Wilhelm Egen

Wilhelm Egen († April 2, 1486 in Murrhardt ) was a Catholic priest , Benedictine and abbot of the St. Januarius monastery in Murrhardt.

Live and act

Wilhelm Egen came from a patrician family from the imperial city of Schwäbisch Hall, which was documented several times until the middle of the 15th century .

Under the leadership of Abbot Herbord, who was already a monk in the Murrhardt monastery, he belonged with great certainty to the Wuerttemberg friendly faction within the monastery convent , which from 1463 succeeded in acquiring the abbot, who had the power claims of Count Ulrich the beloved and the associated financial burdens for the Kloster resolutely opposed to disempowerment step by step.

After Herbords was forced to be deposed, Wilhelm Egen was elected abbot of Murrhardt Monastery in April 1469. In contrast to his predecessor, he pursued a policy of closely following the monastic protective and guardian bailiff of the Counts of Württemberg, thus avoiding the conflicts that had overshadowed Herbord's tenure. With this pacification, Egen was allowed to manage the monastery property again and to systematically secure the abbey property. From 1475 on, he had all the documents and privileges that the monastery kept in its archive recorded and put together in a collection.

Egen also succeeded in finally ending the disputes that had been going on for decades with the lords of the Palatinate , whose legal successors and direct neighbors of Murrhardt after the acquisition of the Grafschaft Löwenstein . On February 8, 1476, Abbot Egen and the Convention sealed the treaty negotiated with the councilors Palatine Count Frederick the Victorious ; In this, Murrhardt renounced the lordly rights in Sulzbach an der Murr , located in Palatinate territory , which the monastery had exercised since 1430. In addition, like other prelates of the county, he distinguished himself through loyal cooperation in the Württemberg administration - in 1481 his participation in the negotiations for the extension of the Urach Treaty is proven.

The expansion and restructuring of the city of Murrhardt finally began under Egen's leadership, for which the monastery had to raise considerable financial resources, as it held the city rule - this work was only completed under his successor and ultimately brought the abbey into an economically threatening situation.

Wilhelm Egen directed the fortunes of the Murrhardt Monastery until his death on April 2, 1486; He was buried in the monastery church, probably on the south side of the nave or in the south aisle. The monastery convent chose Johannes Schradin as his successor in the abbot's office .

literature

• Gerhard Fritz: City and monastery Murrhardt in the late Middle Ages and in the Reformation period (= research from Württemberg-Franconia. Vol. 34). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-7634-7 , pp. 341-342.

predecessor	Office	successor
Herbord, called God of goodness	Abbot of Murrhardt 1469–1486	Johannes Schradin