Matthias de Monte

Matthias de Monte (also Mathias ; * in Mons , today Belgium ; † July 6, 1587 ) was successively prior of the Carthusian monasteries in Grünau , Astheim , Tückelhausen and Prüll . In addition, de Monte also excelled as a writer.

The monasteries in front of de Monte

All over Central Europe, the monasteries of most monastic orders were threatened by the Reformation in the middle of the 16th century . The split in the church led to a noticeable decline in the new generation of monasteries and also drove already trained monks out of the isolated convents . The Gruenau Charterhouse was temporarily abandoned, also because its landlords, the Counts of Wertheim , had converted to the Lutheran faith. Tückelhausen also suffered from the Reformation.

The decline of the Carthusian monastery in the 16th century can be illustrated with the help of the Astheim Charterhouse. It was built at the beginning of the 15th century and experienced a major decline in 1525, when the German Peasants' War reached the town on the Main . Nevertheless, the priors pushed for the reconstruction in the following period. Due to the split in faith, the convent had shrunk until the middle of the 16th century so that the dissolution of the Charterhouse was discussed under Prior Jakobus Heil.

Life

Matthias de Monte was probably born in the first half of the 16th century in what is now the Belgian city of Mons, which at the beginning of his life was still part of the Spanish Netherlands . The sources are silent about the family and the education of the young Matthias. Matthias probably studied theology . He then embarked on a spiritual career and took a vow in the Carthusian monastery in Hildesheim , which was more than 500 kilometers from his birthplace.

Four years later, Matthias moved to Buxheim, where he made his profession again in the local Carthusian monastery in 1544 . The general chapter sent the monk in 1555 to the threatened Grünau monastery in the diocese of Würzburg . Only three monks had lived in the Charterhouse since 1550, so that the continued existence of the settlement was unclear. When the Counts of Wertheim converted to Lutheranism, their fate was sealed. Matthias de Monte was expelled by the counts' troops in 1557, according to the story, the soldiers came just as he was about to prepare egg lard in his cell . De Monte remained titular prior of Grünau until 1574.

In the following years Matthias took on tasks for the general chapter, so he was appointed a visitor to the Upper German province of the order. A task that required a lot of travel and which de Monte carried out until 1571. In 1566 Matthias de Monte was appointed prior in the Astheim Charterhouse. The Charterhouse had problems with the next generation, because in 1569 only one professed lived in the monastery. Matthias stayed here until 1570 and then handed over his office to Johannes V. Haupt.

During his tenure in Astheim, de Monte stayed more often in other Carthusian monasteries. On January 4, 1569, he wrote a letter to his successor from Tückelhausen. He, at that time still prior in Würzburg , was supposed to negotiate with the city of Volkach on behalf of de Monte . The place at the Main Triangle made the Astheim monks dispute the fishing rights along the river, which led to protracted disputes.

At the beginning of the 1570s, Matthias was also the prior of the Tückelhausen Charterhouse. The monastery had only been surrounded by a curtain wall a few years earlier because constant devastation in the Peasants' War and the Margrave War had made an orderly religious life impossible. At the same time, one also had to deal with concerns about the next generation. Matthias de Monte later became prior in Prüll, an office that he would hold until 1573.

After his presumably age-related resignation in Prüll, Matthias de Monte lived in the monastery for two years before he returned to his mother monastery in Buxheim in 1575. Here he spent the last years of his life. Matthias became vicar of Buxheim and in this office wrote several historical works about the Charterhouse in particular and the order in general. Matthias de Monte died on July 6, 1587.

literature

• James Hogg: The Astheim Charterhouse . In: Michael Koller (ed.): Carthusians in Franconia (= Church, Art and Culture in Franconia. Volume 5) . Würzburg 1996. pp. 109-118.
• Ignaz Schwarz: The Astheim Karthaus. A picture of history . Gerolzhofen 1903.
• Michael Wieland: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . In: Archive of the historical association of Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, Vol. 38 . Würzburg 1896. pp. 1-35.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schwarz, Ignaz: The Astheim Charterhouse . Pp. 18-22.
2. ↑ Hogg, James: Astheim Charterhouse . P. 117 (note).
3. ↑ Wieland, Michael: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . P. 19.
4. ↑ Wieland, Michael: The Karthaus Ostheim and its residents . P. 19.
5. ↑ Hogg, James: Astheim Charterhouse . P. 117 (note).