Provent
A Provent is the purchased maintenance in a Catholic institution, a monastery, monastery or bishopric. It was mainly, but not exclusively, pensions for clergy and laypeople.
Use of words
The word is usually derived from the Middle Latin word "praebenda". Possibly it goes back directly to the Latin word "proventus". But this word was perceived as colloquial : “præbendarium sive præbendarios, quæ vulgo proventumenn (Provent people) dicuntur.” In King Magnus Håkonsson's statute for the hospitals of All Saints and St. Katarina in Bergen , “provendo” is used in the Norwegian version and “provendo” in the Latin Version “prebenda”. The word was used in various compositions in Sweden and in what was then the Swedish part of Finland. The word is also used in Iceland.
history
Beginnings
It is not possible to determine with certainty when the first Provent regulations came into being. It was not until the middle of the 11th century that some orders started accepting lay people into their monasteries. The lay brothers should facilitate the manual work of the monks. Then it came up that you could buy into a monastery. In the course of the 11th century, the first Provent regulations emerged on the continent and the British Isles. The consideration often consisted of land ownership, and so the Provent system soon became part of the monastic land acquisition policy. From the beginning, the Provent relationship was in competition with other maintenance contracts in which a person undertook to perform work in exchange for maintenance. But this was a form of poor relief, so the Provent Treaty was a real alternative.
Provent contracts
The introduction of the Provent regulations came up against existing regulations in every country, into which they had to adapt. This mainly concerned inheritance rules and regulations on the sale of property. In Iceland, the heir could object to any disposition of the owner over his future inheritance that could curtail his entitlements, requiring his prior consent. In Norway, there was a special property protection scheme that limited the owner's disposal to 1/10 of his property, which the Church was able to expand to 1/4 in its favor in 1152/1153. Denmark was also forced to limit the Church's ability to acquire property. Again and again the Provent contract was banned as a contract with performance and consideration. Rather, acceptance into the Provent relationship should be completely detached from a donation made voluntarily and without prior agreement. 62% of the Provent contracts were concluded with monasteries, the rest with bishops, cathedral chapters, etc. The Provent contract was also not reserved for nobles (mostly from the lower nobility). The nobles made up only 10%. Most were laypeople. They were usually accepted among the lay brothers or sisters. But it was not a spiritual recording. Rather, it was about material maintenance for an actual material consideration. However, participation in certain spiritual activities could be stipulated in a Provent contract, such as participation in common prayer or Christian funeral with annual soul masses. But those were additional regulations. The Provent Treaty had its boom in the 14th century with more than half of the known cases. Towards the end of the 15th century the number fell noticeably and had almost disappeared from Norway shortly before the Reformation. There were more Provent women than Provent men. But there were also married couples or mothers with daughters or sons. Women could shop in men's convents and men in women's convents. Contrary prohibitions were ignored if the land acquisition policy of the monastery made it appear useful.
Provent people's life
The archaeological excavations of the monastery ruins, chapter houses and cathedral churches do not provide any information about the living areas of the Provent people. They are said to have been located near the monastery complex or the chapter houses. The Provent letters, which sometimes describe the guaranteed living conditions in detail, still offer the best information. From them you can read something about the social position of the Provent people when it is determined where they should eat the meals they are guaranteed to eat: “At the table of the workers”, “at the table of the servants”, “at the table of the lay brothers”, “on Table of the Choir Brothers ”or the monks. The highest was "at the bishop's table". The guaranteed drinks also reveal a social stratification. One received only half a drink with his meal, another a mug of beer a day, and another got a drink from the monks' cellar with his meal. Some Provent people could bring their own servants for the whole year, others only for celebrations. Some who were dissatisfied with the menu at the monastery agreed to special meals.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Helland-Hansen Sp. 512.
- ↑ Lange p. 23.
- ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum Vol. 2 No. 16a.
- ↑ "Proventsamningr" (Provent contract) in Diplomatarium Islandicum Vol. 2 No. 145 p. 269.
- ↑ Maurer Vol. 3 p. 311.
- ↑ a b Maurer Vol. 2 p. 355 cites the 2nd ordinance of Archbishop Jørund of 6 July 1306. Diplomatarium Islandicum Vol. 2 No. 188 p. 351 f. = R. Keyser, PA Munch: Norges Gamle Love indtil 1387 . Christiania 1849. Vol. 3, p. 243 ff.
- ↑ Helland-Hansen Sp. 513.
- ↑ a b Diplomatarium Norvegicum Vol. 2 No. 115 .: Provent contract between Gunvor Olafsdatter and Bishop Ketil of Stavanger.
- ↑ Helland-Hansen Sp. 514. See also Tryti, section “Proventkvinner og nonner”.
literature
- Kjeld Helland-Hansen: "Provent II." In: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder vol. 13. Copenhagen 1918. Sp. 511-516.
- Chr. CA Lange: De norske Klostres Historie i Middelalderen . Kristiania 1856. (Still the authoritative work today).
- Konrad Maurer: About the Old Norse Church Constitution and marriage law . Otto Zeller 1966. Lectures on Old Norse Legal History, Vol. 2.
- Konrad Maurer: Kinship and inheritance law including lien according to Old Norse law . Otto Zeller 1966. Lectures on Old Norse Legal History, Vol. 3.
- Anna Elisa Tryti: "Kvinnens stilling i klostervesenet" in: Den katolske kirke