The Abbey of Saint Pancras of Backnang, better known as Backnang Abbey (german: Stift Backnang), was a German monastery of

canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

founded around AD 1100 in

Backnang Backnang (; swg, Bagene) is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005. Backnang was ceded to W� ...

, in the

Duchy of Swabia The Duchy of Swabia (German: ''Herzogtum Schwaben'') was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity. While the ...

History

The abbey was founded before 1116 by

Herman I, Margrave of Baden Herman I of Baden (c. 1040 – April 25, 1074 in Cluny) was the titular Margrave of Verona and the ancestor of the line of Margraves of Baden. Life Herman was born in Freiburg im Breisgau as the eldest son of Berthold I of Zähringen. He mar ...

, and his wife, Countess Judith of Backnang-Sulichgau.

Pope Paschal I Pope Paschal I ( la, Paschalis I; died 824) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 25 January 817 to his death in 824. Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. ...

confirmed the foundation in 1116. As early as 1123, though, the monastery had to be revived by their son, Margrave Herman II, with the help of canons from Marbach Abbey in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Between 1123 and 1243, the abbey was the burial place of the Zähringen Margraves of Baden, a connection which brought much influence and prosperity. Backnang's geographical position exposed it, from the 13th century onwards, to attack by the Counts of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

, and for this reason in 1243 Margravine Irmengard transferred the remains of her husband Hermann V of Baden to her foundation of

Lichtenthal Abbey Lichtenthal Abbey (german: Kloster Lichtenthal) is a Cistercian nunnery in Lichtenthal in the town of Baden-Baden, Germany. History and buildings The abbey was founded in 1245 by Irmengard bei Rhein, widow of Margrave Hermann V of Baden, whose ...

in the town of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

. In 1297, possession of Backnang passed to Württemberg. In 1366, Count Eberhard II of Württemberg succeeded in gaining control of the abbey's finances. In 1477, it was changed into a secular

collegiate chapter In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

, with the approval of

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

. In 1535, as part of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the community was dissolved. The canons of Backnang, however, by making a complaint to Emperor Charles V, obtained permission to reoccupy it, which they did in 1551. The last of them died in 1593, when the house was finally suppressed. The abbey church (''Stiftskirche'') still stands in Backnang.

External links

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Klosterbuch Baden Württemberg über das Stift Backnang
{{Coord, 48, 56, 44, N, 9, 25, 56, E, type:landmark_scale:10000_region:DE, display=title Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Augustinian monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Baden-Württemberg 1590s disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Buildings and structures in Rems-Murr-Kreis Burial sites of the House of Zähringen