Nikolaus Arresdorf

Nikolaus Arresdorf OFM Conv. (* around 1545 in Limpach , Luxembourg ; † March 28, 1620, presumably in Münster ) was a Catholic clergyman and auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Münster , Hildesheim , Paderborn and in the Archdiocese of Cologne .

Life

Nikolaus Arresdorf was born in Limpach in what was then the prince-bishopric of Trier , entered the order of the Franciscan Minorites, held the office of Provincial of the Cologne Minorite Province from 1584 to 1587 and is attested as Guardian of the Bonn Minorite Monastery for 1590/91 . At this time and in coordination with the Apostolic Nuncio in Cologne, Ottavio Mirto Frangipani , the Prince Archbishop of Cologne and diocesan administrator of Munster, Elector Ernst of Bavaria , proposed the Holy SeeArresdorf as auxiliary bishop in Münster. Frangipani submitted this proposal on January 31, 1591 to Cardinal Nepot Paolo Camillo Sfondrato (1559-1618), who forwarded the proposal to Cardinal Giovanni Ludovico Madruzzo , the Protector Germaniae . Still, it would take almost two years to Arresdorf of Pope Clement VIII. In the consistory of November 27, 1592 to the titular bishop of Acre and auxiliary bishop for the diocese of Muenster präkonisiert was. In the first weeks of 1593 Arresdorf received the episcopal ordination and began his ordination on March 13, 1593. In order to secure his economic livelihood, the new auxiliary bishop received the parish of St. Lamberti in Münster as a benefit .

Act as auxiliary bishop

As early as 1601, Arresdorf was appointed chairman of the clerical council by Ernst von Bayern in order to promote the renewal of the diocese of Munster initiated by the Tridentine Council . His nephew and successor, Prince-Bishop Ferdinand von Bayern , also entrusted Arresdorf in 1613 with the management and, together with Vicar General Johannes Hartmann, with the implementation of the diocese visit, the results of which Arresdorf recorded are extremely informative for the assessment of contemporary history. In addition to the diocese of Münster, Arresdorf also worked as auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Hildesheim and Paderborn and in the archbishopric of Cologne. During his tenure he donated over two and a half thousand ordinations, including several abbot ordinations and 390 priestly ordinations .

Death and inheritance

Arresdorf held his office until two weeks before his death; he died on March 28, 1620 (presumably in Münster) and was buried in front of the choir of the Minorite Church in Münster. His library, which was very extensive for the time, - including 470 theological works alone - he left the Minorites in Munster; it is still considered lost today.

literature

• Heinrich Börsting , Alois Schröer (edit.): Handbuch des Bistums Münster , Verlag Regensberg, Münster, ²1946, first volume: Geschichte, S. 120f.
• Heinrich Börsting: History of the diocese of Münster. On behalf of the German Institute for Scientific Education Münster, Deutscher Heimat-Verlag, Bielefeld, 1951, p. 182.
• Heinrich Lackmann, Tobias Schrörs: Catholic reform in the prince-bishopric of Münster under Ferdinand of Bavaria. The minutes of Auxiliary Bishop Arresdorf and Vicar General Hartmann on their visitations to the Upper Monastery of Münster from 1613 to 1616 , Westfalia Sacra, Volume 16, Aschendorff, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-402-15495-3 .
• Alois Schröer: The bishops of Munster. In: The Diocese of Münster , ed. v. Werner Thissen , Regensberg, Münster, 1993, ISBN 3-7923-0646-8 , Vol. 1, p. 351.
• Alois Schroer: The church in Westphalia under the sign of renewal (1585-1648). Second volume, The Counter-Reformation in the ecclesiastical territories , Aschendorff, Münster, 1987, ISBN 3-402-03984-2 , esp. P. 256f.

Web links

• Entry on Nikolaus Arresdorf on catholic-hierarchy.org