Placidus a Spescha

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Father Placidus a Spescha
Statue on a fountain in Disentis

Pater Placidus a Spescha OSB (* December 8, 1752 in Trun , Switzerland ; † August 14, 1833 ibid), a Benedictine priest with real name Giuli Battesta (Julius Baptist) Spescha, was a cartographer, geographer, mountaineer, naturalist and linguist.

Life

Giuli Battesta Spescha was the oldest of five sons and grew up as a farmer's son in Trun. From the age of 10 to 13 he worked as a cattle herding boy and during this time learned to write the Surselvian idiom of the Romansh language . In addition, as a Romansh speaker, he was given the opportunity to learn German. For further support he was sent to court chaplain Thomas Romanin in Chur in 1765/66, who taught him Latin and music. In 1770 he moved with his teacher to Mals and Tartsch in the upper Vinschgau . It was thanks to Romanin that Spescha became a talented violin player and composed humorous songs in addition to sacred chants.

On July 11, 1771, the day of the monastery patron Placidus, Spescha entered the Disentis monastery school ; on October 3, 1774 in the Benedictine Abbey of Disentis . The careless administration of Abbot Columban caused the Swiss Benedictine Congregation in 1776 to order the distribution of the conventuals to other Benedictine monasteries. Spescha - the only young brother - was assigned to the Einsiedeln monastery . Between 1776 and 1782 he studied philosophy and theology there. He was ordained a priest on May 25, 1782 and was able to return to the Disentis Monastery .

In the same year Spescha received the first pastoral care position in the Cadi in the Sogn Gion hospice on the Lukmanier Pass . From here he explored the surrounding area and built an extensive mineral collection by 1788. Little is known about his subsequent years in the Disentis Monastery. On June 10, 1794, the community of Trun gave him a Maiensäss for use as a beneficiary of the pilgrimage church Maria Licht in Acladira .

confused

Domestic political instability and chaos of war

In 1798, after the French had occupied the neighboring Confederation and introduced the Helvetic Constitution , the three leagues also gave themselves a new constitution. Due to the conflict between the Urserental and Uri , the neighboring Cadi also got into the chaos of war. In the same year the Graubünden valleys were occupied by Austrian troops.

During the Second Coalition War , French troops under General Louis Henri Loison advanced over the Oberalp Pass against Disentis. The local resistance was quickly broken by General Joseph Laurent de Mont advancing from Reichenau .

Oil painting

In the conservative Surselva , Pater Placidus was an unconventional free thinker. Because of his openly displayed sympathy for Enlightenment ideas and Napoleon - he dedicated one of his works to him: « Kaiser! I dedicate my work to you because it describes the primal sources of the Rhine ... and because a protector of the truth is required »- he was regarded as friendly to the French and belonged to an embassy that was supposed to negotiate with the French. Their billeting could not be prevented and the monastery provided accommodation and hospitality. Nevertheless, the war contribution was forcibly collected. On May 1, 1799 there was an uprising, which was suppressed on May 6. Disentis monastery and village were burned down by the French. The fortunes of war wavered several times between the French and the Austrians and Father Placidus tried again and again to mediate between the parties.

The year 1799 marked a decisive turning point for both the Disentis Monastery and Pater Placidus. Father Placidus had to give his mineral collection to the French as a war contribution and lost his private library and all of his scientific records in the monastery fire. Both sides had previously claimed his cartographic records. Denounced by a fellow conventual as an alleged enemy of the Austrians, they deported him on their retreat to Innsbruck . There he remained under custody in the Servite Monastery for 18 months. According to their own statements, the treatment was "very kind". He could attend a drawing class and the extensive libraries were open to him. He followed the reports on the Grossglockner ascent with great interest . After his return, the monastery took over his debts in Innsbruck and on September 14th, 1801 he promised to work for the well-being of the monastery, which amounted to a renewal of his professorship.

Arguments

Memorial plaque in the main courtyard of Trun

After his exile, Spescha began a restless life in 1801 at various chaplain posts in the Surselva, marked by disputes with superiors, the convent and local authorities.

The monastery, impoverished by the chaos of war, felt compelled to send its fathers to pastoral care posts. So in 1801 Father Spescha came to benefit from Rumein in Lugnez . He tried to get the Helvetian government to secure this position for life and in complete independence from the monastery.

In 1804, Father Anselm Huonder was elected abbot. Since Spescha had advocated a purely Romansh-Latin grammar school in which German was neither taught nor spoken, he was not considered as a teacher in the new monastery school. Spescha then wanted to move to Bergamo. Despite the support of most of the priests, he was not canonically released.

From 1804 he was to be found at various pastoral care stations in the Surselva. Complaints about his behavior and pastoral care methods came from several places. Above all, it was repeatedly criticized that he was often absent. In 1806, the only German-speaking community in Vals withdrew part of his salary because of his frequent mountain tours. The angry Spescha then described the Valser as "robbers".

In 1810 he tried to be dismissed from the monastery association and accepted into the diocesan clergy, but this was not approved by either his abbot or the bishop of Chur .

In 1812 he installed himself in the parish of Sedrun without the permission of the Curia , but was called back to Disentis by the abbot at the end of July 1814.

Bedroom a Speschas in the Cuort Ligia Grischa in Trun

In September 1816 he went to Trun, where he was elected chaplain for life by the residents in the summer of 1817. When difficulties arose because of the unauthorized purchase of a house for the chaplain, Abbot Anselm applied for Spescha's transfer to another monastery in the congregation, where he could still be used for confessional and preaching.

In 1820 there were new arguments about his establishment of a poor house in Trun. When a visitation was carried out in Disentis after the death of Abbot Anselm Huonder, the visitors found that Spescha had "caused many disadvantages in the last few years", which, however, were ascribed not to bad will but to his increasing complaints of old age; in addition there was old age and bitterness. Placidus a Spescha died on August 14, 1833 at the age of 81 in the Cuort Ligia Grischa in Trun.

theology

Ecumenism

The eager Bible reader Spescha noticed "that the Christian religion is so simple and easy there and now so multiplied and burdened".

In the school system, he advocates interdenominational cooperation. In the Tavetsch manuscript he went even further: "In my opinion, both religions could easily be united into a single one, if true human love and Christian contracting were allowed, because both religions believe in the same God and Savior". With this view he was under not alone for the theologians of his time.

In addition, there were critical views of papal Rome: "All Christianity paid tribute to Rome in order to enrich it, sent it gold and silver and received paper in return."

celibacy

The manuscript on the illegal introduction of celibacy earned him great discredit . Since the Holy Scriptures do not recognize the duty of celibacy , he wanted to fight for the secular clergy - not the monks - for freedom to marry. He himself felt comfortable as a celibate monk.

Romansh language

Spescha was deeply rooted in his homeland. This was not just related to origin. Deeply rooted in nature and language, he felt obliged to both. One of his visions was a uniform written Romansh language . It is to his credit that the displacement of the language by German has been slowed down somewhat. The uniform Romansh written language only became a reality in 1982, 150 years after his death and a good 40 years after it was recognized as the fourth national language (1939), in the form of Rumantsch Grischun .

geography

Map of the Surselva

Spescha was in close correspondence with Jakob Samuel Wyttenbach and Johann Gottfried Ebel . The latter helped him to print the article Beytrag z. Story d. Rhaeto-Htruscan language , one of the few publications during his lifetime.

Spescha's extensive reflection on his environment is remarkable, which also included economic-geographic considerations, as well as his energetic advocacy of a respectful treatment of nature.

Alpinism

Map of the Urserental

Spescha's greatest passion was alpinism, of which he was one of the pioneers. He was one of the first to try to see the world from above and was the most reliable geographer and cartographer for his time. Although rarely cited, he was well known as a source among his contemporaries. His passion was largely met with incomprehension in the monastery. His boss at the time said that mountain tours, map drawing and collecting crystals were unworthy of a monk. Placidus attached great importance to the fact that he had always been befitting on his mountain trips and that he had fulfilled his priestly duties.

Around 1800 he wrote a guide to undertaking mountain trips . He gave information about food, weather, equipment and companions. Some of his advice has remained valid to this day.

Spescha called the maps he himself drew with pen and pencil "hand cracks". Since 1782 he has mapped every ascent of the mountain. His map collection was partially stolen from him by the Austrians in 1799 or burned on May 6th in the monastery fire. From the time before 1799 only a detailed map of the Cadi with 161 Rhaeto-Romanic names has survived.

First ascents

Placidus a Spescha crosses the Rheinwald glacier. Aquatint by Johann Ludwig Bleuler
a summit in the immediate vicinity bears his name today: Piz a Spescha
« During this ascent it was a dreadful glacier, naturalized with appalling abysses, to climb up a steep, almost vertical wall of ice and snow that was almost entirely considered to be inaccessible. We all connected three, about 10 shoes apart ... The ice shrubs were so close together that we were forced to translate their edges, which were often no more than the width of a factory shoe. Only one was allowed to go; for the others had to be on their guard and set a firm footing so that the third one would not be unhappy. The youth fell away, but did not sink far because the rope he had around him held us tight from behind and in front; little by little he straightened himself out of the crevice into which he had sunk. »
accompanied by three doctors in three days from Disentis. The ascent turned out to be difficult because they were insufficiently equipped. Finally the three stayed behind; the daring monk climbed the mountain single-handedly. During the descent, he saved two of the men from sliding. He himself suffered eye damage that plagued him for a whole night. His skin peeled off his face and hands. He looked so hideous that the landlady in Versam took Reissaus at the sight of him.

Spescha tried unsuccessfully on the Tödi six times . His companions, the chamois hunters A. Bisquolm and P. Curschellas, reached the summit on September 1, 1824 at 11 a.m. He himself probably stayed in the saddle of the Porta da Spescha ⊙ , which is now named after him, and followed the success with binoculars. The equally unsuccessful attempts by Johannes Jacob Hegetschweiler from the Glarus side were known to him and there was also a dispute about the best route.

Works

Signature, March 30, 1811
  • The Rhaeto-Htruscan language. A contribution to their history in: Isis. A monthly v. Germans u. Swiss Scholars 1, Zurich 1805, 24–33
  • An ascent d. Piz Urlaun , in: Bündner Monatsblatt 9, 1858, 215–221;
  • Brief history of war in d. Around v. Dissentis in d. Year 1799 a. my deportation , in: Bündnerisches Monatsblatt 11, 1860, 133–140 + 157–163 + 173–179
  • The climate of the Alps at the end of the previous and the beginning of the present century 1818, with Appendix v. G. Theobald, in: Yearbook Swiss Alpine Club 5, 1868/69, 494–511
  • Disertaziun sur l'envenziun dils Minerals de Ponteglias . Dìgl onm 1817 e 1818, ed. v. J. Nay, in: Annalas de la Societa Retorumantscha 26, 1912, 216-232
  • Litteratura Grischuna vedra e nova (1819) Cudisch da litteratura romontscha , in: Caspar Decurtins (Ed.), Rätoromanische Chrestomathie , Vol. 4, Erlangen 1911 (Nachdr. Chur 1983), 670-786
  • Location, incident, etc. Order d. Urseren-Thals in the canton of Uri. Depicted v. a capitular d. House of God Disentis in 1811 . transcribed v. Willy Bomatter, comments from Stefan Fryberg, o. O. 1990
  • Description of the Alps, especially the highest (1823). Edition and introduction by U. Scholian Izeti: Chronos Verlag, Zurich (2002) ISBN 3-0340-0575-X Margrit Irniger: Review in the Swiss Forestry Journal (2003 Sept.)
  • Voyages of discovery on the Rhine. Exact geographical representation of all sources of the Rhine in the canton of Graubündten together with the description of many mountain trips in this little visited and explored alpine region . Edition and introduction by U. Scholian Izeti: Chronos Verlag, Zurich (2005) ISBN 3-0340-0741-8 Reto Furter: Review in H-Soz-u-Kult, January 15, 2007

« His numerous manuscripts on the cultural and economic issues of the Grisons Surselva - some of them very extensive - were hardly published apart from an edition at the beginning of the 20th century by Friedrich Pieth and Karl Hager and accordingly rarely cited, although they were for the alpine economic and Cultural history, for the literary history of Romansh and for discourse research would be able to make significant contributions. The manuscripts can be found in archives in Chur and Disentis, whereby it should be noted that a part of his works that were not known in terms of scope was probably destroyed by the fire of the Disentis monastery before 1799. »

- Reto Furter
  • Description of the Val Tujetsch . Edition and introduction by Ursula Scholian Izeti: Chronos Verlag, Zurich (2009) ISBN 978-3-0340-0994-2

literature

Web links

Commons : Placidus a Spescha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ursus Brunold: Mont, Joseph Laurent de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Dahmen: On the history of the grammars of Romance languages , pp. 67–92.
  3. ↑ Johann Gottfried Ebel: Instructions, on d. useful and most enjoyable kind d. To travel through Schweitz , 3rd edition, Vol. 1, Zurich 1809, 271-285.
  4. ↑ Marco Volken: Prayer and Mountaineering . The Alps, SAC 2008/6
  5. ↑ Paul My Heart: alpinism. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  6. ↑ Piz a Spescha 710 392  /  163 321
  7. ↑ a b Swiss Alpine Club (ed.): Glarner Alps 9th edition (1992) pp. 226–230.
  8. ↑ Peter Donatsch, Paul Meinherz: Alpine hiking Graubünden. Long-distance hiking in 65 stages SAC 1998 p. 221.
  9. ↑ W. Derichsweiler: Did Pater Placidus a Spescha climb the mountain named "Piz Terri" in sheet 412, Greina, of the Topographical Atlas of Switzerland in 1801 or 1802? A critical investigation . SAC Yearbook 1911. P. 141-147 ZDB -ID 217189-2
  10. ↑ see review in Entdeckungsreisen am Rhein
personal data
SURNAME Spescha, Placidus a
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spescha, Giuli Battesta (real name); Spescha, Julius Baptist
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Benedictine priest, cartographer, geographer, alpinist, natural scientist and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Trun , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1833
Place of death Trun , Switzerland