Matthias Döring

Matthias Döring (* 1390s in Kyritz ; † July 24, 1469 there ; also Matthias Thoring, Thoryngus), Doctor armatus , was a German Franciscan , historian and theologian .

Career

Matthias Döring entered the Saxon Franciscan Province ( Saxonia ) at a young age and went to Oxford to study for five years. In 1422 he came to Erfurt and began in 1422 with lectures on the commentary of Petrus Lombardus . In 1424 he received his doctorate in theology at the University of Erfurt and received the existing Franciscan chair at the university, which Christian von Hiddestorf had held until 1420. In 1434 he was mentioned as a theological doctor at the theological faculty of the University of Rostock when he was doing his doctorate there with Johannes Bremer, a young brother, Helmich von Gandersen (Gandersheim)

In 1427 Matthias Döring was elected provincial minister of Saxonia at the provincial chapter in Erfurt after Friedrich Macharim, who was elected in 1421, abdicated. Döring held this office until August 1, 1461. 1443 he was elected to Bern Minister General of the minority in the Franciscan Order, which in the dispute with Pope Eugenius IV. To conciliarism represented and on the part of the Antipope Felix V. stood. The Generalate Dörings expired with the resignation of Felix V. in 1449. In 1461 he retired, tired of office after the disputes about the observance in Saxonia and from the Archbishop of Magdeburg Friedrich III. excommunicated from Beichlingen , returned to the Franciscan monastery in his home town of Kyritz , where he worked as a literary writer until his death in 1469.

Theological positions

Döring's theological writings are in the footsteps of the Franciscan theologian Johannes Duns Scotus . He defended the writings of the exegete Nikolaus von Lyra , also a Franciscan, against the Spanish Jewish Christian and Bishop Paulus von Burgos , whereby he argued from a narrower horizon, since he was not a specialist exegete himself and also too committed to the scholastic Franciscan school.

From 1432 Matthias Döring took part in the Council of Basel with about 50 other Franciscans as a representative of his religious province and the University of Erfurt . After the council broke with Pope Eugene IV in 1443 , he and a minority of his order sided with the council and against the pope. In sermons, addresses and written tracts he took a conciliarist position and saw the councils as "the indispensable authority" to lead the church; The council bestowed this authority “from time immemorial, because of the extremely outstanding holiness of the popes, to these popes as serving leadership”, but in the event of power striving, abuse and arrogance of the popes, it had to withdraw their authority again. This position proved to be inferior in the further course of the council after the council was broken off in 1449.

In 1444, Elector Friedrich II of Brandenburg commissioned him to fend off attacks against the Wilsnack Host miracle raised by Heinrich Tocke .

Position on the question of poverty

Together with his friar Johannes Bremer , Matthias Döring wrote the Propositio circa Hussitarum articulum de donatione Constantini in 1431 , a pamphlet against the Hussites and their attacks on the status of priests and religious and their worldly property. He interpreted evangelical poverty in such a way that it is not the good use of property that makes Christians “unfaithful” (according to the reproach of the Hussites) but its abuse, and justified his position with the fact that God “everything at the feet of man in creation laid "( Ps 8,7  EU ); no one could keep a general law of God against property. Clerics are allowed to have communal property under the laws of the Church. Jesus' demand to renounce and to give away one's possessions ( Lk 14.33  EU , Mt 19.21  EU ) was not interpreted as a commandment and permanent mandate for religious, but as advice and timely guidance for all Christians.

Within the order he was very critical of the observance movement . At the General Chapter in Bologna in 1433, he presented the constitutions he had drawn up with simplified rules compared to the Martinian constitutions ( conflatum super Martinianas ); French observants then turned to the Council of Basel.

The reform of the order initiated by the observance movement was delayed in Saxonia because of Döring's negative attitude as provincial minister, while in other German provinces Franciscan settlements were reformed across the board according to the observant or Martinian rules, with the initiative often coming from the secular or spiritual city lords or sovereigns went out or was under the trustee of the city council. In the convent in Eisenach, at the instigation of Landgrave Friedrich the Friedfertigen , who had written to Provincial Minister Döring for this, the observance was introduced in 1438; 1461 excommunicated the Magdeburg bishop Friedrich III. von Beichlingen Matthias Döring and his successor as provincial minister, Nikolaus Lackmann, in the conflict about the introduction of the observance in the Franciscan monastery there . In Mecklenburg reform efforts were unsuccessful until the end of the 15th century. The convent in Rostock remained the point of contact for opponents of observance.

The Provincial Döring wanted to keep the monasteries of the conventual and the Martinian direction under his accessibility and not to lose even more convents to the observants. He therefore offered the observant-oriented convents, as “Reformed sub ministris ”, to be assigned to a visitor regiminis with the rank of custodian who was subordinate to the provincial. The first visitor was Johann Kannemann from 1461, the office lasted until 1509. Successively, several provincial convents were reformed in the spirit of this way of life, which was characterized by a more consistent interpretation of the vow of poverty and the handling of money. Property ownership and fixed income should be prohibited, other income was owned by the Holy See and should be administered by a secular procurator. This ideal could not be implemented in practice, especially since Provincial Döring did not force it. In his alleviation of the poverty demands, Döring also thought of the studies in the various study houses in the province for the training of the next generation of the Order, especially of the central studies in Erfurt and the monastery libraries, which he considered to be endangered by an overly strict interpretation of the vow of poverty, were with them Observants also recognize tendencies hostile to education. Matthias Döring sought more cautious reforms for the various convents and members of the order. He presented his positions in a pamphlet Informatio de regula fratrum minorum on October 16, 1451 of the theological faculty in Erfurt. At the end of Döring's tenure in 1461, only seven of the 80 or so convents of Saxonia had gone over to strict observance, most of them were Martinian.

Works

• Informatio de regula fratrum minorum. Erfurt, October 16, 1451 (report on the rule of the Friars Minor).
• Defensorium postillae Nicolai Lyrani , u. a. in: Postilla litteralis in vetus et novum testamentum with Expositiones prologorum by Guilelmus Brito, Additiones ad Postillam Nicolai de Lyra by Paulus Burgensis and Replicae contra Burgensem by Matthias Doering. (Ed. Nicolaus de Lyra) Strasbourg before April 14, 1477 (printer by Henricus Ariminensis, d. I. Georg Reyser).
• Biblia with Glossa ordinaria, Postilla litteralis by Nicolaus de Lyra, Expositiones prologorum by Guilelmus Brito, Additiones ad Postillam Nicolai de Lyra by Paulus Burgensis and Replicae contra Burgensem by Matthias Doering. 6 volumes (Ed. Sebastian Brant) Basel 5th September 1498 (with contents of the individual parts of the Bible in verse form, poem to the reader and dedication letter to Johann III. Von Dalberg , Bishop of Worms).
• Matthiae Doeringii, Doctor. Ordin. Minor. Continuatio Chronici Theodorici Engelhusii, From Anno MCCCCXX. usque ad annum MCCCCXCVIII. Ex Codice Msc. Bibliothecae Academicae Lipsiensis Descripta. In: Scriptores Rervm Germanicarvm, Praecipve Saxonicarvm. Vol. 3, Martinus, Lipsiae 1730, pp. 1-54.
• Confutatio primatus Papae (1443?), Ed. by Flacius Illyricus as SCRIPTVM CONTRA PRIMATVM PAPAE, ante annos 100. compositum.Item, Matthiae Flacij Illyrici de eadem materia. Rödinger, Christian d. Ä., Magdeburg 1550 ( digitized version ) (anonymous, attributed to Matthias Döring)

literature

• Peter Paul Albert : Matthias Döring, a German minorite of the 15th century. Süddeutsche Verlagbuchhandlung. D. Ochs, Stuttgart 1892 (= dissertation, Phil. Fac. Munich 1889).
• Dieter Berg : Matthias Döring . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 6 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1997, Sp. 1487 .
• Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. (= History of the Saxon Franciscan Province from its founding to the beginning of the 21st century , vol. 1) Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2015, ISBN 978-3-506-76989-3 , pp. 415-520, in it on Matthias Döring p. 460-475.
• Petra Weigel-Schieck: sovereigns and observance movement. Studies on the reform understanding of the Saxon provincial minister Matthias Döring (1427-1461). In: Dieter Berg (Ed.): Kings, sovereigns and mendicant orders. Conflict and cooperation in Western and Central Europe up to the early modern period. (= Saxonia Franciscana 10) Werl, 1998, pp. 361-390.
• Petra Weigel: Matthias Döring. Provincial Minister 1427 to 1461. In: Dieter Berg (Hrsg.): Management und Minoritas. Life pictures of the Saxon Franciscan provincials from the 13th to the 20th century. Butzon & Bercker Verlag, Kevelaer 2003, pp. 21-62.
• Petra Weigel: Order reform and conciliarism. The Franciscan Provincial Matthias Döring (1427–1461). (= Jena contributions to history, 7) Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2005

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Franz Ehrle: The honorary title of the scholastic teacher of the Middle Ages. Munich 1919, p. 52.
2. ^ Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, p. 460.
3. ^ Jana Bretschneider: Sermon, professorship and provincial leadership. Function and structure of the Franciscan education system in medieval Thuringia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, pp. 325–339, here p. 333.
4. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 153.
5. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 165.169.
6. ↑ Volker Honemann: The reform movements of the 15th and early 16th centuries in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, pp. 45–163, here p. 95.
7. ^ So Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, pp. 463–466. Döring's replica can be found in: Bibliorvm Sacrorvm Glossa Ordinaria Primum quidem à Strabo Fulgensi, collecta. Nvnc Vero Novis Patrvm, Cvm Graecorvm, tùm Latinorum explicationibus locupletata. Annotatis etiam locis, quæ antea confusè citabantur. Cvm Postilla Nicolai Lyrani, Nec non additionibus Pauli Burgensis, ac Matthiæ Thoryngi Replicis. From infinitis mendis purgata, in commodioremq [ue] ordinem digesta. Per F. Franciscvm Fevardentivm Ordinis Minorvm, Ioannem Dadræum, & Iacobum de Cuilly Theologos Doctores Parisienses. Magna Societas, Venetiis 1588-1603.
8. ↑ collected in the lost work Liber perplexorum ecclesiae (1431–1469), see: Petra Weigel: Order reform and conciliarism. Frankfurt a. M. 2005, p. 352.
9. ^ Sermon on the 2nd Sunday of Advent 1437; quoted by: Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, p. 470f.
10. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 167.
11. ^ Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, pp. 466-470; the writing is edited by Petra Weigel: Order reform and conciliarism. The Franciscan Provincial Matthias Döring (1427–1461). Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2005, Appendix No. 29, 309.
12. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 159; Heribert Holzapfel : Handbook of the History of the Franciscan Order , Freiburg i. Br. 1909, p. 116.
13. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 163.183.
14. ^ Ingo Ulpts: The mendicant orders in Mecklenburg. Werl 1995, p. 316f; Kannemann was formerly director of studies in Magdeburg Monastery, in 1469 he was apostolic indulgence collector and can also be found in Wismar ; Abolished by Provincial Ludwig Henning in 1509: Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 235.237.
15. ↑ Wolfgang Huschner , Heiko Schäfer: Wismar: Holy Cross Monastery (Ordo Fratrum Minorum / Franziskaner). In: Wolfgang Huschner, Ernst Münch, Cornelia Neustadt, Wolfgang Eric Wagner: Mecklenburg monastery book. Volume II., Rostock 2016, pp. 1203-1228, here p. 1214.
16. ^ Johannes Schlageter OFM: Franciscan Theology of the Middle Ages in Saxonia. In: Volker Honemann (Ed.): From the beginnings to the Reformation. Paderborn 2015, p. 473f; Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 171.
17. ↑ Wolfgang Huschner, Heiko Schäfer: Wismar: Holy Cross Monastery (Ordo Fratrum Minorum / Franziskaner). In: Wolfgang Huschner, Ernst Münch, Cornelia Neustadt, Wolfgang Eric Wagner: Mecklenburg monastery book. Volume II., Rostock 2016, pp. 1203-1228, here p. 1214.
18. ↑ Gundula Caspary: Late Humanism and Imperial Patriotism. Melchior Goldast and his editions on the history of the imperial constitution. Göttingen 2006, p. 168.