Mattonen
The Mattonen family was an East Franconian , early medieval aristocratic family . Her family is documented from the 8th century to the year 926, whereby some Franconian noble families of the high Middle Ages , such as the Counts of Castell and the Lords of Rothenburg , are counted among the cognatic descendants of the Mattons.
history
The origin of the Mattons is obscure. What is certain is that they were part of the Merovingian "imperial service nobility" and that the Mattons' predecessors were passed down as early as the 5th century. Through the East Franconian conquests of the Merovingians and later the Carolingians , the ancestors of the Mattons who traveled with them rose to so-called “maiores natu” (Latin nobility). Her family was especially wealthy in Grabfeld and in several districts that are now occupied by the Bavarian administrative districts of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.
In the 7th century there was a split in lines, creating the Alwalahonen and the Mattonen in the broader sense. The second-mentioned split in turn into three lines, of which the first, the so-called Huntolf line, named after the progenitor Huntolf, bequeathed all of their possessions to the Fulda Abbey . The second line soon died out and bequeathed its property to the third part of the family. This was headed by Matto the elder, who now founded the Mattones in the narrower sense and also gave the gender its name.
The sword-bearing family of the Mattonen owned substantial property and received land and people as fiefs from the king . In return, its members performed high political service. Parts of her family occupied bishoprics and founded monasteries in the newly evangelized areas of Eastern Franconia. However, apart from Einfirst-Mattenzell, no such acts are recorded of Matto the Elder and his wife Hadaburg; Matto's brother, Megingaud the elder , was, however, the second bishop of Würzburg .
The children Mattos, Matto the Younger, Megingaud the Younger, Juliana and possibly Hruadlaug and Megina, stood out through monastery foundations. The convents of Wenkheim , Megingaudshausen , Neustadt am Main and the women's monastery in Schwarzach am Main can be traced back to the family. In the 8th century, in 776 and 796, the Wenkheim siblings donated to the Boniface Abbey in Fulda , in 788 they also donated Einfirst-Mattenzell and a large number of villages to Fulda.
In 816 Megingaud the Younger donated Megingaudshausen (probably Unterlaimbach ) in Steigerwald, which was to become the predecessor abbey of the Münsterschwarzach monastery, together with his wife Imma . On the Main itself, nuns resided in the Schwarzach convent. This monastery was founded by the Mattonen who wanted to secure a supply for their second-born daughters. Fastrada , the fourth wife of Charlemagne , who was also counted among the Mattons, expanded the monastery further.
The last representative of the family was probably the Commendatarabbot and Bishop of Freising , Dracholf , who died in 926. In research one also suspects cognatic connections to high medieval aristocratic families such as the Counts of Castell and the Lords of Rothenburg, but these cannot be proven by genealogical connections. They are based solely on goods that were originally in the hands of the Mattons and can be found a few centuries later among the families mentioned above.
people
Only parts of the master list can be reconstructed.
- A1. Megingaud the Elder (also Megingaud of Würzburg , Megingoz ; * 710, † 783), Bishop of Würzburg
- A2. Hruadlaug , possibly abbess of Frauenschwarzach
- A3. Matto the Elder (also Manto , Macco ) ∞ Hadaburg
- B1. Matto the Younger
- B2. Megingaud the Younger ∞ Imma (also Ymna)
- C1. Arnold
- C2. Marquard
- B3. Juliana (occupied 789–794), possibly abbess of Frauenschwarzach
- B4. Megina
Furthermore, the following people are included in the sex of the Mattons:
- Radolf (documented in the 8th century)
- Hadeloga († 750), abbess of the Kitzingen monastery, saint
- Fastrada (* around 765; † 794), wife of Charlemagne
- Gumbert (* 8th century; † 795), Bishop of Würzburg, Abbot of Ansbach Monastery
- Blutenda (also Blittrud) († April 17, 851), abbess of the Münsterschwarzach convent
- Arn (before 855 - 13 July 892), Bishop of Würzburg
- Dracholf (also Traghülf ; † 926), Bishop of Freising, Commendatarabbot of Münsterschwarzach
coat of arms
A real family crest does not exist for the Mattons. The reason for this is that shield coats of arms were only developed in the 12th century to distinguish their bearers. Nevertheless, a coat of arms was handed down through later attributions. A depiction of the 18th century assigns this coat of arms to Megingaud, and it can also be found as an element of the monastery coat of arms of Münsterschwarzach.
Description : In blue a golden lion head looking forward, holding a lowered golden rafter in its mouth.
literature
- Franziskus Büll: The Monastery Suuarzaha. A contribution to the history of the Münsterschwarzach women's monastery from 788 (?) To 877 (?) . Münsterschwarzach 1992.
- Franziskus Büll: The Counts of Castell- descendants of the Mattons? A contribution to the early history of the Castell family and the Münsterschwarzach monastery . In: Alfred Wendehorst (Hrsg.): The land between Main and Steigerwald in the Middle Ages. The lectures given at the Symposium in Castell from September 5th to 7th, 1996. Erlangen research. Series A Humanities . Erlangen 1998. pp. 185-232.
- Theodor J. Scherg: The Counts of the Mattonen and their religious foundations in Franconia, primarily Megingaudshausen in the Steigerwald and Schwarzach am Main . Brno 1909.
- Gabriel Vogt: On the early history of the Münsterschwarzach Abbey (= special print from Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch 32/1980) . Volkach 1980.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Büll, Franziskus: The Counts of Castell descendants of the Mattons ? P. 187 f.
- ↑ Scherg, Theodor: Das Grafgeschlecht der Mattonen . P. 5.
- ↑ Scherg, Theodor: Das Grafgeschlecht der Mattonen . P. 6.
- ↑ Directorium Diplomaticum …… , First Volume, Volume I, Hahn, Altenburg, 1820, p. 7
- ↑ Max Döllner : History of the development of the city of Neustadt an der Aisch until 1933. Ph. CW Schmidt, Neustadt ad Aisch 1950, p. 71 (after a fire “817 moved to Schwarzach am Main”)
- ↑ Cf. Franziskus Büll: Das Monasterium Suuarzaha .
- ↑ Cf. Franziskus Büll: The Counts of Castell - Descendants of the Mattons ? Pp. 195-215.
- ^ Franziskus Büll: The Counts of Castell - Descendants of the Mattons? P. 208.
- ↑ Gabriel Vogt: On the early history of the Münsterschwarzach abbey . P. 10.