Fulda monastery
Encyclopedia
The monastery of Fulda was a Benedictine
abbey in Fulda
, in the present-day German
state of Hesse
. It was founded in 12 March, 744 by Saint Sturm
, a disciple of Saint Boniface
, and became an eminent center of learning with a renowned scriptorium
, and the predecessor of the Fulda diocese
.
Sturm took solemn possession of the land, and raised the cross. The wilderness was soon cleared, and the erection of the monastery and church, the latter dedicated to the Most Holy Redeemer, began under the personal direction of Saint Boniface. He appointed Sturm as first abbot of the new foundation, which he intended to surpass in greatness all existing monasteries of Germany, and to be a nursery for priests. The rule was modelled on that of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, as Sturm himself had gone to Italy (748) for the express purpose of becoming familiar with it. To secure absolute autonomy for the new abbey, Boniface obtained from Pope Zachary
a privilege, dated 4 November, 751, placing it immediately under the Holy See, and removing it from all episcopal jurisdiction. Grants of lands extended Fulda's domains to Thuringia
and Saxony
. On the other hand, Fulda was from 765 an imperial abbey, fulfilling complementary demands of public education and imperial service.
Boniface, "Apostle of the Germans", was buried in Fulda after his martyrdom in 754 in Frisia
. This made Fulda a major place of pilgrimage
for many peoples, including Anglo-Saxons
, and brought prestige and a stream of gifts and donations to Fulda. The abbots of Fulda became in the 10th century the abbots general of the Benedictines in Germany and Gaul. Fulda was the center of monastic reform during the reign of Emperor Henry II
. In the 12th century, the abbots became imperial chancellors and in 1220 were elevated to Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
by Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
.
The prestige of Fulda declined in succeeding centuries. It was secularized in 1803 after the German Mediatisation
but became an episcopal see in 1829.
The library held approximately 2000 manuscripts. It preserved works such as Tacitus
' Annales
, Ammianus Marcellinus
' Res gestae, Codex Fuldensis
, and the monastery is considered the cradle of Old High German
literature. Its abundant records are conserved in the state archives at Marburg
.
Abbots
Prince-Abbots
Prince-Abbots & Prince-Bishops
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
abbey in Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
, in the present-day German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. It was founded in 12 March, 744 by Saint Sturm
Saint Sturm
Saint Sturm was a disciple of Saint Boniface and founder and first abbot of the Benedictine monastery and abbey of Fulda in 742 or 744...
, a disciple of Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
, and became an eminent center of learning with a renowned scriptorium
Scriptorium
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
, and the predecessor of the Fulda diocese
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fulda
The Diocese of Fulda is a diocese in the north of the German state of Hessen. It is a Suffragan Diocese of the Archdiocese of Paderborn. The bishop's seat is in Fulda Cathedral.-History:...
.
History
Pope Zachary
Pope Saint Zachary was Pope of the Catholic Church from 741 to 752. A Greek from Calabria, he was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy...
a privilege, dated 4 November, 751, placing it immediately under the Holy See, and removing it from all episcopal jurisdiction. Grants of lands extended Fulda's domains to Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. On the other hand, Fulda was from 765 an imperial abbey, fulfilling complementary demands of public education and imperial service.
Boniface, "Apostle of the Germans", was buried in Fulda after his martyrdom in 754 in Frisia
Frisia
Frisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight. Frisia is the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language...
. This made Fulda a major place of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
for many peoples, including Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
, and brought prestige and a stream of gifts and donations to Fulda. The abbots of Fulda became in the 10th century the abbots general of the Benedictines in Germany and Gaul. Fulda was the center of monastic reform during the reign of Emperor Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
. In the 12th century, the abbots became imperial chancellors and in 1220 were elevated to Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
The term Prince of the Holy Roman Empire denoted a secular or ecclesiastical Imperial State, who ruled over an immediate fief directly assigned by the Holy Roman Emperor...
by Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
.
The prestige of Fulda declined in succeeding centuries. It was secularized in 1803 after the German Mediatisation
German Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
but became an episcopal see in 1829.
The library held approximately 2000 manuscripts. It preserved works such as Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
' Annales
Annales
Annals or annales are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year.-List of Annales:*Annales , an epic poem by Quintus Ennius covering Roman history from the fall of Troy down to the censorship of Cato the Elder* Annals Ab excessu divi Augusti "Following...
, Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
' Res gestae, Codex Fuldensis
Codex Fuldensis
The Codex Fuldensis, designated by F, is a New Testament manuscript based on the Latin Vulgate made between 541 and 546. The codex is considered the second most important witness to the Vulgate text; and is also the oldest complete manuscript witness to the order of the Diatessaron. It is an...
, and the monastery is considered the cradle of Old High German
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
literature. Its abundant records are conserved in the state archives at Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
.
Rulers of Fulda until secularization
- St. Sturm 744-779
- Baugulf 779-802
- RatgarRatgarRatgar was a controversial abbot at the famous Benedictine monastery of Fulda during the early ninth century.-Life:Ratgar was abbot of the monastery of Fulda from 802 until 817. He was from a noble family in Germania, and was sent by his parents to Fulda, whose monastery school was already...
802-817 - Eigil von Fulda 818-822
- Rabanus MaurusRabanus MaurusRabanus Maurus Magnentius , also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis . He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible...
822-842 - Hatto I. 842-856
- Thioto 856-869
- Sigihart 869-891
- Huoggi 891-915
- Helmfried 915-916
- Haicho 917-923
- Hiltibert 923-927
- Hadamar 927-956
- Hatto II. 956-968
- Werinheri 968-982
- Branthoh I. 982-991
- Hatto III. 991-997
- Erkanbald 997-1011
- Branthoh II. 1011-1013
- Poppo 1013-1018, also Abbot of LorschLorsch AbbeyThe Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...
(Franconian Babenberger) - Richard 1018-1039
- Sigiwart 1039-1043
- Rohing 1043-1047
- Egbert 1047-1058
- Siegfrid I. von Mainz (Sigfried von Eppenstein) 1058-1060
- Widerad von Eppenstein 1060-1075
- Ruothart 1075-1096
- Godefrid 1096-1109
- Wolfhelm 1109-1114
- Erlolf von Bergholz 1114-1122
- Ulrich von Kemnaten 1122-1126
- Heinrich I. von Kemnaten 1126-1132
- Bertho I. von Schlitz 1132-1134
- Konrad I. 1134-1140
- Aleholf 1140-1148
- Rugger I. 1148
- Heinrich II. von Bingarten 1148-1149
- Markward I. 1150-1165
- Gernot von Fulda 1165
- Hermann 1165-1168
- Burchard Graf von Nürings 1168-1176
- Rugger II. 1176-1177
- Konrad II. 1177-1192
- Heinrich III. von Kronberg im Taunus 1192-1216
- Hartmann I. 1216-1217
- Kuno 1217-1221
Prince-Abbots
- Konrad III. von Malkes 1221-1249
- Heinrich IV. von Erthal 1249-1261
- Bertho II. von Leibolz 1261-1271
- Bertho III. von Mackenzell 1271-1272
- Bertho IV. von Biembach 1273-1286
- Markward II. von Bickenbach 1286-1288
- Heinrich V. Graf von Weilnau 1288-1313
- Eberhard von Rotenstein 1313-1315
- Heinrich VI. von Hohenberg 1315-1353
- Heinrich VII. von Kranlucken 1353-1372
- Konrad IV. Graf von Hanau 1372-1383
- Friedrich I. von Romrod 1383-1395
- Johann I. von Merlau 1395-1440
- Hermann II. von Buchenau 1440-1449
- Reinhard Graf von Weilnau 1449-1472
- Johann II. Graf von HennebergHennebergHenneberg may refer to:*the House of Henneberg, German nobility*County of Henneberg, a mediæval state in the Holy Roman Empire*Henneberg, Thuringia, a municipality in Thuringia, Germany*Mary Jane Henneberg, b. 1973, TV reporter...
-Schleusingen 1472-1513 - Hartmann II. Burggraf von Kirchberg 1513-1521/29
- Johann III. Graf von HennebergHennebergHenneberg may refer to:*the House of Henneberg, German nobility*County of Henneberg, a mediæval state in the Holy Roman Empire*Henneberg, Thuringia, a municipality in Thuringia, Germany*Mary Jane Henneberg, b. 1973, TV reporter...
-Schleusingen 1521/29-1541 - Philipp Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1541-1550
- Wolfgang Dietrich von Eusigheim 1550-1558
- Wolfgang Schutzbar (named Milchling) 1558-1567
- Philipp Georg Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1567-1568
- Wilhelm Hartmann von Klauer zu Wohra 1568-1570
- Balthasar von Dernbach (nanmed Grauel) 1570-1576, 1602-1606
- Johann Friedrich von Schwalbach 1606-1622
- Johann Bernhard Schenk zu Schweinsberg 1623-1632
- Johann Adolf von Hoheneck 1633-1635
- Hermann Georg von Neuhof (named Ley) 1635-1644
- Joachim Graf von Gravenegg 1644-1671
- Cardinal Gustav Adolf (Baden) (Bernhard Gustav Markgraf von Baden-Durlach) 1671-1677
- Placidus von Droste 1678-1700
- Adalbert I. von Schleifras 1700-1714
- Konstantin von Buttlar 1714-1726
- Adolphus von DalbergAdolphus von DalbergAdolphus von Dalberg was a German Benedictine Prince-Abbot of Fulda Abbey and founder of the former university in the same city — University of Fulda.-Biography:...
1726-1737
Prince-Abbots & Prince-Bishops
- Amand von Buseck, 1737-1756, Prince-Bishop starting 1752
- Adalbert II. von Walderdorff 1757-1759
- Heinrich VIII. von Bibra, 1759-1788
- Adalbert von Harstall, 1789-1814, Prince-Bishop until 1802
Further reading
- Germania Benedictina, Bd.VII: Die benediktinischen Mönchs- und Nonnenklöster in Hessen, 1. Auflage 2004 St. Ottilien , S. 214–375 ISBN 3-8306-7199-7