Millstatt Jesuit rule
The Millstatt Jesuit rule from 1598 to 1773 marks the 175-year rule of the Jesuits (SJ) in Millstatt Abbey in Upper Carinthia . The order took over the monastery from the Order of St. George Knights . Under Joseph II. Was pin canceled. The Habsburgs had expected an intensified fight against Protestantism . Since the Jesuits were also secular landlords and had to finance the University of Graz , they did not force the Counter-Reformation with the severity that the Catholic nobility had demanded for political reasons.
Protestantism and Counter-Reformation
It was not surprising that centers of Carinthian Protestantism developed in the area of the only old monastery in Upper Carinthia in the second half of the 16th century. This development was also promoted by the fact that around Millstatt the lords of Paternion , Sommeregg, Gmünd and Himmelberg were owned by the Khevenhüller family , who were among the protagonists of the new teaching. On July 26, 1598, the Order of the Knights of St. George was dissolved by Archduke and later Emperor Ferdinand II . He transferred ownership to the Jesuits (SJ), an order founded in 1534 and confirmed by the Pope in 1540 . Ferdinand, himself a strict Catholic upbringing at the Jesuit school in Ingolstadt , was convinced, in view of the religious zeal of this order, that he could push back Protestantism with the help of the Jesuits and carry out a Counter-Reformation . The Jesuits became the most important helpers in the efforts of the re-Catholicisation of the Austrian rulers. A Jesuit college had already been established in Graz in 1573 and the University of Graz , founded in 1585, had also been taken over by the Jesuits. The income from the Millstatt rule should serve to maintain and expand it. The father rector of the university was considered the chief landlord of the Millstatt residence with all the associated goods such as Rechberg, Steuerberg and Maria Wörth . However, it took almost a quarter of a century before the Society of Jesus was able to gain a foothold in Carinthia, as the old orders felt threatened and defended themselves as best they could. The Jesuits saw the Millstatt area as a "quasi-diocese", a "territorium separatum et nullius dioecesis" , not only independent of the diocese of Salzburg, but also independent of tax law.
Due to the brisk activity of the Jesuits in Millstatt, 170 people were counted again at Easter 1599 who came to communion . As elsewhere in the country, all citizens and farmers had to appear before Bishop Martin Brenner von Seckau , the so-called "Ketzerhammer", in 1600 and choose between Catholicism or expropriation with deportation within three months, also known as transmigration . The Millstatters had to compete in front of Brenner on October 2nd with his 300 rifle shooters and 1500 subjects made the Catholic creed . Only two refused, practically all of them preferred to become at least “bogus Catholic”. On his conversion journey, however, for fear of well-fortified farmers, Brenner avoided the inaccessible side valleys such as the Kaningtal on the far side of the Millstätter Alpe , which later became centers of secret Protestantism . His appearance seems to have left little impression. In 1605 the parish of Obermillstatt even asked the Father Provincial to hold it as it had been of old with regard to its service, i.e. practically with a Protestant rite. The local clergy found themselves in a difficult position if they did not want a life that was too difficult because they were materially dependent on their parishioners.
In the 17th century, the existence of Protestant-minded people in neighboring Lieseregg is known. They gave secretly had crept preachers shelter or visited the Lutheran service beyond the Hungarian borders on batthyanischem territory under the pretext of collaboration in vintages. At that time, Widmann carried out a "cleanup" in the neighboring area, which is why numerous farmers had to migrate to the empire . Some areas of southern Germany were particularly depopulated as a result of the Thirty Years' War . There are also isolated emigrants from the Millstatt area in the area around Regensburg . The war also brought great difficulties for the population in other ways. Soldiers were quartered, had to be fed over the winter and the emperor needed financial aid. In 1652 there were violent storms in the entire Oberland. In the course of the damage assessment by the Millstätter and Gmündner court judges, there was a witch trial in 1652 against the weathermaker from Matzelsdorf , Caspar Haintz.
Side effect of secret Protestantism: broad literacy
In the second half of the 17th century, the secret Protestants were dependent on books that took on the role of preacher. Despite strict prohibitions, high penalties and requests to spy on and denounce the neighbors, Protestant literature (Bibles, postils, song books, pietistic-edifying literature) was imported in large quantities. In addition to a few full-time book carriers, one was largely dependent on self-sufficiency. Younger peasant sons, who spent a few years as workers or artisans in the empire, were engaged in smuggling, as were returning soldiers or seamans and truckers. The extent of peasant secret libraries as well as the willingness and ability to read and the knowledge acquired through this reached a level previously unknown. In the 18th century, Catholic clergymen were repeatedly warned against the Protestants' ability to argue and special training of the clergy was required.
The books were often camouflaged by Catholic title pages or by binding with unsuspicious prints. In order to distinguish between legal and illegal literature, Catholic books had to be approved so that they would not be objected to in the event of a house search. In the middle of the 18th century there were complaints to the Corpus Evangelicorum of the Reichstag in Regensburg about the strict book inspections in the Millstatt area . A desperate farmer who refused to part with the books had committed suicide. How high the value of books was is shown by some sometimes strange reciprocal book thefts, which were even put on record. The Habsburgs , who feared an intervention by Prussia in favor of the Protestants, no longer used the term “Lutheranism” in their edicts, but spoke of false doctrines and behavior contrary to authority, in order to be able to punish or forcibly recruit those escaping into the empire as high traitors with death.
Peasant uprising (Millstätter Handel) of 1737
The Carinthian governor Hannibal von Porcia , the highest representative of the provincial government, who considered the spiritual and legal independence of Millstatt to be very damaging, stated in 1717 that the Upper Carinthian farmers were "almost half-wise to the Lutheran sect" . Outwardly, the Order tried everything to cover up this condition. From 1731 more than 20,000 subjects were deported to the diocese of Salzburg.
The efforts of the Jesuits to restore their possessions with all rights, to preserve them and at the same time to increase the income from taxes, tithes and other services of the subjects, led to violent disputes with the population and with other affected manors, who were used to mildness up to now . In the first quarter of the 18th century there were more and more complaints about the Jesuit rule, which was even reflected in a legend ( The Jungfernsprung von Döbriach ). In 1734/35 there were large gatherings at the popular cattle and fair on the Maitratten near Gnesau , where alleged tax exemptions from the emperor were discussed. The events are known as the "First Religious Uprising".
The displeasure reached its climax in the peasant uprising (also known as “Millstätter Handel”) of 1737, in which, in addition to economic aspects, religious issues such as the expulsions of Protestants and, from 1734, exiles to Transylvania have to be taken into account. After many complaints to the governor, a settlement between Jesuits and farmers was almost negotiated. Since not all agreed, a delegation traveled to Vienna with the aim of addressing the “highest authority” there. The farmer representatives Georg Thomas from Dellach (today: Brugger) and Matthias Oberherzog from Kaning came across the angular advocate Joseph Paul Zopf , who, in expectation of a good deal, promised to intercede with the emperor. Zopf then pretended to be the imperial commissioner, created a document with a forged imperial seal, from which it emerged that the peasants were exempt from their duties and that they encouraged the Jesuits to be driven out. Zopf traveled with the farmers to Millstatt and on the evening of November 2, 1737, about two to three hundred farmers and servants under the leadership of Paul Zopf conquered the residence in Millstatt, looted, set fire to a barn and got drunk while Zopf was with the Kassa of 3000 guilders fled towards Vienna.
The Jesuits who had been warned managed to flee to Spittal, from where they soon returned from Reichenau with the vigilantes and supporting farmers and captured the rebels. Paul Zopf was arrested at the Trattlerwirt in Kleinkirchheim. The three ringleaders were beheaded and their heads were put on display in iron cages at the corner of the monastery garden or in a niche at the house in Dellach (up to the 19th century) as a deterrent. 30 unmarried participants in the uprising were forcibly recruited and were permanently expelled from the country. Others received long-term imprisonment. The population had to pay 21,560 florins in damages to the Jesuits and to feed and pay 400 men for imperial troops for a year and a half. The civil lawsuit regarding the taxes and levies in kind showed that the Millstatt subjects were treated no worse, but also no better than those of other rulers.
Deportation of evangelicals under Maria Theresa
At the time of Maria Theresa , an inspection trip in 1750/51 revealed that areas of the Millstatt rulership such as Lieseregg and Radenthein were named among the “most dangerous” Lutheran areas. Starting in 1753, the empress defied the protesting Jesuits, who insisted on their autonomy, by founding missionary districts and had four mission stations set up with clergy independent from Millstatt in Kaning, Treffling , Altersberg and Lengholz. In addition to pastoral care, the unpopular missionaries had to research suspicious people and scriptures.
Around this time, more and more people recognized themselves as evangelicals based on a letter of formal notice from Regensburg. The commanded fight against the Protestants led to almost 30 Millstatt subjects being sent to Transylvania by 1757 , where the Protestant faith had been tolerated since 1691. Underage children were separated from their parents and had to stay behind to be raised Catholics. Well over a third of the deported Carinthians died from the exertion. The deportation did not mean freedom of belief, but a "personal and economic catastrophe". Most of the people from Millstatt came to Denndorf , a village southeast of Schäßburg . Nevertheless, there were always subjects who, despite emigrations, deportations, arrests and extortions, remained loyal to their convictions openly or secretly. Due to the discovery and expulsion of the Defregger and Dürnberger Evangelicals around 1780, the Carinthian provincial administration announced particularly harsh penalties - first-time violations with 100 thalers , in the case of recurrence loss of belongings. From today's point of view, the transmigrations were completely ineffective.
The end of the Jesuits in Millstatt
In 1757 the deportations from Millstatt ended. In Treffling there was a “prophecy” about the impending expulsion of the current clergy and the introduction of the “right” faith in the evangelical sense. It took several years, but with the so-called Jesuit ban , announced by a papal bull on 21 July 1773 by Clement XIV. , And the Millstätter Jesuit order was dissolved.
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The 175 years of Jesuit rule in Millstatt coincide with the fight of the Habsburg government against Protestantism in Carinthia. While the situation in Lower Carinthia changed again in favor of the Catholics in the first half of the 17th century, the work of the Jesuits was modest. The fact that there were many "heretical" peasants among their subjects, while the Jesuits "from excessive zeal for souls in far-flung countries, even in the farthest reaches of India, were particularly shocked." The organization of churches and services, festivals, processions and pilgrimages ( Domitian worship) made an impression on the subjects, but the fact that the Jesuits also held secular rule was detrimental to the credibility of their pastoral activities. Since the economic efficiency of the subjects would have been jeopardized by deportations and fines, which incidentally was a very good source of income for the state government, the Jesuits were content with an outward creed, despite higher orders, and left their subjects with their beliefs. Also because of their religious history, the Jesuits were more willing to respect personal beliefs. It was the estates and the government, that is, the Catholic nobility, who cracked down on the Protestants with severity.
After Emperor Joseph II issued the patent of tolerance in 1781, tolerance communities with over 13,000 members were formed in Upper Carinthia, exactly where Protestant life went underground after 1600.
Extent of the Millstatt rule at the end of the 17th century
In the second half of the 17th century, the Millstatt rule included the following parishes, parish churches (Pfk.), Branch churches and offices:
- Main church in Millstatt Monastery St. Salvator u. All Saints Day
- Pfk. St. Johann Baptist zu Obermillstatt with the branches St. Maria Magdalena in Starfach, St. Pankraz am Münichberg (Insberg), St. Maria Magdalena zu Oberpuch, St. Ulrich in Plänz, St. Ruprecht zu Obergottesfeld, St. Lambrecht in Lengholz , St. Nikolai in Penk .
- Parish Lieseregg with the branches St. Wolfgang am Fratresberg, St. Jakob in Seeboden , St. Johann Baptist zu Közing, St. Lorenzen zu Lieserhofen , St. Michael zu Lieserhofen, St. Georgen am Altersberg, St. Lucia am Altersberg, St. Ulrich zu Zeltschach, St. Leonhard zu Treffling a. St. Peter of Tangiers.
- Parish Radenthein with the Pfk. St. Nikolai and St. Johann Baptist branch in Kaning.
- Parish of Kleinkirchheim with Pfk. St. Ulrich and St. Katharina branch in Kleinkirchheim and St. Oswald .
- Parish Wörth am See with the main church SS. Primi et Feliciani in Maria Wörth ud Pfk. Our dear women with branches St. Michael zu Schiefling , St. Ulrich zu Albersdorf (Allmanstorff), St. Agnes to 'Pfäning', St. Oswald zu Gontschach u. St. Georgen zu Krumpendorf .
- Upcoming Rechberg with St. Bartholomeikirche all there and branch St. Thomas zu Glantschach . Parish St. Stephan im Jauntal with Pfk. St. Stephan.
- Court judge to Millstatt for the administration of the citizenship of Millstatt, the Kleindombrer and farmers around the market and the Minichsberg office (= Insberg).
- Reichenau office consisting of the rottships Schusser, In der Saureggen, Oberperg and Walder, In der Eben, Aufn Orth, Oberkhofflach, Unterkofflach u. Guggacher, Seepacher u. Vorwalder, Widweeg u. Am Plaß, Ober- u. Under Rottenstain, Widerschwing, Mitterdorff u. Pättergassen, Laßner u. St. Margreten.
- Office of Kleinkirchheim with the districts of Oberzirgizzen, Unterzirgizzen, Khürcher, Quöllinger, Mitterperger, Dorffer, Aigner, Unter Tschern u. Upper Tschern, Staudacher u. Oswalder.
- Nursing administrator to Steuerberg with the subjects to the castle Steuerberg u. Grifenthall.
- Propstei Wörthsee.
- Office Puch zu Gmünd with the Rottschaften Am Rennweg u. Rauchenkhäz , Bey St. Nicola u. to Khrembsperg, Sonperg u. Pleßnizperg, Maltaperg u. Haizlsperg, Hattenperg, Rächenpach u. Neuschiz, Langgen, Puechreith u. Nöring, Oberpuech u. Niderpuech, Landtfraß u. Perau u. Plänz.
Sources & Notes
- ↑ Cf. Koller-Neumann, On Protestantism under the Jesuit rule in Millstatt.
- ↑ Chronology at the Millstatt Abbey Museum ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Cf. Franz Nikolasch: The Jesuit Order in Millstatt .
- ↑ Koller-Neumann, On Protestantism under the Jesuit rule Millstatt , p. 150
- ↑ E. Buchinger: The Landler in Transylvania. Munich, 1980. p. 426.
- ↑ Koller-Neumann, On Protestantism under the Jesuit rule Millstatt , p. 150.
- ↑ Koller-Neumann, On Protestantism under the Jesuit rule Millstatt , p. 162 f.
literature
- Irmtraud Koller-Neumann: To Protestantism under the Jesuit rule Millstatt. In: History Association for Carinthia : Carinthia I . Journal for historical regional studies of Carinthia. 178th year. 1988, pp. 143-163.
- Matthias Maierbrugger : The story of Millstatt . Market town of Millstatt published by Ferd. Kleinmayr, Klagenfurt, 1964; exp. New edition: Carinthia Verlag, Klagenfurt 1989. (without ISBN)
- Franz Nikolasch: The Jesuit order in Millstatt. Lecture at the jubilee festival of the Jesuits in Carinthia, Millstatt, September 16, 2006.
- Erika Weinzierl-Fischer : History of the Millstatt Benedictine Monastery in Carinthia . Archive for patriotic history and topography, Volume 33. Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1951 (without ISBN)
