Scholastica of Anhalt

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Abbess Scholastica von Anhalt - Engraving after a painting from 1710

Scholastica von Anhalt-Zerbst (* 1451 ; † August 31, 1504 in Gernrode ) from the Ascanian family was the abbess of the free secular monastery of Gernrode and Frose from 1469 to 1504 . Like her successor Elisabeth von Weida , who was the first abbess to admit to the Reformation in 1521, she had a decisive influence on the late days of the monastery.

She tried to improve the economic situation of the monastery and what, in her opinion, were intolerable moral conditions. Their efforts to improve the monastery finances were not granted lasting success. She embroiled the pen in costly legal proceedings that shattered its finances when she died. Under her rule, a jubilee year was held in the monastery in 1489 .

origin

Scholastica von Anhalt was the twelfth child of Prince Georg I von Anhalt-Zerbst (1390–1474). It came from his third marriage to Sophia von Hohnstein in 1442 . From her father's four marriages, she had seventeen siblings, nine brothers and eight sisters. She was a niece of Abbess Mechthild II of Anhalt , who ruled from 1445 to 1463 ; her sister Agnes was abbess in the Gandersheim monastery from 1485 to 1504 .

Schlossberg with St. Servatii collegiate church and collegiate buildings

Scholastica von Anhalt spent her youth in the Cistercian convent Helfta near Eisleben , which was moved to the city of Eisleben in 1343 and at that time had a good reputation as a school. Later she moved to the monastery in Quedlinburg for further education .

There she was unanimously elected Abbess of Gernrode after the death of her predecessor Margarethe von Merwitz in 1469 , although she was only 18 years old at the time. The fact that her father was Vogt of the monastery and that it was certainly in his interest after the death of the childless Prince Bernhard VI should have had a not inconsiderable influence . von Anhalt-Bernburg to bring his daughter to the head of the monastery. Scholastica was not only head of a monastery, but also princess, with which she was in possession of the jurisdiction , which the bailiff perceived as secular power. Jurisdiction has always been associated with revenue. The princely house of Anhalt presented to the departure of the last abbess Sophia Elisabeth von Anhalt , in 1614 the provost of the monastery. After that, the position of abbess was no longer filled and the monastery was incorporated into the Principality of Anhalt.

Term of office

Founder

Portrait of Margrave Gero, probably made during Scholastica's tenure

When she took office, Gernrode Abbey started building activity. The abbess had the church and monastery buildings repaired from her own and borrowed funds. The church with its altars has been partially repainted, equipped with new statues and decorated with colorful carpets on the walls. Pictures of the canonesses and of themselves were made and hung in the church. Presumably on this occasion the panel painting of Margrave Gero, which is in the collegiate church today, was created . During the work, the Holy Sepulcher was also newly plastered and painted: those who helped with this repair received an indulgence. Scholastica made sure that new sacred robes were acquired and that the existing ones, if possible, were renewed. The robes were then kept together with the church treasure in the zither of the collegiate church, a fire-protected treasury and archive chamber made of stone. The abbess was not satisfied with restoring the church and the monastery buildings. She also had the Mauritius Chapel in Gernrode Castle rebuilt from scratch. She borrowed the money required for this, 17 Rhenish floras , in 1487 from the canon Tile Gruttemann, who was given the chapel, equipped with two Hufen Landes, for life.

The pictures and sculptures were consecrated in 1503 by Mathias von Gaderon , the vicar of Archbishop Ernst von Magdeburg , who was also the administrator of the Halberstadt diocese . It was given "the most abundant indulgence for them, the altars, the company in the churchyard, for the pacemaker, for every part of the relics of which there were very precious ones" . The special ringing of the bells "pro pace" during the peace prayer, which was originally held daily with the chanting of the "Da pacem", is called pacemall.

administration

The abbess reached Friedrich III. on August 19, 1488 in Antwerp the enfeoffment with the regalia , fiefs and temporalities of the monastery together with all teams, lordships and affiliations and the confirmation of all privileges and rights that she and her predecessors and the monastery from him and the other Roman emperors and Kings received. Nevertheless, the pen fell into a long-lasting economic crisis under their rule. This had to do with the fact that she led numerous lawsuits during her tenure, which ultimately devoured the entire income and reserves of the monastery and led to an enormous debt.

She led the first trial against the widow of Bernhard VI. von Anhalt-Bernburg , Hedwig von Anhalt-Bernburg , née Duchess of Sagan . Her predecessor, Abbess Margarethe von Merwitz , had renewed the loan to the Princess Plötzkau and accessories on June 20, 1466 , which she had received from Abbess Mechthild II on April 4, 1451 as body breeding . Margarethe took this loan after the death of Prince Bernhard VI. back in 1468 and transferred it together with other privileges on September 26, 1468 to the new guardian of the monastery, Prince Georg I of Anhalt-Zerbst. Princess Hedwig did not agree, she tried to harm the abbey by depriving the abbey of the income from half the hooves of Volkmar Fromholts in the Rochwitzer Felde and two hooves of Jacob Memes in the Altenburger Felde . The official of the Halberstadt Curia decided on June 9, 1484 in favor of Scholastica. But Hedwig did not submit to the judgment. Thereupon she was excommunicated by Scholastica. Only after she had accepted the verdict was the excommunication lifted after September 29, 1484.

The legal dispute over a large, very fish-rich lake between Gröningen and Aschersleben , which the abbess led against the bishop of Halberstadt and the city of Aschersleben, turned out to be catastrophic for the monastery’s economic situation . The lake was rebuilt by the Halberstadt diocese. When this should be used, disputes arose, as both the diocese and the Gernrode monastery claimed the fishing rights. The people of Halberstadt stated that they had created the lake, whereas the monastery argued that the lake was largely on the land of the Frose monastery and that the abbess von Gernrode was in charge of supervision. In addition, the Frose monastery complained to the abbess about the abbey sacks and meadows flooded by the lake. Since the case could not be decided at this level, Scholastica sued the Archbishop of Magdeburg , Ernst, Duke of Saxony , the administrator of the Halberstadt diocese, before the spiritual court in Rome . Her brothers, the Askanier Waldemar and Georg von Anhalt, advised the trial. A formal contract was signed between them and the Gernröder Chapter on December 13, 1484, in which the princes were to be enfeoffed with half of the goods to be fought for for the litigation costs. When it became clear that the process was dragging on and the expenses kept rising, they refused the extension of the contract planned for November 18, 1485 and the abbess had to continue the process at the expense of her monastery. In addition, the agents of the monastery in Rome embezzled the money that they had been given to conduct the trial.

Map by Matthäus Seutter (1734) with the contested lake

The chapter under Scholastica was meanwhile unable to raise the two silver marks for the annual interest that had to be paid annually for the exemption of the monastery to the Holy See . The collector of the papal chamber adopted the pen after the celebrations of the Jubilee on August 12, 1489 outstanding sum of 50 Rhenish Floren from APR. This happened on the basis of a special papal brief of January 16, 1489. He agreed with Scholastica that because of the impoverishment of the monastery, only eight Rhenish florins should be paid annually instead of the previous two silver marks.

The dispute over the lake would drag on for a total of 24 years and was only ended with a settlement by Scholastica's successor on December 20, 1510. In this she renounced all rights to the lake in favor of the bishop of Halberstadt and the council of the city of Aschersleben. The bishop paid 3000 Rhenish guilders to the monastery, which were deposited in Quedlinburg . In addition, he undertook to deliver two hundredweights of pike from the lake every year or, if there were not enough fish, to pay eight guilders.

In addition to this ruinous process, the dispute between the monastery and Scholastica's brothers over the Harz mines, especially on Osterberg and Ostergrund , appears to be irrelevant . The monastery saw the mines, which at that time produced a rich yield of metals and minerals, such as silver , copper , lead and tin , as its property. The brothers Scholasticas, Waldemar, Ernst, Georg and Rudolf wanted to claim the income from the mines for themselves after they were granted patronage over the abbey with all its regalia . But on March 27, 1500, the dispute over the mines was ended with a settlement. Thereafter, the tithe from the mines of the monastery should be shared between the monastery and Scholastica's brothers. The comparison read: “das ire loving and graces our, our stiffts underthanen and of the mine the lehin allir and iglicher mines, let it be gold, silver, cupper ziehnen, bley or other as affect the type of mine and have taken or waved nothing of it except, love and preorder should, however, that the use of such refuses the helped us and us remains and the others who helped are called our brothers and also the tithe of the income is to be divided equally ” .

Because of those lawsuits, the abbey, whose annual income was estimated at four silver marks , was ultimately so indebted that the successor Elisabeth von Weida had to help out with private funds.

Jubilee year

St. Stephen's Church before being converted into a school building

An important event occurred during Scholastica's tenure, which the chronicler Popperodt reported 71 years later. The at Kaiser Friedrich III. On August 19, 1488, confirmation of the freedoms and immunity of the monastery, Scholastica took the opportunity to hold a jubilee year in 1489 . The establishment of the Jubilee had spread from Rome in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries. Such a solemnity, besides guaranteeing complete indulgence , promised to generate substantial income for the pen. Abbess Scholastica therefore obtained permission from Pope Innocent VIII and from Berthold von Henneberg, as the responsible archbishop of Mainz, permission to hold a jubilee year in Gernrode . The leadership of the celebrations was entrusted to the provost of St. Mauritius in Mainz . They lasted from July 22nd to August 10th, 1489.

The opening took place with great sympathy from the clergy and the population with a festive procession and the festive service in the collegiate church. In the two and a half weeks of the anniversary, the population of the area came to Gernrode to obtain the indulgence associated with the anniversary. As with the celebrations of the Holy Year, with the seven main churches in Rome, seven stations were also set up in Gernrode. The Collegiate Church of Gernrode took the place of St. Peter , the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was represented by the Holy Sepulcher at the Chapel of St. Aegidius, and San Lorenzo fuori le mura by the metronus altar in the west apse of the Collegiate Church . The other stations of the procession were outside the collegiate church. The Marienkapelle in the cloister represented St. Paul in front of the walls , the renewed Mauritius chapel stood for San Sebastiano alle Catacombe , the chapel of St. John in the hospital for St. John Lateran and the parish and market church of St. Stephen for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore . In order to find the stations of the jubilee year, the coats of arms of the confessors employed there were attached, in addition there was a red painted flag at each door of the churches and chapels mentioned. The jubilee year ended with the laying down of the cross in front of the altar in the middle of the collegiate church and a sermon by the pastor of St. Pauli in Halberstadt.

For the participants, Innocent VIII had already granted full indulgence the previous year, and some sinners publicly repented . In Opferstock before the crucifix to coins were after the procession worth 107 Goldgulden for the pin. The distributed 260 indulgence letters produced 65 florins , of which the collector of the papal chamber, Provost Thus, donated five florins to the abbess for the building management.

Life's work

Scholastica in a 19th century depiction

Like her successor, Scholastica is one of the most important abbesses of the Gernrode monastery. Because she succeeded in leading the Gernrode Abbey to new spiritual bloom. During her long reign she succeeded in combating the loose morals prevailing in the monastery and in restoring the monastery 's reputation. She achieved this through discussions with the clergy of the monastery, who at that time had a very bad reputation. In the conversations she convinced them to return to a respectable and godly way of life. She seems to have proceeded very energetically, because those who did not want to change had to leave the pen.

In addition, she maintained lively contacts with clergymen and scholars, whom she invited to her convent school , so that they would like to “interpret the word of God in an edifying way” in front of the girls working there and to prevent them from pondering thoughtlessly over their handicraft. Abbess Scholastica, reported Heinrich Basse, prior of the Benedictine monastery in Ballenstedt in October 1519, often discussed with clergymen and scholars that “there is a great deal in the customs of the church to which, according to her oath, she must submit, but nowhere in Holy Scripture , the teachings of the Church Fathers or in the canonical statutes of the Church " . Scholastica turned to her cousin Prince Wilhelm von Anhalt-Koethen with her problems and worries . He lived as a Franciscan since 1473 in Halle (Saale) , Leipzig and Magdeburg , where Luther also met him. He visited Scholastica for three days at her monastery; his next superiors had not allowed him to visit a "nunnery" , but he had received a papal dispensation . He was able to calm her down through his sermons and conversations, and he offered to offer her advice in writing.

A processional for the nuns , which originated in 1502 and has been preserved to this day, gives an insight into the diverse spiritual life during their reign . This excerpt was specially made for the singing master . This is an excerpt from the Liber Ordinarius of a manuscript with liturgical instructions from the pen, which has been lost. It contains instructions for special acts of the nuns on feast days. So far, only the parts relating to the Easter liturgy have been published. The processional and the existing sources were used by Werner Jacobsen to provide an overview of the liturgical furnishings and use of the Gernrode collegiate church around 1500.

The grave worries of her office made Scholastica age early. The death of her sister Agnes , the abbess of Gandersheim , on August 15, 1504, had left a strong impression on her. After holding the office of abbess for 35 years, she died on August 31, 1504 at the hour of the evening service that closed the day . Shortly before her death, she had notarized her estate. Her burial took place on September 2, 1504; she was buried in front of the high choir in the collegiate church. Her grave slab is no longer preserved today. Together with several others, it was made into choir steps during a restoration of the collegiate church in 1832.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Hartung: On the past of Gernrode . 1912, p. 120.
  2. ^ Hermann Waschke : Regest of the documents of the Ducal House and State Archives in Zerbst from the years 1401–1500 . Dessau 1909, ZR 998.
  3. ↑ Online glossary of the University of Göttingen : “The name Zither or Zitter, siter, sinter, is only used in the northern Harz foreland and there especially in Gernrode, Quedlinburg, Halberstadt and Magdeburg. The origin of this designation cannot be clearly clarified, it may be derived from the Latin words sanctuarium or secretarium, both of which mean sacristy. "
  4. ^ Hermann Laundry : Regest of the documents of the Ducal House and State Archives in Zerbst from the years 1401–1500 . Dessau 1909, ZR 1033.
  5. ^ A b Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications of the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity 1893, p. 188.
  6. ^ Hermann Laundry : Regest of the documents of the Ducal House and State Archives in Zerbst from the years 1401–1500 . Dessau 1909.
  7. ^ Hermann Waschke : Regest of the documents of the Ducal House and State Archives in Zerbst from the years 1401–1500 . Dessau 1909, ZR 696.
  8. ^ A b Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications from the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1893, p. 192
  9. ^ Hermann Laundry : Regest of the documents of the Ducal House and State Archives in Zerbst from the years 1401–1500 . Dessau 1909, ZR 991, 992.
  10. ^ Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications from the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1893, p. 193.
  11. ^ Franke: Elisabeth von Weida and Wildenfels, abbess of the free secular monastery of Gernrode. 1505-1532 . In: Communications of the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1899, pp. 321-322. This lake existed until 1703, then it was drained.
  12. ↑ a b Hans Hartung: On the past of Gernrode . 1912, p. 205
  13. ^ Andreas Popperodt: Annales Gernrodensis . 1560, p. 63.
  14. ^ Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications of the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1893, pp. 191-192.
  15. ^ Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications of the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1893, p. 190
  16. ^ Franz Kindscher: Scholastica, Abbess of Gernrode . In: Communications of the Association for Anhalt History and Antiquity . 1893, p. 194

sources

  • Andreas Popperodt: Historia Ecclesiae Gerenrodenses . 1560. In: Johann Christoph Beckmann (Ed.): Accesiones Historia Anhaltinae as Annales Gernrodensis . 1716.
  • Otto von Heinemann: Codex diplomaticus Anhaltinus (CDA). 6 volumes 1867–1883.

literature

  • Otto von Heinemann: History of the abbey and description of the collegiate church at Gernrode . HC Huch, Quedlinburg 1877.
  • Hans Hartung: On the past of Gernrode . Carl Mittag, Gernrode 1912.
  • Hans Schulze, Reinhold Specht, Günther Vorbrodt: The Gernrode Abbey . Böhlau, Cologne 1965.
  • Klaus Voigtländer: The collegiate church of Gernrode and its restoration 1858–1872 . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1980.
  • Werner Jacobsen: The collegiate church of Gernrode and its liturgical furnishings . In: Essen and the Saxon women's pencils in the early Middle Ages . Klartext Verlag, Essen 2003

Web links

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This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 13, 2008 .
personal data
SURNAME Scholastica of Anhalt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scholastica von Anhalt-Zerbst; Scholastica
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German abbess
DATE OF BIRTH 1451
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1504
Place of death Gernrode