Silvanus spies

The coat of arms of the abbot Silvanus Speht

Silvanus Speht (* 1611 in Nüdlingen ; † March 15, 1646 ) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Münsterschwarzach from 1641 to 1646 .

Münsterschwarzach before Speht

The time before Silvanus Speht took office in Münsterschwarzach was marked by the clashes between Protestants and Catholics. As early as 1525, the buildings of the abbey had been destroyed by citizens of the city of Black during the German Peasants' War. After the arduous reconstruction, which lasted until 1540, the monastery was again haunted by troops of the Schmalkaldic League .

From 1618 the Thirty Years War broke out. Economic decline began again for the abbey, as the war and the so-called Little Ice Age destroyed the harvests of the monastery property. In 1631 the convent under Abbot Johannes Kassian Speiser had to leave the monastery, which was now occupied by the Swedes. Spehts predecessor Abbot Nicholas III. Molitor was appointed abbot by only five voters and died in the year of his benediction.

Life

Early years

Silvanus Speht was born in Nüdlingen, Lower Franconia, near the town of Kissingen in 1611 . The last name is only recorded on two letters that Speht wrote in 1640. Nothing is known about the abbot's family, nor are the sources about the early training of the young Silvanus. However, a degree must be assumed, because in 1629 Speht entered the Münsterschwarzach Abbey.

Here, after taking his vows in 1629 , he quickly received his ordinations: the minor ordinations were awarded to him on May 25, 1630, and on December 21, 1630 Speht became a subdeacon. He was ordained a deacon on September 20, 1631. When the Protestant Swedes occupied the abbey on October 12, 1631, the young monk and the convent had to flee to nearby Würzburg . The ordination was therefore postponed.

The monks only returned to the abbey in 1636. Abbot Kassian Speiser then presented Speht to the ecclesiastical councilors of the episcopal city on July 20, 1637 or 1638 for the Kura exam. In the following years Silvanus Speht was involved in the monastery villages. He performed pastoral duties here and was handed down in this role from 1639 to 1641 in Sommerach and Nordheim am Main .

After Abbot Nikolaus died in the year of his appointment, 1640, Georg Reinhard was appointed administrator in Münsterschwarzach for the transition period from December 10th . It was not until February 1641 that the regular election of abbot took place in the Würzburg city monastery of St. Stephan , which had not yet been destroyed by the Thirty Years' War. Silvanus Speht emerged from her on February 7th as the new Abbot of Münsterschwarzach.

As abbot

Speht received his confirmation on February 9, 1641 by the Würzburg Prince-Bishop Franz von Hatzfeld . Thereupon he was given an appointment in Münsterschwarzach on April 15th of the same year . The executive prelate was Abbot Andreas Streublein from the Würzburg St. Stephen's Monastery, who was specially authorized for this purpose. Speht took over the abbey in a very difficult economic situation and immediately began to improve it.

For this purpose, he had the individual members of the convent occupy pastoral positions in the area around the monastery. The abbot himself moved to the monastery village of Nordheim am Main and looked after the community in nearby Sommerach from here. This accumulation of offices brought Abbot Silvanus a reprimand in 1645 by the visitors who visited the monastery. Speht then renounced the parish duties and moved back to the monastery.

Despite the dire straits in which the monastery got caught, Speht sent three monks to Bamberg . You should intensify your studies here. A last attempt at rapprochement with the Bursfeld congregation , from which the monastery had moved away since the lack of help in the Peasants' War, also took place during Silvanus Speht's term of office: Speht asked President Leonard Colchon about the provision of a novice master.

In February 1646 the abbot of Münsterschwarzach fell seriously ill. He died on March 15, 1646 at eleven o'clock, probably as a result of consumption . The funeral took place on March 19th. A characteristic published after Silvanus Speht's death describes him as a man with a reddish face and a blond beard. However, below, he is attested to have a fearful spirit.

coat of arms

The personal coat of arms of Silvanus Speht is, also due to the relatively short term of office, only handed down on a seal from September 15, 1641. Description : Shared; above three fir trees, below a soaring raven with bread in its beak. The colors of the coat of arms are unknown.

literature

• Kassius Hallinger: Chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach a. M. (1390-1803) . In: Abtei Münsterschwarzach (Ed.): Abtei Münsterschwarzach. Works from their history . Münsterschwarzach 1938.
• Rainer Kengel: The coat of arms of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach . In: Abtei Münsterschwarzach (Ed.): Abtei Münsterschwarzach. Works from their history . Münsterschwarzach 1938.
• Johannes Mahr: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey . Münsterschwarzach 2002.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mahr, Johannes: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey . P. 31.
2. ↑ Hallinger, Kassius: The chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach . P. 110.
3. ↑ Hallinger, Kassius: The chronology of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach . Ibid.
4. ↑ Mahr, Johannes: Münsterschwarzach. 1200 years of a Franconian abbey . P. 31.
5. ↑ Kengel, Rainer: The coat of arms of the abbots of Münsterschwarzach . P. 148.

predecessor	Office	successor
Nicholas III Molitor	Abbot of Münsterschwarzach 1641–1646	Remigius Winckel