Maternus

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Figure of Maternus at the Catherine Altar in Trier Cathedral (Johann Neudecker the Younger, 1725)

Maternus (saint festival: September 14,; † about 328) was as Bishop of Trier lists the third Bishop of Trier and is the first historically attested bishop of Cologne ( Civitas Agrippinensium ) in the years 313 and 314 as a participant in councils in Rome and Arles mentioned . He is considered the patron saint against fever, contagious diseases and the flourishing of grapevines. According to the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints, Maternus means "the maternal one". The family name Mattern is derived from Saint Maternus .

Maternus is shown in the so-called Maternus portal on the north transept of Cologne Cathedral .

Life

The origin and the year of birth are not known. According to records from the High Middle Ages, the year of death is assumed to be 328. His resting place was perhaps in Trier , which in the High Middle Ages claimed Maternus for its own list of bishops. This tradition should be viewed with just as much caution as that of Maternus as the founding bishop of Tongeren .

Cologne probably never had the bones of Maternus, while in Trier relics of St. Maternus have been handed down historically from around 760. The so-called bishop's staff of St. Maternus is kept in the Cologne Cathedral Treasury and is still used today on important church occasions.

As a confidante of the Roman Emperor Constantine I, Maternus took part in the Lateran Synod in Rome in 313 and in the Synod in Arles in 314 , so it can be assumed that it was of great importance outside the Germanic provinces.

Church of St. Maternus in Trier-Heiligkreuz

At the time of Bishop Maternus, Pope Silvester I presided over the church. According to the Constantine donation , which was later recognized as a forgery, the church in Rome is said to have been compensated for the persecution by Emperor Constantine, including the Lateran Palace in Rome. In addition, the emperor had the Church of the Redeemer (today San Giovanni in Laterano ) built. The Pope consecrated the first St. Peter's Church in 326 . It is not known where the first Christian church stood in Cologne.

Maternus was always involved in the medieval rank disputes between the archbishopric of Trier and Cologne : Allegedly he was in possession of the original St. Peter's rod , the possession of which was decisive for the rank as the oldest church in Germany.

Various medieval institutions of the church were named after him, such as the Maternihospital in Dresden. As part of the redesign of the sculpture program for the Cologne town hall tower in the 1980s, Maternus was honored with a figure on the fourth floor on the east side of the tower. In 1967, a Maternus church was built in the Heiligkreuz district of Trier .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ stadt-koeln.de: Sculptures on the fourth floor , accessed on January 15, 2015

Web links

Commons : Maternus of Cologne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Valerius Bishop of Trier
after 300 		Agritius
- Bishop of Cologne
314 		Euphrates
- Bishop of Tongeren
315 		Servatius
personal data
SURNAME Maternus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Cologne
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century
DATE OF DEATH at 328
Place of death unsure: Trier