Borghorst Monastery
The pin Borghorst , now part of Steinfurt , was founded in the second half of the 10th century. It was a free-worldly aristocratic women's pen . It existed until it was abolished in 1811.
Foundation phase
968 is often given as the year of foundation. However, the copy of the founding deed from the 16th century has now turned out to be a forgery. However, there is no doubt that the foundation must have taken place around this time.
The founder was Countess Bertha von Borghorst. She was the widow of Count Bernhard and is counted among the Billunger relatives . Together with her daughter Hedwig or Hadwig, she had a church consecrated to St. Nicomedes and a convent built. The former count's castle was converted into a monastery.
The daughter Hedwig became the first abbess. The first canons came from the Essen monastery . In 969 it came to the transfer of the relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian , Nicomedes and Mauritius .
Legal status
Otto I. took the facility under his protection. He commissioned the Archdiocese of Magdeburg with the shielding. In 974 the monastery received immunity from Otto II. After that it was exempted from all secular jurisdiction, the inmates were allowed the free choice of the abbess. This only had to be confirmed by the Archbishop of Magdeburg. It was made particularly clear that the Bishop of Münster , who was actually responsible for the area, had no rights to the monastery. The bishops of Münster were only allowed to enter the monastery for episcopal official acts and only with the consent of the abbess. The main reason for the independent position of the institution from the diocesan bishop was its proximity to the mighty Billunger house and the Saxon imperial family, as well as the relationship with the first Archbishop of Magdeburg Adalbert .
The founder's donations to the monastery were called into question by another daughter of the founder Bertheid. The rights of Otto III were confirmed. 989
Bailiwick
The archbishops appointed a bailiff to protect the monastery . This first gave the bailiwick rights to Count Wichmann from the Billunger family. At a later time the rights were passed to the Counts of Ravensberg . In 1271 the bailiwick came to the Counts of Steinfurt . Not infrequently they tried to intervene in the rights of the canoness or the peasants subordinate to the monastery. Especially under Ludolf VI. attacks occurred from Steinfurt. After that, the Vogt's rights were severely restricted. Because of the sovereignty of Borghorst, there were disputes between the Bishop of Münster and the Counts of Steinfurt in the 14th century.
Material basis
The founder bequeathed all her goods to the monastery. The property of the monastery continued to grow through donations, transfers and purchases and was widely spread. Around 1313 Borghorst was one of the wealthiest women's monasteries in the Münster diocese. A number of knights belonged to the monastery as ministerials .
Character of the community
There are various references to the monastery rule according to which the canonesses initially lived. There are authors who speak of belonging to the Premonstrate Order. In many cases it is assumed that it will later be transformed into a noble, imperial, free-worldly women's monastery. The 13th century is sometimes mentioned for this transition, but also the year 1699. The historian Wilhelm Kohl, on the other hand, believes that in Borghorst from the beginning it was less the monastery and the monastery that dominated. Even before the Thirty Years' War there were canonesses, e. B. Clara Anna von Nehem, who married Heinrich II von Droste-Hülshoff , in the 18th century Anna Sophia, a sister of Clemens August I von Droste zu Hülshoff .
Church rights
The church of the monastery was elevated to a parish church in 1040. Mainly because of the monastic independence, it did not receive full archdeaconate rights from the Bishop of Munster . The abbess only had this for the area of penal immunity. The commissioner was the pastor von Borghorst, who was always a canon of the monastery. The abbess had the right to appoint two canons in the parish church and four vicarages .
chapter
The relatives came from noble families. The canonesses vowed chastity and obedience but made no vows. Except for the time of choir prayer, the ladies wore secular clothing. In the first few years in the monastery there was a strict residence obligation for the new ladies, after which it was relaxed. Since there was no vow, the members of the monastery could have their own property and they were allowed to leave the community, for example to get married.
The chapter of the monastery consisted of 14 canonesses and three canons. The members of the monastery lived in their own houses in the churchyard.
Collegiate offices
According to the founding documents, the abbesses should come from the sex of the founder. In older representations it is stated that until 1674 the abbesses came from dynastic or counts' houses. But there were also women heads from ministerial families.
The abbess was chosen by the canons. It was confirmed by the Archbishop in Magdeburg. They awarded offices and rights. She assigned her judicial rights to a number of so-called Burrichters. Since a number of the abbesses were also heads of Metelen or Freckenhorst , there was only a residence obligation of three months a year in Borghorst.
Deputy Abbess was also elected Provost . This was mainly responsible for the administration of the goods. The third official office was that of sexton . This was determined by the abbess. She was mainly responsible for the church services.
Development since the Reformation
When the Counts of Steinfurt from the Götterswick-Bentheim family converted to Protestantism , new conflicts broke out between the Vogt and the monastery. The chapter therefore no longer recognized the bailiff's rights since 1606. But it was not until 1786 that the Steinfurters officially renounced their Vogtsrechte.
Although the Archdiocese of Magdeburg became Protestant during the Reformation , initially nothing changed in the relationship between it and the monastery. However, there were now Protestant canonesses within the chapter. These circumstances gave the Bishop of Munster Ferdinand of Bavaria the opportunity to intervene in the conditions of the canons and in 1616 to drive out the Protestant canons. In the course of the Counter-Reformation in the Diocese of Münster, the monastery recognized the Bishop of Münster as a full professor in 1623. After the secularization of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg after 1648, the efforts of the Münster bishops to take over the rights of Magdeburg increased. With this aim, too, Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen supported his sister in her candidacy for abbess in 1672. The transfer of rights to Münster was contested by Brandenburg-Prussia as the new sovereign in Magdeburg, and in 1718 King Friedrich Wilhelm I was able to enforce some of his rights .
secularization
After the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , the Borghorst monastery fell to the Counts of Salm together with the Horstmar office, which had previously been in the Münster area . The pen complained against it before the Reich Chamber of Commerce . Without the process having ended, the Counts lost sovereignty over the County of Salm-Horstmar in 1806 . After being incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Berg on the Rhine , Joachim Murat, as the new sovereign, initially did not dissolve the monasteries. This only happened in 1811 when the region fell to France . The goods were added to the domains of Emperor Napoleon . The buildings were sold. After the French withdrew, Count von Salm-Horstmar received the monastery goods back, but had to compensate the nuns financially. The archive was brought to the Princely Archives in Coesfeld .
Even before the secularization in 1801, the dormitory was demolished. The abbey building was abandoned in 1811. In the 1880s, the church was also demolished in favor of a new building, today's neo-Gothic Church of St. Nicomedes. Only the chapter building and another house from 1701 have survived.
In addition to the holdings in the Princely Archives in Coesfeld, there is a considerable part of the archive in the Borghorst parish archive. The necrology from the 13th century is kept in the Münster State Archives.
Buildings and works of art
It is not known when the collegiate church was built. The west tower of the nave dates from the 12th century. In 1403 the Romanesque church was expanded into a Gothic hall church . Next to the big tower was the abbess's chapel. There were also other chapels nearby.
The church forecourt was lined with the residential buildings of the canons and the canons ("Stiftskurien"). Only one of the collegiate curiae, built in 1688, has survived.
Not far from the church is the Aloysius Chapel from 1749, which has been preserved to this day .
The Borghorster Stiftskreuz from around 1050 is one of the most important art treasures. Today it is owned by the Church of St. Nikomedes zu Steinfurt-Borghorst. It is one of the most important Ottonian works of art.
There was a Romanesque epitaph in the church . This was partly interpreted as the grave slab of Count Bernhard, the founder's husband. There is no proof of this.
literature
- Heiko KL Schulze : Monasteries and monasteries in Westphalia. History, building history and description. A documentation . In: Géza Jászai (Ed.): Monastic Westphalia. Monasteries and monasteries 800–1800. Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster 1982, ISBN 3-88789-054-X , p. 320 (exhibition catalog, Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, September 26, 1982 - November 21, 1982).
- Albert Ludorff : The architectural and art monuments of the Steinfurt district. Schöningh, Münster 1904, pp. 11-16 ( architectural and art monuments of Westphalia 15).
Web links
- History of the women's pen
- GERMANIA SACRA - NEW EPISODE 10 - THE BISTOIRS OF THE CHURCH PROVINCE OF COLOGNE - THE BISTOOM OF MÜNSTER
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nathalie Kruppa: The Billunger and their monasteries. Examples of the extensive connections in early medieval Saxony. in: Concilium medii aevi vol. 12 (2009) pp. 1–41, here p. 18.
- ^ Franz Floer: The Borghorst Monastery and the Ostendorfer Mark. In: TÜBINGER STAATSWISSENSCHAFTLICHE ABHANDLUNGEN NEW EPISODE 5th ISSUE 1914 digitized version ( memento from January 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Stiftsorte in Westphalia .
- ^ Wilhelm Kohl: Convents of women in Westphalia. In: Géza Jászai (Ed.): Monastic Westphalia. Monasteries and Stifte 800–1800, Münster 1982, p. 36.
- ^ Johann Holsenbürger: The gentlemen v. Eckenbrock (by Droste-Hülshoff) and their possessions. 2 volumes, Regensberg, Münster iW 1868/1869 digitized. Vol. 1: 1209-1570. 1868. Vol. 2: 1570-1798. 1869.
- ↑ Irene Crusius : Studies on the Kanonissenstift, Göttingen 2001, p. 61.
- ^ Holdings of the Borghorst Monastery in the Princely Coesfeld Archive .
- ↑ The history of the city of Borghorst. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 19, 2014 ; Retrieved April 18, 2014 .
- ^ Heinrich Neuy Bauhaus Museum
- ^ Gabriele Böhm: Medieval figural tombs in Westphalia from the beginnings to 1400. Berlin a. a. 1993, pp. 51-58; Partial digitization .
Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 36 ″ N , 7 ° 23 ′ 52 ″ E