Martin Moerlin

Martin Mörlin (* around 1490; † June 13, 1548 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

Early years

Martin Mörlin was born around 1490; the place of his birth is not known. According to a non-verifiable thesis by Gerhard Fritz, he began his spiritual career as a monk in the Lorch Monastery and came together with his predecessor in the abbot, Oswald Binder , in December 1510 as part of a transfer from there as a conventual to the Murrhardt Monastery. After Binder's attempt to restore the shattered economic situation of the Murrhardt Monastery failed, Mörlin was appointed to the large cellar of the abbey around 1519 . With a clever financial policy and the consistent collection of monastic debts, he succeeded in reducing the monastery's debt burden in a short time and fully restoring its economic capacity to act - at the same time, the associated tax burden on the population is likely to be a not inconsiderable reason for the devastating looting of the Murrhardter Monastery in the course of the Peasant War of 1525.

Abbot election and Reformation

After Binder's death, Martin Mörlin was elected the new abbot by the Murrhardt Monastery on January 3, 1528 in the presence of Abbots Johannes Schultheiss von Hirsau and Laurentius Autenrieth von Lorch.

The return of Duke Ulrich von Württemberg from exile after the battle of Lauffen changed the political and legal situation of the Murrhardt monastery and its abbot in a dramatic way. During his exile with Landgrave Philipp von Hessen, the duke had become a staunch advocate of Protestantism and pursued his goals, the introduction of the Reformation in Württemberg and the abolition of all Catholic monasteries, with iron severity. Ulrich's first attempt in 1535 to forcibly abolish the monastery failed due to bitter resistance from Mörlin and the Murrhardt convent. In return, Ulrich had all the jewels in the monastery , including a precious silver vessel from the 9th century with the mummified heart of Emperor Ludwig the Pious , confiscated and melted down in Stuttgart - an art-historical loss of incalculable proportions.

A second attempt to abolish the monastery at the beginning of January 1536 also failed, until finally the monastery bailiff Jakob Hofsess, newly appointed by Ulrich, on January 22, 1536 finally cut off monastic life and expelled the convent from Murrhardt, except for Abbot Mörlin, his prior Thomas Carlin and two frail monks . The Murrhardt Monastery was thus abolished by ducal orders and the powers of the abbot were transferred to the monastery bailiff.

After the dissolution of the monastery and for the last few years

Even after the dissolution of the monastery, Martin Mörlin remained nominally abbot, but in fact without any rights - in addition, Klostervogt Hofsess strictly prohibited all contacts outside the monastery walls. After the two frail monks passed away, only Mörlin and Prior Carlin remained in the Murrhardt monastery and were co-administrators of the monastery business under the supervision of the bailiff. This arrangement lasted for the next ten years for the participation Württemberg on Schmalkaldic war on the part of Protestant German to occupy the Duchy by the armies of Emperor Charles V . led. In the winter of 1546, Spanish occupation troops camped in the Murrhardt area and the population suffered from looting and pillage. For Murrhardt, however, Abbot Mörlin, who had been strengthened by the victories of Charles V, was able to obtain an imperial letter of protection - during an audience on December 20, 1546 with the Emperor, who was staying in nearby Schwäbisch Hall , Mörlin received a Salvaguardia in which Karl his Solsdaten attacks against the monastery and the city of Murrhardt expressly prohibited.

However , Martin Mörlin did not live to see the interim approaching Murrhardt in the early summer of 1548 and the reinstatement of the Murrhardt monastery convent, as he died on June 13, 1548 at the age of 58 in Murrhardt. His successor in the office of abbot was the previous prior Thomas Carlin .

Others

The grave monument of Martin Mörlin has unfortunately not survived, but the wording of the grave inscription, the author of which was probably his successor Thomas Carlin, was passed down through historical records:

Habes, viator, in hoc conditorio ossa pijssimi praeclarique viri, Martini, Abbatis Monasterij Murrhart: qui strenue summa animi fortitudine constantiaque vitam duxit: qui etiam miseris succurrere didicit. Iam vero in communem abijt locum, Christianissime atque catholice. Cuius anima Deo viuat. Vixit annis 58. et anno a Christo nato 1548. the 13th Junij emigrauit.

( In this grave, Wanderer, you have the bones of the most pious and most distinguished man: Martins, Abbot of the Murrhardt Monastery, who has bravely and with the greatest strength of character and persistence followed his life, who has also learned to help the poor. But now he passed into the kingdom of the dead as a good Christian and Catholic. His soul live in God! He lived 58 years and died in 1548 after the birth of Christ on June 13th ).

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. 348-349.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DI 37, Rems-Murr-Kreis, No. 157 † (Gerhard Fritz), in: www.inschriften.net, https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0238-di037h011k0015705 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Oswald Binder	Abbot of Murrhardt 1528–1548	Thomas Carlin