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Herford Abbey

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Oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony
Imperial Abbey of HerfordReichsfrauenstift Herford
1147–1802
Coat of arms of Herford Abbey Coat of arms
Former Herford Abbey church, now Herford MinsterFormer Herford Abbey church, now Herford Minster
StatusImperial Abbey
Common languagesWest Low German
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Dedicated as Imperial abbey
    under Louis the Pious
832
• Herford gained city rights 973 1147
• Both abbey and city gained
    Imperial immediacy
1147
• City joined Hanseatic Lg. 1342
• City's immediacy confirmed 1631
• City annexed by
    Mgvt Brandenburg
1652
• Secularised 1802
• Annexed by Cty Ravensberg 25 February 1803
Preceded by Succeeded by
Duchy of Saxony
County of Ravensberg
Today part ofGermany

Herford Abbey (German: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, who moved it in about 800 onto the lands of his estate Herivurth (later Oldenhervorde) which stood at the crossing of a number of important roads and fords over the Aa and the Werre. The present city of Herford grew up on this site around the abbey.

History

9th–12th centuries

Plan of the Abbey (1808)

The abbey was dedicated in 832 and was elevated to the status of a Reichsabtei ("Imperial abbey") under Emperor Louis the Pious (d. 840). In ecclesiastical matters it was answerable directly to the Pope and was endowed with a third of the estates originally intended for Corvey Abbey.

In 860, at the instigation of the abbess Haduwy (Hedwig), the bones of Saint Pusinna, later the patron saint of Herford, were brought from her hermitage at Binson ("vicus bausionensis" near Châlons-en-Champagne, Corbie). The presence of these relics in the abbey increased its importance and its dedication was changed in due course to Saints Mary and Pusinna.

In the time of the abbess Matilda I her granddaughter Matilda, later Saint Matilda, was brought up here. In 909, through the negotiations of her grandmother, she was married to Henry, Duke of Saxony and later King Henry I of Germany.

Between 919 and 924 Herford was destroyed by Hungarians but was rebuilt by 927.

Reichsunmittelbarkeit

In 1147 the abbey, which by this time had almost 850 estates and farms, was granted Imperial immediacy (German: Reichsunmittelbarkeit). This made it an independent territory within the Holy Roman Empire (although admittedly a very small one, comprising part of the area of the present city of Herford) which lasted until 1803. The abbesses became Imperial princesses (German: Reichsfürstinnen) and sat in the Reichstag in the College of Prelates of the Rhine. The territory belonged to the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle.

Territory of Herford Abbey (circled in purple) on a late 18th century map

The first Vögte seem to have been the Billunger, and after they died out, Henry the Lion, who appointed the Counts of Schwalenberg as under-Vögte. From 1180, after the fall of Henry the Lion, they exercised the same function for the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Westphalia. By 1261 the office seems to have passed to the Counts of Sternberg and in 1382 to the Counts of Jülich-Berg.

In the vicinity of the abbey there grew up the town of Herford, which had acquired municipal rights by 1170/1180 and later, as the Reichsstadt Herford, acquired Reichsunmittelbarkeit in its own right.

By the end of the 15th century, "Sancta Herfordia" ("Holy Herford"), as it became known, had some 37 churches, chapels, monasteries and other religious houses, and hospitals. Its spiritual life was thus comparable to that of a great centre such as Cologne.

Reformation

In 1533, during the Reformation, Herford Abbey became Lutheran, under the Electors of Brandenburg. From 1649 for over a century the abbesses were all Calvinist but that did not alter the Lutheran character of the principality.

Dissolution

In 1802 the abbey was dissolved in the course of secularisation under the terms of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss and on 25 February 1803 was annexed to the County of Ravensberg, which belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1804 it was turned into a collegiate foundation for men, and in 1810 finally suppressed.

The former abbey church remains in use as Herford Minster (Herforder Münster).

Abbesses

Notes

  1. In 936, in memory of her late husband, Matilda founded another house of secular canonesses, the famous Quedlinburg Abbey.

References

  • A. Cohausz: Ein Jahrtausend geistliches Damenstift Herford. In: Herforder Jahrbuch I. 1960
  • Herforder Geschichtsquellen. 1968
  • R. Pape: Waltger und die Gründung Herfords. 1988
  • R. Pape: Herford zur Kaiserzeit. 1989
  • R. Pape: Sancta Herfordia. Geschichte Herfords von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. 1989
  • T. Helmert-Corvey (Hg.): 1200 Jahre Herford. 1989
  • H. Bei der Wieden: Die Äbtissinnen der Reichsabtei Herford in der Neuzeit. In: Historisches Jahrbuch für den Kreis Herford 2000. 1999
  • H. Bei der Wieden: Die Herkunft der Äbtissinnen der Reichsabtei Herford vom Ende des 13. bis zur Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts. In: Historisches Jahrbuch für den Kreis Herford 2002/2003. 2002

External links

 Holy Roman Empire — Imperial abbeys of the Rhenish College
Imperial abbeys and colleges
(Reichsabteien, Reichsklöster
und Reichsstifte)
Ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648
Ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648
Imperial provostries and
priories (Reichspropsteien)
Imperial charterhouse
(Reichskartause)
* Also a Prince of the Empire     † Also in Swabian College
Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (1500–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire
Prince-bishops
Map of a large region (in white) including all the territory of modern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus parts of most neighbouring countries, including most of Northern Italy. Some of the northwest part region is highlighted in color, including Münster, most of the Netherlands and parts of modern Belgium.
The Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (red) within the Holy Roman Empire (white) after 1548
Prince-abbots
Secular
Counts / Lords
From 1500
From 1792
Status
uncertain
Cities
from 1648     until 1648     without seat in Imperial Diet     status uncertain

Circles est. 1500: Bavarian, Swabian, Upper Rhenish, Lower Rhenish–Westphalian, Franconian, (Lower) Saxon

52°06′47″N 8°40′13″E / 52.113056°N 8.670278°E / 52.113056; 8.670278

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