Herford Abbey

Coordinates: 52°06′47″N 8°40′13″E / 52.113056°N 8.670278°E / 52.113056; 8.670278
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Imperial Abbey of Herford
Reichsfrauenstift Herford
1147–1802
Coat of arms of Herford Abbey
Coat of arms
Secularised
1802
• Annexed by Cty Ravensberg
25 February 1803
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Saxony
County of Ravensberg
Today part ofGermany

Herford Abbey (

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

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.[1]

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

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

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

  • Theodrada, Tetta (838 – after 840)
  • Addila (before 844 – after 853)
  • Hedwig (before 858 – after 888)
  • Matilda I (before 908 – after 911;
    Immedinger
    )
  • Imma (before 973 – after 995; Billunger)
  • Godesdiu (before 1002 – after 1040; Billunger)
  • Swanhild (before 1051–1076)
  • Gertrud I (before 1138 – after 1139)
  • Jutta (Jutta of Arnsberg; before 1146 – after 1162)
  • Ludgard I (before 1163 – after 1170)
  • Eilika (c. 1212)
  • Gertrud II (Gertrud of Lippe; before 1217 – after 1233)
  • Ida (before 1238 – after 1264)
  • Pinnosa (before 1265 – after 1276)
  • Mechthild II (Mechtild of
    Waldeck
    ; before 1277 – after 1288)
  • Irmgard (Irmgard of Wittgenstein; before 1290–1323)
  • Lutgard II (Lutgard of Bicken; 1324–1360)
  • Heilwig (Heilwig of Bentheim; 1361)
  • Elisabeth I (Elisabeth of
    Berg
    ; 1361–1374)
  • Hillegund (Hillegund of Oetgenbach; 1374–1409)
  • Mechthild III (Mechtild of Waldeck; 1409–1442)
    • Margaret of
      Brunswick-Grubenhagen
      , rival abbess 1442–1443
  • Margaret I (Margaret of Gleichen; 1443–1475)
    • Jakobe of
      Neuenahr
      , rival abbess 1476–1479
  • Anna I (Anna of Hunolstein; 1476–1494)
  • Bonizet (Bonizet of
    Limburg-Stirum
    ; 1494–1524)
  • Anna II (Anna of Limburg; 1524–1565)
  • Margaret II (Margaret of Lippe; 1565–1578)
  • Felicitas I (Felicitas of Eberstein; 1578–1586)
  • Magdalene I (Magdalene of Lippe; 1586–1604)
  • Felicitas II (Felicitas of Eberstein; 1604–1621)
  • Magdalene II (Magdalene of Lippe; 1621–1640)
  • Sidonia (Sidonia of Oldenburg; 1640–1649)
    • Maria Clara Theresa of Wartenberg, rival abbess 1629–1631
  • Palatinate-Zweibrücken
    ; 1649–1667)
  • Electorate of the Palatinate
    ; 1667–1680)
  • Elisabeth IV (Elisabeth Albertine of Anhalt-Dessau; 1680–1686)
  • Elisabeth V (Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel; 1686–1688)
  • Charlotte Sophia (Charlotte Sophia of Courland; 1688–1728)
  • Johanna Charlotte (Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau; 1729–1750)
  • Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
    ; 1750–1764)
  • Frederica Charlotte (Frederica Charlotte of Brandenburg-Schwedt; 1764–1802; d. 1808)

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

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

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