Ottilia von Fürstenberg
Ottilia von Fürstenberg (born February 21, 1549 at Waterlappe Castle near Ense ; † March 7, 1621 ) was the prioress of the Oelinghausen monastery and abbess of the free-world noble convent of Heerse .
Live and act
Ottilia von Fürstenberg was the daughter of Drosten Friedrich von Fürstenberg and his wife Anna von Westphalen . Together with her sister Anna , she was handed over to the care of the Premonstratensian Convent of Oelinghausen by her parents at the age of nine . At the age of 37 (1585) she was elected prioress. Her brother Kaspar von Fürstenberg also played a role in this choice . Only four years later she was elected as abbess in the free, secular aristocratic women's monastery in Heerse. In addition to Kaspar, Dietrich von Fürstenberg also contributed to this election as Prince-Bishop of Paderborn . He was a brother too.
Although war incursions, looting and two waves of plague occurred during her tenure as abbess in Oelinghausen, Ottilia made a decisive contribution to stopping the decline of the monastery. A provost of the Oelinghausen monastery, about a hundred years after her death, characterized Ottilia as “a woman by gender, but of a male spirit.” At the beginning of her monastery life, discipline had slackened, the principle of the open door and nuns prevailed lived an almost worldly life in their own homes. Ottilia has not changed anything in this respect either. However, she managed to excuse the community. The monastery was renovated and a new abbey and a prophet building were erected. In addition, a monastery wall was built and the furnishings in the church and monastery were renewed. Similar buildings and measures took place in Heerse. There she had a new building built for the abbess. The Oelinghausen monastery became so rich that it could host the bishops of Cologne and Paderborn at the same time.
In her funeral sermon it said: “How now your graces, the schifftle of worries and grievances, went through the heart, how they found them from the struggle of muscling and complaining. Suffering and illnesses as they endured back and forth, is known because they know what heavy and great debts IG [Your Grace] found in the beginning of their government, and what a willingness to owe after discarded debt with more than the twenty-four thousand Reichsthalers after their departure serene. ” In addition, Ottilia managed to settle old disputes and enforce the exemption of the monasteries from sovereign services.
She was able to rely on the financial support of the family and donations from her high-ranking brothers. Ottilia's mother took her widow's seat in the monastery and gradually became the center of the family. The admonitions of the Wedinghausen monastery to reintroduce monastic discipline were ignored. In order to forestall excommunication , Ottilia, with the help of her brothers, received a letter from the Pope in 1618 to abolish the monastery and transform it into a lay pen for noble women. In fact, this only confirmed what had been in practice for decades. As a result, Oelinghausen was independent from the Wedinghausen Monastery and Ottilia was given the title of abbess. This step suited her personally, as she valued a feudal lifestyle. In Heerse, for example, there was a fleet of 12 carriage horses and one riding horse.
The removal of Oelinghausen from the monastery association met with opposition, especially in the mother monastery in Wedinghausen. A few decades after Ottilia's death, the move was forcibly reversed in 1641. The noble canons were expelled and the monastery was rebuilt with sisters from Rumbeck.
Remarks
literature
- Michael Jolk: The funeral sermon on the death of the Oelinghauser Abbess Ottilia von Fürstenberg (1621) In: Südwestfalenarchiv, vol. 2006 pp. 127–144
- Ottilie Knepper-Babilon: Ottilia von Fürstenberg (1549-1621). In: Fürstenberg sketches - Forays through 700 years of Westphalian families and regional history. Arnsberg, 1995. pp. 51-56
- Manfred Wolf (arrangement): The documents of the Oelinghausen monastery. Regesten . Fredeburg, 1992. ISBN 3-922659-39-7
- Helmut Richtering: Ottilia and Anna von Fürstenberg . In: Helmut Lahrkamp u. a .: Fürstenberg's story. Vol. 3: The history of the von Fürstenberg family in the 17th century. Münster, 1971 pp. 44-55
Web links
- History of the Oelinghausen Monastery (PDF file; 3.79 MB)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fürstenberg, Ottilia from |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prioress of the Oelinghausen monastery and abbess of the secular women's monastery in Heerse |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 21, 1549 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waterlappe Castle near Ense |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 7, 1621 |