Peter I (Metten)

Petrus (Peter) I. OSB († July 1, 1427 in Metten ) was a German Benedictine in Oberalteich Monastery and later abbot in Metten Monastery .

biography

Since there was obviously no suitable candidate as a successor among the conventuals of the monastery at the death of Abbot Altmann von Degenberg , the monk Peter from the neighboring Benedictine monastery in Oberalteich was postulated as the new abbot on December 31, 1388. The postulation was confirmed by Duke Albrecht II of Straubing-Holland and Bishop Johann I of Regensburg and Peter was ordained abbot of Metten on January 10, 1389. In addition to the spiritual condition, when the new abbot took office, the economic situation of the monastery was also not good. This is shown by the surviving inventory, which the abbot prepared according to canonical regulations when he took over the management of the monastery. Religious foundations from the surrounding aristocratic families contributed to an improvement in the economic situation of the monastery. In order to safeguard the legal interests of the monastery, Abbot Peter sought confirmation and authentication of the existing old documents from the responsible episcopal and imperial authorities. Abbot Peter is also said to have written a chronicle of the monastery.

Abbot Peter also endeavored to renew the religious life in the monastery. Under him, prayer fraternities were formed with the Benedictine monasteries of Ossiach , Millstatt , Vornbach and Mondsee . A prayer alliance was also entered into with the Dominicans in Nuremberg and the Augustinian hermit province. Abbot Gallus von Oberalteich gave Abbot Petrus a cross particle for the Metten Monastery, which was transferred to the pilgrimage church of the Holy Cross in Loh in the 18th century (1728). In the cloister of the monastery, the abbot had a chapel built in honor of the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Mother (both removed when the monastery was expanded in the 17th century). In the courtyard of the monastery he had a chapel built in honor of the Passion of Christ (which also no longer exists). These building measures document the economic and spiritual consolidation of the monastery. The strictness of the abbot, however, led to tension with some monks in Metten, who therefore asked for permission to transfer to other monasteries.

The spiritual heyday of the monastery under Abbot Petrus is documented by two valuable manuscripts made under him in 1414/1415 for the Metten Monastery, which came to Munich during the secularization of 1803 and are now kept in the local state library. One manuscript contains the Rule of St. Benedict with an old German translation (BSB clm 8201 d), the other contains the Gospels and a " Poor's Bible " as well as De laudibus sanctae crucis by Rhabanus Maurus with its figure poems (BSB clm 8201). Both manuscripts are adorned with numerous miniatures.

literature

• Uwe Puschner: Petrus I .. In: Karl Bosl (Hrsg.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 580 ( digitized version ).
• Wilhelm Fink : History of the development of the Benedictine abbey Metten. Vol. 1: The Book of Professions of the Abbey (studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches. Supplementary booklet 1,1), Munich 1927, p. 26f.
• Michael Kaufmann: Chronicle of Metten Abbey 766–2016 , St. Ottilien 2016, pp. 159–192.
• Rupert Mittermüller : The Metten Monastery and its Aebte . Straubing 1856, pp. 84-101.
• Robert Suckale: The spiritual compendium of the Metten abbot Peter. Monastery reform and beautiful style around 1414/15 , in: Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums (1982), pp. 165–186.
• Robert Suckale: Monastery reform and book art. The manuscripts of Abbot Peter I from Metten, Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 8201 and Clm 8201 , Petersberg 2012 (Munich, Univ., Habil.-Schrift, 1975).

Web links

• Mettener Regel BSB clm 1802 d Digitization at the Munich Digitization Center (MDZ)
• Mettener Armenbibel BSB clm 1802 Digitalis at the Munich Digitization Center (MDZ)

predecessor	Office	successor
Altmann von Degenberg	Abbot of Metten Monastery 1388 / 89–1427	Andreas I. (Metten)