Widukind from Rheda

Grave of the Widukind of Rheda

Widukind of Rheda (* before 1154; † 26. November 1189 / 1191 before Acre ) was Vogt of the convent Freckenhorst and Liesborn Abbey , founder of Marienfeld Abbey and crusaders.

Life

Widukind von Rheda was a son of Lutrud von Schwalenberg, a daughter of Count Widekind I. von Schwalenberg . The Vogt Everwin von Freckenhorst, mentioned in a document between 1142 and 1166, is assumed to be his father. Widukind's date of birth has not been recorded. The first mention was in 1169 as Vogt von Freckenhorst. He was mentioned for the first time in 1170 and since then ten times as Widukind von Rheda, later only once again as Widukind von Freckenhorst. He was probably the founder of Rheda Castle , which was first mentioned in 1170. He was married to Mathilde von Ricklingen, but they had no children. Gertrud, who was temporarily abbess at Freckenhorst Monastery, is named as his sister.

Follower of Henry the Lion

In the war between Heinrich the Lion and Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa , Widukind was a companion in arms of the nobleman Bernhard II zur Lippe in the entourage of Henry the Lion. Together they moved towards the city of Soest . Heinrich the lion was overthrown on the court in Gelnhausen in 1180, which also meant that Widukind and Bernhard lost their power and position.

Foundation of the Marienfeld Monastery

Church of the Cistercian monastery Marienfeld founded by Widukind

In 1183 Widukind acted again as Vogt of the Liesborn Monastery. After that he was employed at the court of Prince-Bishop Hermann II of Münster. Together with his mother, he exchanged a piece of land and four farms with the Freckenhorst monastery in the Hundingen peasantry, today's Marienfeld . Bernhard II. Zur Lippe and Lüdiger II. Von Waldenburg acquired some of Widukind's goods and all of them donated the property, the farms and other goods to the new Marienfeld monastery in 1185. Prince-Bishop Hermann II laid the foundation stone of the new Cistercian monastery on November 1, 1185.

In 1186 Widukind was a vassal of the Bishop of Osnabrück .

Participation in the Third Crusade

In 1189 he joined the crusade of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa together with several Westphalian noblemen . In advance, he and his mother Luttrudis donated all of his property to the Marienfeld monastery. He did this because he had no heirs and, in the event of his safe return from the Holy Land , he wanted to enter the monastery as a monk. He had previously sold Rheda Castle to Bernhard II zur Lippe.

Together with the Landgrave Ludwig III. from Thuringia he arrived by sea on September 24, 1189 in the Christian army camp in front of the besieged city of Acre . Together with Ludwig's army, they immediately intervened in the fighting. There are various contradicting accounts in the sources: One says that Widukind died in 1189 before he could reach Acre. Another source shows that Widukind was seriously wounded and succumbed to his injuries just before Akon's surrender in 1191. Since his memorial is celebrated in Marienfeld on November 26th, it is assumed that this was the day of his death.

Grave site

One of his knights brought Widukind's remains back to Marienfeld Monastery, where they were buried under an arch in the chapter house. Before the old monastery buildings were demolished, his grave slab was moved into the window of the southern chapel of the ambulatory. The grave slab from the 13th century shows the knight with chain mail and shield. The inscription reads "WEDEKIND NOBILIS DE RETHE FVNDATOR" - "Wedekind - Edler von Rheda - Founder".

Web links

• Website of the pastoral care unit Harsewinkel with a photo of the tomb ( memento from February 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Sassen / Weber: The grave slabs of the donors in the Marienfeld monastery church, p. 19
2. ↑ Hermann Schaub, Herrschaft Rheda and their royal seat, p. 22.

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• Hermann Schaub: The rule of Rheda and their residence city . Publishing house for regional history, 2006, ISBN 3-89534-610-1 .
• Walter Werland: Marienfelder Chronik . Published on behalf of the Marienfeld community, Marienfeld 1981.
• Andreas Sassen / Ernstjosef Weber: The grave slabs of the donors in the Marienfeld monastery church . Gütersloh 2005.