Oswald Binder

Oswald Binder (* around 1455/1460; † December 19, 1527 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

Early years

Oswald Binder was born between 1455 and 1460; the place of his birth is not known. He probably came from a family that in the late 15th century provided clergymen in the Schwäbisch Gmünd and Lorch area several times . Binder was first mentioned as a conventual in Lorch Abbey in 1475 when he was present at the opening of the Staufer grave in Lorch Abbey. When Binder was appointed as Prior to Murrhardt by the Würzburg Bishop Lorenz von Bibra on December 10, 1510 , he could already look back on a long career as a monk.

At the time of his appointment, the Murrhardt Monastery was in a desperate state - the financial situation of the abbey was threatening its existence due to immense debts and the entire convent was so morally and morally degraded that the monks could no longer pursue their pastoral duties. Even the planned conversion of the Catholic monastery into a collegiate monastery failed miserably due to the inability of the long-established monastic community.

Election of the abbot and attempts at consolidation

For this reason, the previous abbot Philipp Renner was forced to resign in May 1511 as part of a monastery reform ordered by Duke Ulrich von Württemberg and Oswald Binder was appointed his successor; This approach was subsequently approved by Bishop Lorenz.

Under Binder's leadership, the Catholic monastery remained in its previous form, but after the reform had been carried out, the monastery had shrunk to only seven monks. Binder's strength lay in spiritual leadership - economic competence did not distinguish him. Therefore, he did not succeed in significantly improving the monastery’s financial situation. Even the complete departure of the convent in 1518 to save personnel costs - the monks did not return to their monastery until 1519 - had no effect. It was not until Martin Mörlin was appointed to the large cellar of the abbey that the economic situation was turned for the better and the debt burden of the Murrhardt monastery was sustainably reduced. The consolidation measures that the new large cellar successfully took, however, in turn meant that the tax burden in the population led to growing dissatisfaction and ultimately to the looting of the Murrhardt Monastery in the course of the peasant war .

Peasants' War and the last few years

In 1525 the oppressive social tensions in Württemberg accumulated in violent uprisings by the rural population. The Murrhardter monastery with its on the edge of the ducal territory got into fighting with Württemberg farmers from the west and Limpurgian farmers from the east. Abbot Binder agreed with the Limpurgers to pay a revolution tax of 300 guilders , but did not subsequently pay this amount. The Limpurgian farmers then returned to Murrhardt on April 25, 1525. They looted the abbey and destroyed the monastic library along with all the books and archival materials that had been kept there since the early Middle Ages. After the suppression of the uprising by the army of the Swabian Federation , Binder directed the monastic fortunes until he died on December 19, 1527 in Murrhardt. His successor in the office of abbot was the previous large cellar Martin Mörlin .

Others

All Saints' Day altar with a depiction of Oswald Binder in the left corner

Oswald Binder is the only abbot of the Murrhardt Monastery to have a pictorial representation. The relay picture of the All Saints' Altar, which is still on display in Murrhardt's town church, shows the Benedictine abbot with an abbot's staff.

literature

• Fritz, Gerhard: City and monastery Murrhardt in the late Middle Ages and in the Reformation period. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-7634-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://archivalia.hypotheses.org/5417 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Philipp Renner	Abbot of Murrhardt 1511–1527	Martin Moerlin