Thilo von Trotha (Bishop)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bishop Thilo von Trotha

Thilo von Trotha (born August 17, 1443 probably in Krosigk north of Halle (Saale) , † March 5, 1514 in Merseburg ) was Bishop of Merseburg and Chancellor of the University of Leipzig . He is considered one of the most important German bishops of the late Middle Ages , who played an important role in the relationship between the Saxon elector , the archbishop of Magdeburg and the emperor . His younger brother Hans von Trotha became known in the southwest German Wasgau as Marshal of the Electors of the Palatinate and is now the subject of regional legends as "Hans Trapp" .

Descent, education and first traces

Thilo came from the noble family von Trotha , which had its origin in the Saalekreis . He was presumably born on the manor in Krosigk, a place near the Petersberg in the Saalekreis, as the second son of an archbishopric Magdeburg marshal of the same name . Like most noble second-borns, he was given a spiritual life. He first becomes tangible as a person in the winter semester of 1448 through his matriculation as "Thylemannus de Trota" at the University of Leipzig, where he obtained the degree of Baccalarius in the summer semester of 1453 . After further studies in Perugia and longer stays in Rome , he was elected cathedral provost in Magdeburg at a young age after his predecessor Arnold von Treskow died at the beginning of 1464. On the occasion of his swearing-in on February 15, 1464, Thilo used a seal which had a raven with a ring in its beak and the inscription "trote" in the coat of arms . At that time he also became canon in Merseburg .

Bishop of Merseburg

Heraldic plaque with the raven in Merseburg Cathedral

On July 21, 1466 Thilo was elected 41st Bishop of Merseburg. After he had received papal confirmation and permission to elect a bishop in September 1466, Archbishop Johann von Magdeburg appointed him to the episcopate of Merseburg on March 8, 1467; with obtaining the papal commission Thilo was on 16 March 1467 consecrated . Emperor Friedrich III. (1452–1493) only enfeoffed Thilo on August 13, 1471 with the regalia of the Hochstift Merseburg, combined with the demand to take the feudal oath before the Elector Ernst of Saxony , which happened in September of the same year in Dresden. Thilo's closeness to the house of the Wettins is evident from the fact that in 1482 he took over the Wettin state order unchanged, merely supplementing it with a prologue. In 1495, Thilo was enfeoffed again by King Maximilian I (1459-1519) with the cathedral monastery regalia, fiefdom and worldliness. One of his canonical official duties was to manage the church's property and its income in the best possible way, thus ensuring orderly pastoral care. This included the ordination of the clergy , the consecration of churches and altars as well as the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction , whereas secular jurisdiction outside the Merseburg Monastery was left to the princely and urban rulers. In addition, Thilo had to supervise the assets and staff of the churches and institutions of his district , to decide on foundations, donations and sales, to take care of the liquidation of the church tithe and to support the approval of indulgences . To this end, Thilo already made use of the possibilities of book printing by ensuring a uniform spiritual administration among the pastors of his diocese by distributing printed agendas, breviaries and missals. The administrative structures created by Bishop Thilo continued into the 19th century. Thilo was also the pastor of the princely family and godfather of Duke George the Bearded .

"Tylo from the von Trote family" was called by his contemporaries

“… A handsome long gentleman, well kept by the princes of Saxony, […] clever, wise and understanding, his subjects u. He loved the burgers, Fürstlich u. held splendidly, kostfrey, mild, u. honorable by all princes ... "

described, who renovated or rebuilt many buildings and goods, especially in his diocese, increased income and assets of his office and left no debts.

Thilo was also referred to as

“... a shrewd, discreet man of extraordinary insight, vigilant in spiritual matters, adroit and cautious in worldly affairs, and worthy of great glory, for he was convinced that virtue consists of three things, first of all in seeing what is in every thing true and right, what is fair and appropriate to everyone, secondly, in that one curbs the excitement of the mind and instructs the understanding with desire, thirdly, that we deal with those with whom we deal, through their efforts, as what nature does desires, to possess sufficiently and in abundance, to deal with moderation and reason. Finally, if something unpleasant is done to us by them, we should ward it off and take revenge on those who have it and punish them, as far as it is compatible with equity and humanity. "

Reputation and Influence

Thomaskirche Leipzig

His enormously high reputation and influence, which he acquired at a young age, were shown, for example, in his participation in important court festivities such as the wedding of the heir to the Palatinate throne Philipp in Amberg in 1474 (Amberg wedding) or the Landshut wedding, which was so important for the Christian West in 1475, on the occasion of the 14-year-old Princess Hedwig , daughter of King Casimir IV Jajiello of Poland , was married to Duke Georg of Bavaria in Landshut. Three years later, in 1478, Elector Ernst von Sachsen entrusted the bishop with the safe conduct of his daughter Christine to the court in Copenhagen, where she was introduced as the bride of the future King John of Denmark . As early as 1471 and in 1487, Thilo was assigned the task of governor for Duke Albrecht the Courageous on the occasion of his absence, together with Bishop Johann von Meißen and Bruno Edler zu Querfurt.

On behalf of Pope Sixtus II, Thilo took care of the negotiations between the Roman curia and the Wettin dukes at Burg Giebichenstein in 1476 about the granting of the right to present to the provost, the deanery and archdeaconates of the Meißen diocese . In this context, he probably accompanied the Elector Ernst of Saxony to Rome in 1480 , who wanted his sons Ernst and Adalbert to be installed as archbishops in the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and in the Archbishopric of Mainz through papal confirmation , for the position of the Wettin Princely House in the Holy Roman Empire to expand further. In fact, Thilo was able to donate the future Archbishop Ernst of Magdeburg the ordination and put him in office on November 22nd, 1489 in Magdeburg Cathedral .

Under Thilo's aegis, his diocese experienced a considerable upswing in piety, which was reflected, among other things, in a large number of foundations and new church buildings and was supported by him with his own foundations and indulgences. In 1493 Thilo consecrated the Leipzig Dominican Johannes Tetzel , the later indulgence preacher, whose actions gave rise to Martin Luther's theses at the Wittenberg Castle Church, as a priest.

As Bishop of Merseburg, Thilo remained connected to the city ​​of Leipzig throughout his life. On April 3, 1496 he consecrated since 1482 newly constructed Thomas Church one. Thilo also sponsored the Leipzig University, whose chancellor and papal conservator he was by virtue of his office as Merseburg bishop. However, in 1496 he transferred jurisdiction over professors and students to the respective rector of the university. He held this office himself in the summer semester of 1509.

Construction activity

Thilo developed a lively construction activity in his sphere of activity. Around 1470 he began with the demolition of the old bishop's residence in Merseburg and the construction of his bishop's palace , the ensemble of which with the adjoining cathedral including the later alterations and extensions in the late Renaissance has been preserved to this day. Thilo's coat of arms is visible on the west wing, on the former courtyard portal of the east wing and on the north gable of the east wing, there with the protruding inscription: "Thilo de Trotha episcopus Merseburgensis anno domini MCCCCLXXXXIII."

From 1510, Thilo also arranged for the Merseburg Cathedral, built in the early 11th century, to be converted from a Romanesque basilica to a late Gothic hall longhouse in the Renaissance style . For this purpose, the dilapidated nave was comprehensively renewed and largely received its late Gothic appearance with high tracery gables, which can still be seen today. On the north side of the cathedral, a sandstone relief with an angel holding the Trotha coat of arms reminds of Thilo. The over- port on the northern cross-section, which shows an awakening man in an oriental robe on a couch, also dates from this time ; including the family coat of arms. Furthermore, the determination of the bishop's chapel as an episcopal crypt, the renovation of the east and south wings of the cloister and the expansion of the chapter house to the south are attributed to Bishop Thilo.

  • Merseburg Castle

  • Merseburg Cathedral

  • Over door

  • Detail of the over-port

  • coat of arms

  • Coat of arms with inscription

  • Angel with coat of arms

  • Entrance gate to the cathedral

Death and final resting place

Bishop Thilo died after almost 47 years in the ministry on March 5, 1514 in Merseburg in the presence of his coadjutor and later successor Adolf von Anhalt. He reports that Thilo "died a bitter death as a brave man with the greatest screams and pain" and was to be buried on March 7, 1514. Bishop Thilo found his final resting place in the bishop's chapel of the Merseburg Cathedral, which he had recently renovated, in a bronze tumba . The sarcophagus is believed to have been made around 1500 by the elder Peter Vischer . On the cover plate Thilo is depicted in regalia , holding a book in his right hand and the crosier in the left. The coat of arms of the monastery and the family coat of arms can be seen at the foot end. On one of the large side surfaces the following inscription can be read: "Thilo von Trotha. Bishop of this church, because he wanted to make a new one out of the old one, made great expenditures. He built the castle and the magnificent palace and enlarged everything, like yes the buildings prove. And now he rests in this earth. May Almighty God have mercy on his soul. He was bishop for about 48 years. He died in the year of the Lord 1514 on March 5th. Amen. "

Special exhibition in 2014

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death, a special exhibition entitled "Thilo von Trotha - Merseburg's legendary prince of the church" was dedicated to Bishop Thilo by the foundation of the United Cathedral Founders in Naumburg, Merseburg and the Zeitz Collegiate Foundation . The subject of this special exhibition was the presentation of the cultural, political and economic achievements of the bishop in the historically authentic ensemble of Merseburg Cathedral and Castle. As a result of his cross-border work, around 150 valuable exhibits from all over Europe such as manuscripts, prints, incunabula , calendars, administrative documents or Paxtafeln were shown, as well as a splendid chasuble from the time of Bishop Thilo made of brown silk, interwoven with gold, on the one in gold - Embroidered cross Christ, God the Father, Peter with the key, Paul with the sword, Mary, John, St. Nathasius with the pliers and St. Vitus with the cock can be recognized. There is also a brotherhood handbook of the German Brotherhood of Rome, in which Thilo had entered on the occasion of his trip to Rome in 1480, the Merseburg ordination register and panel paintings by the master of the Byzantine Madonna . The special exhibition set up in the Merseburg Palace, Cathedral, South Chapel and Chapter House was opened on the evening of August 9, 2014 in the presence of the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, members of the von Trotha family and other dignitaries .

The raven legend

Raven cage and aviary at Merseburg Castle
Raven cage, detail

Although the coat of arms of the von Trotha family showed a raven before Thilo's time , the Merseburg high school director Georg Möbius (1616–1697) referred the oldest version of the Merseburg raven legend to Thilo in his chronicle . According to the legend, which of course has been handed down in various modifications, the bishop had his long-time loyal valet Johann executed for the loss of a golden Pitzschier ring (signet ring), which could not be explained otherwise than by theft, although the latter protested his innocence and without the precious ring having been found. A few years later, however, the ring was found in the eyrie of a raven near a tower of the cathedral by a slater who repaired the roof after a storm. Dismayed by his unforgivable mistake, Thilo is said to have ordered the erection of a bird cage in the castle courtyard and the eternal imprisonment of a raven there - as a warning against hasty judgments. The cage, which has been retained over the centuries, was repeatedly replaced and in 2006 a spacious aviary was added, in which a pair of ravens now live. The legends have been widely received in poetry and prose as well as in the performing arts. For example, various seals and coats of arms, Merseburg emergency money and other images prove the effectiveness of the raven legend.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ On all of this Georg Müller: Thilo, Bishop of Merseburg. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Volume 38, Leipzig 1894, digitized version.
  2. ↑ Markus Cottin: The Merseburg Bishop Thilo von Trotha - facets of his spiritual career (1448–1514), pp. 37, 52, in: Thilo von Trotha, Merseburg's legendary church prince, series of publications by the United Cathedral Donors in Merseburg, Naumburg and the Collegiate Foundation in Zeitz , Volume 7, Michael Imhof Verlag 2014
  3. ↑ Ernst Brotuff : Chronica of the antiquities of the Keizerlichen Stifft der Römische [n] castle and the city of Marsburg an der Salah near Türingen ..., 2nd book, 53rd chapter, Budissin 1556, digitized.
  4. ↑ quoted from the von Trotha family's biography website: In detail , there with further references.
  5. ^ Georg Müller, Thilo, Bishop of Merseburg, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Volume 38, Leipzig 1894, digitized.
  6. ^ Georg Müller, Thilo, Bishop of Merseburg, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Volume 38, Leipzig 1894, digitized.
  7. ↑ Markus Cottin: The Merseburg Bishop Thilo von Trotha - facets of his spiritual career (1448–1514), pp. 37, 52, in: Thilo von Trotha, Merseburg's legendary church prince, series of publications by the United Cathedral Donors in Merseburg, Naumburg and the Collegiate Foundation in Zeitz , Volume 7, Michael Imhof Verlag 2014
  8. ^ Georg Müller, Thilo, Bishop of Merseburg, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Volume 38, Leipzig 1894, digitized.
  9. ↑ Exhibition catalog, p. 187 with facsimile.
predecessor Office successor
Johann III. from Werder Bishop of Merseburg
1466–1514 		Adolf of Anhalt-Zerbst
personal data
SURNAME Thilo von Trotha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Merseburg, rector of the University of Leipzig
DATE OF BIRTH August 17, 1443
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Krosigk , Germany
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1514
Place of death Merseburg , Germany