Mechthild von Andechs

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Mechthild from a manuscript of 1353

Mechthild von Andechs (* around 1180/1190; † December 1, 1254 ) was abbess of the Benedictine monastery in Kitzingen from 1214 until her death , where she was later honored as a blessed . She was the sister of Saint Hedwig and, through another sister, also an aunt of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia . As the youngest child in the family, she had a close relationship with her brother Ekbert.

Life

Above: The family of Berthold IV von Andechs, Mechthild sits with her abbess staff at the feet of her parents; below: Marriage of Saint Hedwig (14th century manuscript)

early years

Mechthild von Andechs was born as the youngest daughter of Duke Berthold IV von Andechs and Agnes von Rochlitz . Her exact date of birth is not known. The family belonged to the primal nobility and as such was associated with the royal dynasties of Europe. Of her eight siblings, the older sisters Agnes and Gertrud rose to become queens of France and Hungary respectively by marriage. The brothers belonged to the political elite of their time, and Ekbert was elected bishop of Bamberg. While the older sisters were married to important nobles, the youngest sisters Hedwig and Mechthild were probably intended for a career in the monastery at an early age. Among other things, Mechthild received instruction in the Holy Scriptures.

First she was sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Theodore in Bamberg , probably through the connections of her older brother Otto VII of Merania and her uncle Otto II of Bamberg . In the sources, the Bamberg period is tangible with just one mention. The connections with Kitzingen were also made through family contacts: Mechthild's sister Hedwig, who was later canonized, was brought up there. Mechthild, on the other hand, is first documented in the year of her election as abbess in Kitzingen.

At the beginning of her time as abbess, she faced opposition. The Würzburg bishop Otto I von Lobdeburg refused to confirm it on the grounds that it was not possible to go from the stricter Cistercian rule to the easier Benedictine rule. This is from a letter from Pope Innocent III. of September 2, 1214, in which he instructed the bishop of Regensburg to carry out an investigation into the election of the nun "M" of St. Theodor to the abbess of Kitzingen, which the "bishop of Wirzburg did not want to confirm". On May 20, 1215, Mechthild was still called "electa" (Latin = elected) in a document when her brother Ekbert testified and approved that the "elected nun Machd. von Kitzingen” (lat. “soror sua Machd. electa de Kitzingen”) signed a contract with Elardus (Eilhard). A document from Bishop Hermann von Wirzburg dated January 1, 1245 shows that she was then confirmed in office as abbess the blessed Elisabeth) for her monastery in Kitzingen. The appointment as abbess probably took place in agreement and with the support of her brother Ekbert, the bishop of Bamberg.

The case of Elizabeth

The case of her niece Elisabeth, a daughter of her sister Gertrud, shows that the abbess and her brother Ekbert were closely connected and knew how to act in a family-conscious manner. When Elisabeth found herself in an awkward position due to the early death of her husband Ludwig IV of Thuringia , the influential family on her mother's side took care of her. In 1228, the abbess Mechthild traveled to Thuringia on behalf of her brother Bishop Ekbert and brought her niece and her entire entourage to Kitzingen, without taking into account their ties to Konrad von Marburg . Elisabeth's daughter Sophie , later Duchess of Brabant , stayed in Kitzingen and was brought up by Mechthild in the convent, while Elisabeth herself was taken against her will to her uncle Bishop Ekbert's Pottenstein Castle , with the intention of marrying the young widow again soon. But Elisabeth refused a new marriage that contradicted her vows of chastity and threatened to cut off her nose to be ugly. A short time later, Elisabeth used the repatriation of her husband's bones from Otranto (Italy) to return to Thuringia.

late years

Mechthild managed to increase the property of the abbey. In 1227 Pope Honorius III awarded her. the patronage of the parish of Iphofen . In 1227 the monastery was founded by Emperor Heinrich, in 1235 by Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX. and placed under the protection of the empire by Pope Innocent IV in 1254. The bailiwick was confirmed to the Nuremberg burgraves, with Mechthild's brother Otto also holding the umbrella bailiwick at times. In 1246, Mechthild gave the Würzburg Hospitallers the farm in Biebelried , which had belonged to the Lords of Dettelbach . In 1250 the abbey was inherited by the von Wildberg family, who died out in 1368 .

After the death of her niece Elisabeth in 1231, her veneration quickly began and Mechthild encouraged her. In 1254, the abbess had a chapel built for St. Elizabeth near the church portal. She appointed her brother Heinrich von Meran as first vicar. Shortly before her death, she donated an eternal light to her brother Otto in Bamberg's Marienkirche. In her will, she bequeathed the monastery courtyard in Oberhaid to the Marienkloster there.

Mechthild, who also felt connected to her brother Ekbert as abbess of Kitzingen, donated some goods as a former nun to the monastery of St. Theodore in Bamberg, as can be seen from the document dated November 8, 1246. She also worried about the memories of her brother Ekbert, who died in 1237. He had been the focal point in the sibling relationship. After his death, only Mechthild and Berthold, who died in 1251, remained of the eight siblings; there is no evidence that they ever contacted each other until their deaths. Mechthild died unmarried on December 1, 1254, and with her the Andechs-Meranian family died out.

Pictorial representation

Mechthild sits at the feet of her family, while her niece Elisabeth, with a halo on the far left, ranks higher than her (Hornig Codex)

The high rank and international relationships of the Andechs-Meranien family were recorded in miniature around 1353 in the so-called Lübener Codex (also Schlackenwerth Codex). Berthold IV and his wife Agnes von Rochlitz are shown in the midst of their children, who are depicted from the inside out according to their respective rank, only Mechthild is sitting at the feet of the parents, her figure is many times smaller than the others. In the commemorative image of her sister Hedwig's wedding, Mechthild appears as the abbess of Kitzingen, identified by a black veil and abbot 's staff . The so-called Hornig Codex of 1451 also shows a reproduction of the picture of Mechthild in a nun's habit, sitting at the feet of her family, the lowest in rank.

literature

  • Klaus Arnold : 1250 years of Kitzingen. From the shadow of the monastery to the city on the Main (= writings of the Kitzingen City Archives Vol. 5) . Kitzingen 1996.
  • Alfons Pfrenzinger, Friedrich Anton Reuss: The women's monastery in Kitzingen. contributions to its history. reprint . Kitzingen 2014.
  • Benvenut Stengele : The former convent of Kitzingen am Main (Lower Franconia) . Sulzbach 1897.

references

Commons : Mechthild von Andechs  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ Klaus Arnold: 1250 years of Kitzingen. From the shadow of the monastery to the city on the Main (= writings of the Kitzingen City Archives Vol. 5) . Kitzingen 1996. p. 22.
  2. ^ a b Dieter Blume, Wartburg Foundation (Eisenach), Matthias Werner : Elisabeth of Thuringia: a European saint . Imhof, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-265-9 , pp. 55 f .
  3. ↑ a b Würzburg diocesan history sheets . tape 64 . Diocese, 2002, p. 63 .
  4. ↑ Jonathan R. Lyon : Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250 . Cornell University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8014-6784-4 , pp. 172, 180 .
  5. ↑ Alfons Pfrenzinger, Friedrich Anton Reuss: The women's monastery in Kitzingen. contributions to its history. reprint . Kitzingen 2014. p. 11.
  6. ↑ Dieter Blume, Wartburg Foundation (Eisenach), Matthias Werner: Elisabeth of Thuringia: a European saint . Imhof, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-265-9 , pp. 56 .
  7. ↑ Edmund von Oefele : History of the Counts of Andechs . Wagner, 1877, p. 37 .
  8. ↑ a b c Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies (ed.): Sankt Elisabeth: Princess, servant, saints: essays, documentation, catalogue . Thorbecke, 1981, ISBN 978-3-7995-4035-3 , pp. 55, 329 .
  9. ↑ Klaus Arnold: 1250 years of Kitzingen. From the shadow of the monastery to the city on the Main (= writings of the Kitzingen City Archives Vol. 5) . Kitzingen 1996. p. 23.
  10. ↑ Ulrike Witten: Diaconal learning from biographies: Elisabeth of Thuringia, Florence Nightingale and Mother Teresa . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2014, ISBN 978-3-374-03973-9 , p. 160, 161 .
  11. ↑ Jonathan R. Lyon : Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250 . Cornell University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8014-6784-4 , pp. 172, 180 .
  12. ↑ Alfons Pfrenzinger, Friedrich Anton Reuss: The women's monastery in Kitzingen. contributions to its history. reprint . Kitzingen 2014. p. 12.
  13. ↑ Klaus Arnold: 1250 years of Kitzingen. From the shadow of the monastery to the city on the Main (= writings of the Kitzingen City Archives Vol. 5) . Kitzingen 1996. p. 56.
  14. ↑ Christoph Fasbender : The "Wigalois" Wirnts von Grafenberg: an introduction . Walter de Gruyter, 2010, ISBN 978-3-11-019659-7 , p. 20 .
  15. ↑ Christian Dümler: The Bamberg Imperial Cathedral: 1000 years of art and history . Franconian Day, 2005, ISBN 978-3-936897-18-0 , pp 37 .
  16. ↑ 700 years Elisabeth Church in Marburg, 1283-1983 . Elwert, 1983, ISBN 978-3-7708-0757-4 , pp. 17, 88 .


personal data
SURNAME Mechthild von Andechs
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mechthild I of Andechs; Mechthild II of Andechs; Mechthild of Merania and Dieffen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Benedictine abbess
BIRTH DATE 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1254