Auctor

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Representation of the holy author around 1460: During the siege of Braunschweig by the troops of the Staufer King Philip of Swabia in 1200, St. Author appeared over the besieged city with a sword and crosier , thus preventing it from being captured .
The slogan reads in Gothic book minuscule : "huius sis fautor urbis brunswik pater autor" ("Be the protector of this city of Braunschweig, father author!") .
The Saxon Chronicle by either Cord Bote or Hermann Bote from 1492: Illustration of the city of Braunschweig, enthroned above it on the top right, its patron saint, Saint Author ("Sanctus Author"). In the foreground two knights of the lily events .

Auctor , also author , Auteur or Adinctor called (* approx 5th century ) since the year 1200, the city holy and patron saint of the city of Braunschweig . His commemoration day, August 20, has also been Braunschweig's city holiday until modern times.

Life and afterlife

Metz

Little is known about the historical person Auctor. It is not clear where Auctor came from and where he worked, because there were several people with this name in different places. According to uncertain tradition, he is said to have been born in Greece and ordained in Rome . From there he is said to have moved on to Gaul . The 13th bishop of Metz in Lorraine bore this name when Attilas Huns took the city in 451. He is mentioned for the first time in a manuscript from the year 776. The relics of the Metz bishop were brought to the Alsatian monastery of Marmoutier in 830 . His grave was destroyed there in 1525 during the Peasants' War. His feast day is August 9th.

trier

In Trier , which is about 100 km northeast of Metz, there is said to have been at least one, possibly even two bishops with this name (although these cannot be historically proven). However, it has also not yet been clarified whether “Auctor” was actually (always) a personal name in Trier or whether it could not be an appellative in the sense of “creator” or “founder”. It is also assumed that the bones of an Auctor , which were located in the Trier Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin , could have got there through reliquary translation from Metz. A related cult only developed in Trier in the last third of the 11th century. His feast day - like that of the Braunschweig patron saint - is August 20th.

Legend of the Braunschweig patron saint

The saint is said to have appeared in a dream to the Brunonian Margravine Gertrud the Younger of Braunschweig , asking her to transfer his bones to Braunschweig. In 1113 the relics were brought there from Trier and in 1115 they came to the newly founded Aegidienkloster . Arnold von Lübeck mentions this in his Chronica Slavorum, which was completed around 1210 . According to another source, relics were transferred from St. Maximin to Helmarshausen Monastery as early as 1105 and 1107 , from where they were finally brought to Braunschweig.

During the Guelph-Hohenstaufen throne dispute, the troops of the Hohenstaufen King Philip of Swabia besieged the Guelph city ​​of Braunschweig in 1200 . On August 20th of that year, Saint Auctor saved the city from being captured by appearing to the enemy troops with sword in hand, whereupon they broke off the siege. Since then it has been considered the patron saint of Braunschweig and August 20 is the “Author's Day”.

The relatively peaceful ending of inner-city revolts against the council, the so-called " Braunschweig layers ", during the 14th and 15th centuries was attributed to the work of the city saint.

Relics and worship

The Autorshof

His relics have been venerated since 1115 in the Brunswick Benedictine monastery of St. Maria and Aegidius alongside the latter's main patron. After the city was saved from the Hohenstaufen besiegers in 1200, St. Auctor was henceforth a protector and city saint, whose relics were carried around the city wall in a large procession on his feast day, August 20, every year . The believers sang u. a .: De leve here sunt author / de is eyn hillich man, / is our procurator, / de can striden before us. Such an annual celebration in the cathedral monastery of St. Blaise was founded in 1298 by the city council. The foundation of an autors band in the cathedral is documented for 1317. During the " Great Shift " from 1374 to 1380 eight council members were killed. After the suppression of this inner-city uprising, the Autorskapelle at the old town hall was built in 1386 as atonement . The overcoming of the unrest from 1445 to 1446 prompted the council to have a silver reliquary made out of gratitude, which was completed in 1457. Every year since 1457 the shrine was carried around the city walls by 12 councilors in a procession. In addition, a lamp crown with the silhouette of the city was made in 1493/94.

With the arrival of the Reformation in Braunschweig in 1528, the veneration of saints in the city ended. In 1710 , Duke Anton Ulrich , who had converted to Catholicism , arranged for the relics to be buried in a monument that was demolished in 1789. The bones were buried in the apex chapel of the Aegidienkirche . There they were found again in 1789, 1938 and 1976. On the back wall of the chapel is the inscription: St. Auctor - Here the bones of St. Auctor buried by Duke Anton Ulrich were found again on June 4, 1976 + . On August 20, 1955, the celebration of the anniversary of the patron saint was renewed by the Catholic community.

Gravestone from 1710

The choir apex chapel of St. Aegidien in Braunschweig is designed as a St. Auctor chapel. On the back wall, German and Latin inscriptions address the visitor of our time. The grave slab that Duke Anton Ulrich had made in 1710 is embedded in the floor:

image inscription translation
Braunschweig St. Aegidien grave plate St. Auctor.jpg

D (EO) O (PTIMO) M (AXIMO) SANCTO AUCTORI SAECULO P (OST) N (ATIVITATEM) C (HRISTI) IV.METENSIUM EPISCOPO TREVIRENSIUM ARCHIEPISCOPO ET THAUMATURGO CUIUS OSSA GERTRUDIS BRUNSIN VIGAE FIRNOMIBUS) M.CXV QUEMQUE DEIN CIVITAS PATRONUM SIBI STATUIT & COLUIT MULTIMODE NUNC DEMUM CERTIOR URBIS SUAE PATRONUS IMO PATER ANTONIUS ULRICUS DUX BRUNSV (IGENSIS) ET LUNEB (URGITENSIS) AND LUNEB (URGITENSIS) VIATOR ET SI AD SANCTOS TENDIS SANCTOS HONORA SANCTISSIMUM ADORA

- God, the best and greatest - To the holy Auctor, in the 4th century after the birth of Christ Bishop of Metz, Archbishop of Trier and miracle worker, whose bones Gertrude, mistress of Braunschweig, stole from the Trier people by pious theft and brought them here in 1115 and whom the city then determined to be the patron saint and venerated in many ways, finally has a more secure protector of his city, rather her father Anton Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, after he buried him in the earth so that he could become earth to have this monument made in 1710. Go then, wanderer, and if you seek the saints, honor the saints, adore the Most Holy.

Source and representation

Berthold Meier (1451–1465), abbot and chronicler of the Aegidienkloster, wrote the “Legends and Stories of the St. Aegidien Monastery in Braunschweig” in Low German shortly after 1457 . He dedicated the 76-sheet work to the city council. The manuscript is now kept in the Kestner Museum in Hanover . In it is the most famous representation of Saint Auctor. The miniature , created around 1460 by an unknown artist, measures 242 × 165 mm. It shows St. Auctor with his sword and crosier floating over the city of Braunschweig. On the lower left edge of the picture you can see several Benedictine monks looking up at him with thanks, on the lower right the mayor and the city council. The coat of arms of the bishop (with miter ) and the city of Braunschweig (the soaring, red Braunschweig lion ) are visible at both feet .

The depiction of the city is the first known pictorial representation of Braunschweig. The view is from the southwest. However, it is not clear which of the buildings are shown. Much of the Gothic urban landscape is shown in a simplified manner.

Meier wrote the script in which even St. Giles, the second main saint of the church, mention is made shortly after he had led as abbot that the bones of St. Auctors on Sunday Laetare in a newly created silver 1457 Shrine reburied were. The new shrine was donated by the city council as a thank you for the bloodless end of the " layer of disobedient citizens " ( layer of the unhorsem borger , 1445/46). In the “Big Letter”, the conflicting councils, municipalities and the citizens, who were united in the guilds capable of advising, agreed on their future political participation. The "Big Letter" was sealed with a newly created seal showing St. Auctor in the robe of a bishop.

In 1494, the city council of Braunschweig honored the Aegidienkirche, a model of Braunschweig made of silver, which was crowned by a figure depicting Saint Auctor. The model of the earthly / heavenly Jerusalem resembling a crown of light was hung in the church. A representation of the saint can still be seen on the side gable of the Aegidienkirche.

St. Auctor as namesake

After the five soft images Altewiek , Altstadt , Hagen , Neustadt and Sack had been raised to a single political body in 1445, the Auctor's seal was created, which was the common seal for " Meynheit ", that is, for all five. Auctor altars were found in all the churches in the city . Images of the saint can be seen on the Brunswick Auctorgroschen named after him, which were minted between 1499 and 1501. At the Old Town market , just northeast of the Altstadtrathaus adjacent, was 1380-1679, the author chapel. After this atonement chapel was demolished, the Autorshof was built at the same location in 1681 . In the south of the city of Braunschweig lies the Autorstrasse named after the saint .

The first name "Author" was used in Braunschweig as a synonym for "Braunschweiger" even after the Reformation .

In the Lorraine town of Rezonville , west of Metz , the church of St-Auteur is consecrated to Auctor .

literature

Web links

Commons : Auctor (saint)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jürgen Mertens: The recent history of the city of Braunschweig in maps, plans and views. With an outline of the older city history and a timeline by Richard Moderhack . Published by the city of Braunschweig Vermessungsamt, Braunschweig 1981, p. 50f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e C. Hillmann-Apmann, In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century. P.56.
  3. ↑ a b c L'Abbé Pétin: Dictionnaire hagiographique ou Vies des saints et des bienheureux. 1st volume, Paris 1850, p. 537. on books.google.fr
  4. ^ Reinhard Dorn : Medieval churches in Braunschweig. Hameln 1978, p. 202.
  5. ↑ a b c d Jürgen Mertens: The recent history of the city of Braunschweig in maps, plans and views. With an outline of the older city history and a timeline by Richard Moderhack. Published by the city of Braunschweig Vermessungsamt, Braunschweig 1981, p. 50.
  6. ↑ Ute Römer-Johannsen, Christof Römer: 800 years of St. Aegidien. P. 29.
  7. ↑ L'Abbé Pétin: Dictionnaire hagiographique ou Vies des saints et des bienheureux. Volume 1, Paris 1850, p. 551. on books.google.fr
  8. ↑ Ute Römer-Johannsen and Christof Römer state in 800 years of St. Aegidien on p. 29f that the 13th Bishop of Metz and the 14th and 35th of Trier bore this name. In the Translatio S. Autoris from the first quarter of the 13th century, he is said to be mentioned for the first time as Bishop of Metz and Archbishop of Trier.
  9. ↑ Theodor von Haupt: Trierisches Zeitbuch from the year 58 before the birth of Christ to the year of Christ 1821. Trier 1822, p. 53. on books.google.de
  10. ↑ Chronica Slavorum by Arnold von Lübeck on daten.digitale-sammlungen.de
  11. ^ A b Cord Meckseper (Hrsg.): Landesausstellung Niedersachsen 1985: Stadt im Wandel. Exhibition catalog Volume 2: Art and culture of the bourgeoisie in Northern Germany 1150–1650. P. 1081.
  12. ^ Reinhard Dorn: Medieval churches in Braunschweig. Hameln 1978, p. 205.
  13. ↑ Ute Römer-Johannsen, Christof Römer: 800 years of St. Aegidien. P. 33.
  14. ↑ RF
  15. ↑ Jürgen Hodemacher : Braunschweigs streets - their names and their stories, Volume 2: Okergraben and Stadtring. Cremlingen 1996, p. 25.
  16. ^ Jürgen Mertens: The recent history of the city of Braunschweig in maps, plans and views. With an outline of the older city history and a timeline by Richard Moderhack. Published by the city of Braunschweig Vermessungsamt, Braunschweig 1981, p. 51.
  17. ↑ a b Ute Römer-Johannsen, Christof Römer: 800 years of St. Aegidien. P. 30.
  18. ↑ Jürgen Hodemacher: Braunschweigs streets - their names and their stories, Volume 2: Okergraben and Stadtring. Cremlingen 1996, p. 24.
predecessor Office successor
Adelphus Bishop of Metz
~ 451 		Expiece
Leontius Bishop of Trier
409–427 		Severus of Trier
personal data
SURNAME Auctor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES author
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Patron saint of the city of Braunschweig
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century or 5th century
DATE OF DEATH 5th century