , refurbished, with stucco , probably by Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer , and with frescoes painted by the artist Johann Anton Morath . The altar sheet was probably painted by Johann Christian Wentzinger , while the picture on the antependium was made by the Freiburg painter Simon Göser . He also had the garden rebuilt, he didn't want an "economy": I don't eat grass and will be brought in for the cattle elsewhere . Equipped like this, he lived quite compliantly. Here he devoted himself to the publication of the Monumenta until his death. As a representative of the abbot, he continued to be president of the prelate class . He suffered from dropsy for many years and finally passed away peacefully. He was buried in the castle chapel in Bad Krozingen.

Bad Krozingen Castle and the Castle Chapel are privately owned. The "Collection of historical keyboard instruments Fritz Neumeyer " is located in the castle . There are concerts.

Honors

Joseph Bader compares him and his work with that of his contemporary and visitor in Krozingen, Johann Daniel Schöpflin , who received the highest honors, among other things through a writing by Goethe , while Father Marquardt remained practically unmentioned and largely unknown.

Saltpeter

Marquard Herrgot was a staunch opponent of the Saltpeterer, in particular his opponents were the Eggbauer and Josef Meyer called Glasmännle .

Works

Book from the monastery printing house Sankt Blasien, Marquard Herrgott and Rustenus Heer, Nummotheca principum Austriae, 2nd edition St. Blasien, Volume 2, Part 1, 1789

• Vetus disciplina monastica, see Collectio auctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti maximam partem ineditorem [...] , Paris 1726. Google digitized
• Instructio pro iis, qui annales S. Blasii scribere intendunt.
• Origines San-Blasianae seu Annales inclyti et principalis ad S. Blasium in nigra sylva monasterii
• Conceptus reformandi literarum studia in monasterio S. Blasii
• Conspectus monastici Blasiani and Hercynia vetus
• Genealogiae diplomatica Augusta Gentis Habsburgicae, Vienna 1737. Tomus I and II. Cum tabulis aeri incisis XXV, (Folio) Google digitized
• Monumenta Augustae Domus Austriacae.

‣ Tomus 1: Sigilla Vetera etc. , Vienna 1750. online (via ÖNB ): [1]

‣ Tomus 2: Nummotheca Principium Austriae , 2 vol., Freiburg 1752/1753. online (via ÖNB ): Part 1 Part 2

‣ Tomus 3: Pinacotheca Principium Austriae , 2 Bde., Freiburg 1760. online (via ÖNB ): Part 1 Part 2

‣ Tomus 4: Taphographia Principium Austriae , 2 vol., (1769 completely burned, reworked by Martin Gerbert ) Sankt Blasien 1772. online (via ÖNB ): Part 1 Part 2

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Hergott, Franz Jacob . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 8th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1862, pp. 365–368 ( digitized version ).
• Joseph Bader : The former St. Blasien monastery on the Schwarzwalde and its scholarly academy in: Freiburg Diöcesan Archive, Volume VIII, 1874
• Franz Xaver von Wegele :  Lord God, Marquard . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, pp. 212-214.
• Max Neustädter: The first saltpeter war from 1728 to 1732 in the light of the diaries of Father Marquard Herrgott, in: Badische Heimat 1932, pp. 175–185
• Josef Peter Ortner: Marquard Herrgott (1694–1762). His life and work as a historian and diplomat. Böhlau, Wien et al. 1972, ISBN 3-205-03226-8 ( Publications of the Commission for the History of Austria. 5 = Writings of the DDr. Franz Josef Mayer-Gunthof Fund. 8)
• Stefan Benz: Court historiography: Appointment of Marquard Herrgott OSB as imperial councilor and historiographer 1736, in: Susanne Rau and Birgit Studt: Writing history: a source and study manual for historiography (approx. 1350–1750), Berlin 2010, pp. 55–71
• Franz Joseph Mone , Sources on Baden State History , Volume 1, p. 64ff ( digitized version )

Web links

• Short biography, University of Graz
• The Vetus disciplina monastica (Paris 1726) as a digitized version

Individual evidence

1. ↑ theol.uni-freiburg.de: The Ex Libris of the Theological Faculty - Theological Faculty ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed May 26, 2009
2. ↑ Joseph Bader: The former St. Blasien monastery on the Schwarzwalde and its scholarly academy in: Freiburger Diöcesan Archiv, Volume VIII, 1874, p. 79