Otto Leonhard Hofsess

Otto Leonhard Hofsess (* 1533 in Murrhardt ; † September 18, 1607 in Murrhardt) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

Origin and early years

Otto Leonhard Hofsess was born in Murrhardt as the son of the monastery bailiff Jakob Hofsess and his wife Margareta Höch. At the instigation of his father, he entered the Murrhardt monastery as a novice around 1548 . When the then abbot Thomas Carlin died in July 1552, the convent of the Benedictine monastery of St. Januarius with court chair consisted of only five friars .

The election of abbot in 1552 and the secret treaty with Württemberg

After the death of its abbot Carlin, the Murrhardt monastery found itself in a difficult religious and power political situation. For decades, the Protestant dukes of Württemberg , Ulrich and his son and successor Christoph , have made increased efforts to bring the Catholic abbey under their complete control.

Apparently on the advice of Murrhardt monastery bailiff Jakob Hofsess, Duke Christoph made the decision to appoint his son Otto Leonhard Hofsess as the new abbot of Murrhardt monastery despite his young age of 19 and without the actually necessary election by the monastery convent; In return, the appointee certified in a secret document dated August 16, 1552 the conversion of all monks in his abbey to the Protestant faith and the subordination of the monastery to the Württemberg sovereignty and legal system. After the report from the Württemberg court about the alleged election of Hofsess, however, the superior bishop of Würzburg , Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt , refused to appoint the new abbot to his office, referring to the lack of electoral documents and his minority.

Therefore, on August 25, 1552, Duke Christoph staged a mock election for the abbot under the direction of Lorch Prior Johann Hieronymus. In addition to him and two ducal emissaries, the four conventuals of Murrhardt Abbey named Stock, Lutz, Ganser and Lösch formally confirmed the election of Otto Leonhard Hofsess as the new abbot of the monastery; the corresponding document was presented to the diocese of Würzburg on September 15, 1552 by the Murrhardter monastery governor. Bishop Melchior refused Hofsess approval again - this time with reference to the lack of ordination of the elected priest .

Thus the second attempt to get the bishop to recognize the young court chair as head of the Murrhardt monastery had failed. Duke Christoph did not make a third attempt, Otto Leohnhard Hofsess remained as the new abbot without episcopal confirmation.

Convert to Protestantism, imprisonment and removal from office

As provided for in the secret treaty of August 16, 1552, Hofsess converted to the Protestant faith shortly after his election - he was the first Evangelical abbot of Murrhardt. It was not until 1635 that the Benedictines under Abbot Emmerich Fünkler succeeded for a short time in bringing the monastery back to the Catholic faith as part of the Edict of Restitution . Under Hofsess's leadership, the convent continued to shrink; four of the remaining monks became evangelical clergy and only one remained, having become a Protestant, as a monk in the monastery.

In general, Otto Leonhard Hofsess proved so unsuitable in his spiritual work as abbot in the following years that Duke Christoph had to assign an experienced preacher to him for the correct administration of his office. The new abbot also had little influence on the financial fortunes of the monastery - his father, the Murrhardter monastery governor, tacitly took over the management of the business.

Massive embezzlement and cases of forgery by the monastery bailiff finally led to Otto Leonhard Hofsess being arrested with his father in 1574 and imprisoned in the Württemberg state prison at Burg Hohenneuffen . Although his innocence was soon proven, Hofsess as abbot of the Murrhardt monastery was no longer acceptable for Duke Christoph - he was formally relieved of his office with a small pension and from then on lived in Murrhardt as a private citizen until his death in 1607.

family

Otto Leonhard Hofsess was first married to Anna Hofmann from 1559; from this connection came a son, Jacob. This connection ended with the death of the wife on January 19, 1567 - her grave inscription is still preserved today in the Murrhardt Walterichskirche. Around April 20, 1567, Hofsess married Magdalena Schmeck, who came from Cannstatt and with whom he had two children, Margareta and Hans Leonhard.

Others

The joint grave monument of Otto Leonhard Hofsess and his second wife has been preserved in the Murrhardter Walterichskirche to this day - it is the first stone from the east on the north wall of the nave:

ECCE AGNVS DEI QVI TOLLIT PECCATA MVNDI. TVMVLVS // REVERENDI ET CLARISSIMI VIRI DOMINI OTTO [NIS] / LEONHARDI HOFFSASSII COENOBI MVRRHAR [DE (N) SIS] / AB AN (N) O CHRISTI 1552 PER AN (N) OS 22 ABB [ATIS] / DIGNISSIMI RVDE POSTMODVM PER AN (N) O [S 32 DO] / NATI AC DIE 18 (SEPTEM) BRIS AN (N) O 1607 PIE I ​​[N CHRISTO] / DEFVNCTI AN (N) O AETATIS SVAE 72 CVI [DOMINVS] / LAETAM RESVRRECTIONEM LARGIATV [R AMEN] / INTEGRITAS RECTVMQVE TVVM ME CH [RISTE GVBERNAT]

("See the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world. - Grave of the venerable and highly famous man, Mr. Otto Leonhard Hofsess, reverend abbot of the Murrhardt monastery from the year of Christ 1552 for 22 years, then pensioner for 32 years, who on September 18, 1607 died piously in Christ at the age of 72. God grant him a happy resurrection. Amen. - Your integrity and impeccability, Christ, guide me. ")

[God alone the honor] // To (n) o 1607 on the day Bartho [lomei died] / the honor vnd Tugentsame Frauw Mag [dalena] / born Schmeckhin von Cantstatt des Erwirdig / Mr. Ottonis Leonhard Hoffsessen Alten Abbtz / zu Murrhardt A ( n) the married housewife who lived with Jme 40 years 8 weeks 4 days the ge = / bar Jme a wicked and son with name / Margreta vnd Hans Leonhardt v (n) d was Jr / gantzes age 59 years whose god gracious v ( n) d / Bar (m) h (erzig) sein v (n) d a Fröl (iche) Auffers (tehung) wölle A (men).

literature

• Gerhard Fritz: City and monastery Murrhardt in the late Middle Ages and in the Reformation period (= research from Württemberg-Franconia. Vol. 34). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-7634-7 , pp. 349-351.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DI 37, Rems-Murr-Kreis, No. 254 (Gerhard Fritz), in: www.inschriften.net, urn: nbn: de: 0238-di037h011k0025409 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Carlin	Abbot of Murrhardt 1552–1556	Emmerich Fünkler