Eglolf Blarer (born in
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
; died 20 May 1442) was
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
of the
Abbey of Saint Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot w ...
from 1426 to 1442.
Life
Eglolf descended from the important middle-class Blarer trade family who were initially native to
Saint Gall
Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall.
Biography
The ...
, but had for one generation been living in
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
. He was a monk in
Saint Blaise Abbey holding the offices of ''Grosskeller'' and
prior
Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
. Pope
Martin V
Pope Martin V ( la, Martinus V; it, Martino V; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Otto (or Oddone) Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. Hi ...
appointed him Abbot of Saint Gall at the end of 1426 or at the beginning of 1427. Eglolf is first documented holding office on 25 January 1427.
"In 1436, he received the prerogative from the Council in Basel to let himself be consecrated by any bishop or abbot, should the ordinary (dt. "Ordinarius") refuse to consecrate him, as well as the prerogative to autonomously decide on vicars for the parishes of the city who were juridically subordinated to the abbot and the convent."
Emperor
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
confirmed on 28 November 1430 the prerogatives as well as the fiefs and rights, and so did his successor,
Albert II, on 3 July 1439.
Works
The abbey's financial distress made the abbot ask the papal chamber for a deferral of the payment of fees. The troubles with Appenzell (dt. "Appenzellerwirren"), which consisted of a dispute that had begun under Abbot
Kuno von Stoffeln
Kuno von Stoffeln (born before 1365; died 19 October 1411) was from 1379 until his death Prince abbot of Saint Gall. He descended from the family von Stoffeln with property on Castle Hohenstoffeln on the Hohenstoffeln at Hegau. He was substantia ...
and culminated in the
Appenzell Wars
The Appenzell Wars (german: Appenzeller Kriege) were a series of conflicts that lasted from 1401 until 1429 in the Appenzell region of modern-day Switzerland. The wars consisted of uprisings of cooperative groups, such as the farmers of Appenzell ...
and had remained unresolved for more than two decades, were also solved under Blarer. Defeated by Count Friedrich VII von Toggenburg in 1428, the Appenzeller became amenable to negotiations. On 26 July 1429, the Bishop of Konstanz, the St.-Jörgen-Bund and the Abbot of Saint Gall made peace with the Appenzeller. This peace corresponded quite closely to the award of the seven villages in 1421 under Abbot
Heinrich von Mansdorf Heinrich von Mansdorf (born before 1419; died 13 September 1426 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall from 1419 to 1426.
Life
Heinrich became Abbot of Saint Gall after Konrad von Pegau had abdicated. He was appointed by P ...
.
Under Abbot Eglolf, the troubles with Appenzell as well as the
Old Zurich War
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
came to an end, whereupon, on 18 May 1437, the abbot agreed upon a land law with
Schwyz
The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the '' ...
lasting 20 years. Therein, the political reorientation of the abbey towards the
Swiss Confederation
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
manifested itself for the first time.
On 16 March 1427 and 28 September 1429, Abbot Eglolf again confirmed the rights and liberties of the cities
Wil
Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...
and Saint Gall.
Apparently, his endeavours were furthermore directed towards the inner structure of the abbey. To this end, he summoned the monks of
Hersfeld Abbey
Hersfeld Abbey was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse-Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda. The ruins are now a medieval festival venue.
History
H ...
who belonged to the congregation of Bursfeld. He abolished the monks' proprietary possession in accordance with the
Rule of Saint Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...
, annulled the benefice organisations (dt. "Pfründenorganisationen") of the monastery offices and reestablished the communal life.
Eglolf is supposed to have repaired the convent buildings that had been demolished in the fire in 1418. Moreover, he is said to have begun the construction of a new chorus in 1439, which, however, could not be finalised, and to have established the monastery school.
In 1440, he removed the monks from Herdfeld again, as they tried by means of a visitation of the Council of Basel to also obligate the Abbot to a stricter order. In their stead, he summoned monks from
Kastl Abbey
Kastl Abbey (german: Kloster Kastl) is a former Benedictine monastery in Kastl in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria.
History
The monastery, dedicated to Saint Peter, was founded in 1103, or shortly before, by Count Berengar II of Sulzbach togethe ...
.
Reading list
* Gössi, Anton: ''Kurzbiographien der Äbte''. in: Johannes Duft, Anton Gössi, and Werner Vogler (eds.): ''Die Abtei St. Gallen''. St. Gallen 1986, p. 146–47.
External links
* Bless, Magdalen. 2002: "Eglolf Blarer von Girsberg"
Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blarer, Eglolf
Year of birth unknown
1442 deaths
Abbots of Saint Gall