Nikolaus von Bernau

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Atonement cross in front of the Marienkirche in Berlin

Nikolaus von Bernau (* before 1311; † August 1324 or 1325 in Berlin ) was a German clergyman and provost of Bernau . He was killed by an angry crowd.

Life

Nikolaus was first mentioned in 1311 as provost of Bernau . In the following years he was several times a witness in documents from Margrave Waldemar von Brandenburg . From 1320 he was court chaplain and councilor of Duke Rudolf I of Saxony , who ruled the Mark Brandenburg after the Ascanians died out .

After King Ludwig of Bavaria had made his son Ludwig the new margrave in 1323 , Nicholas and parts of the clergy opposed this new sovereign. Pope John XXII. had refused his appointment and even excommunicated King Ludwig the following year.

Murder in Berlin

Nikolaus stayed in Berlin in August 1324 or 1325 with his colleague Eberhard . An angry crowd took him out of the provost's house, killed him and burned him. The fire was kindled again when his bones were not completely burned.

The background was probably his partisanship against Ludwig, while the Berliners were set for him.

consequences

At the end of 1325, the interdict was imposed on Berlin by the bishop. Masses were no longer allowed to be celebrated, and all spiritual activities such as baptisms, weddings and funerals were forbidden. (Exceptions were the Franciscans and Dominicans). The trade in the twin cities suffered considerably, as many merchants no longer wanted to do business with excommunicated people. It was not until 1335 that an atonement contract was concluded between the bishop and the city of Berlin, in which the city was obliged to make extensive atonement services, such as an atonement altar in St. Mary's Church, an atonement cross at the site of the murder in Spandauer Strasse and compensation payments to the family.

The interdict was finally lifted in 1345. As recently as 1347, the councilors of Berlin and Cölln committed themselves to annual payments to the city of Bernau for memorial masses and candles.

According to calculations by a historian in the 18th century, Berlin's payments and economic losses due to this murder were said to have been equivalent to the expenses for the construction of St. Mary's Church.

Lore

In the centuries that followed, the murder of Provost Nikolaus was portrayed several times. There were also literary adaptations of the event.

Wrong representations

  • The date of the murder is unclear. The episcopal investigations began in the autumn of 1325, it is not clear whether the event took place in that year or the year before. The date August 16 or 18 comes from the day of the commemorations.
  • The background to the act was not the collection of St. Peter's penny for the Pope, as Nicholas, as a foreign provost, was not entitled to do so. This claim probably comes from representations during the Reformation , when there was a polemic against the collection of money by the Catholic Church.
  • The name was n't Nikolaus Cyriacus . This was an assumption made by Seidel, who misread a corresponding passage in a document.

Atonement Cross

The atonement cross for the murder of Nicholas stands in front of the main entrance of the Marienkirche in Berlin today . It is made of light-colored sandstone and contains five depressions in which holders for the eternal light were embedded.

The cross originally stood at the location of the murder on Spandauer Strasse . It was moved to its current location in the 17th century.

swell

  • Nikolaus was mentioned as a witness in about ten documents of his time, mostly printed in the Codex diplomaticus Brandenburgensis .
  • There are episcopal investigative reports in papal archives that show the course of events from their point of view. These contain some details of what happened, but are otherwise biased.

No other contemporary evidence has survived.

literature

  • Hartmut Kühne: The Bernauer Marienkirche as a provost, parish and citizen church from its foundation to the Reformation. In: Hartmut Kühne, Claudia Rückert (eds.): Church in the city. The Marienkirche in Bernau and its furnishings. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2017. pp. 29–46, here p. 31 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Friedrich Klöden : Was the provost of Bernau slain in Berlin called Nikolaus Cyriacus? . In: Ders .: Diplomatic history of Margrave Waldemar von Brandenburg, from the years 1295–1323. Presented immediately after the sources. Volume 4. Berlin 1848. pp. 455-458 . with document references
personal data
SURNAME Nikolaus von Bernau
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman and provost of Bernau
DATE OF BIRTH before 1311
DATE OF DEATH August 1324 or 1325
Place of death Berlin