Heinrich von Gundelfingen (born before 1383; died March 1429) was abbot 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 ...

from 1411 to 1418 when he resigned. He was the grandfather of Heinrich von Gundelfingen.

Life

Heinrich descended from the same family as the former Abbot of Saint Gall, Konrad von Gundelfingen (1288–1291). The first mention of Heinrich as monk in Saint Gall appears in connection with the election of his predecessor. Before his election as abbot, Heinrich is documented three more times: in 1383, 1395 and in 1410 as master of the monastery. From 1392 he was documented as working dean and from 1401 as gatekeeper. He was probably neither educated nor priestly ordinated. Being one of two

conventuals The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...

, who, after Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln's death, remained at the monastery, he became abbot upon the urging of the city of Saint Gall. The abbey was at that time merely retained for trade and economic reasons. The other conventual, Georg von Enne, received the remaining monastic offices.

Works

In 1411, Heinrich received homage in Saint Gall. On 6 January 1412, the city appealed to Pope

John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

for the confirmation of the new abbot and described in the same letter the abysmal state of the abbey. Thereupon, on 28 March 1412, the Pope commanded the Bishop of Augsburg, the

Judicial vicar In the Roman Catholic Church, a judicial vicar or episcopal official ( la, links=no, officialis) is an officer of the diocese who has ordinary power to judge cases in the diocesan ecclesiastical court. Although the diocesan bishop can reserv ...

of Basel and the Cantor of Saint Felix and Regula to protect the abbey in its rights and property. On 5 December 1411, he even took the abbey under his own protection and confirmed its rights. 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 ...

provided Heinrich with a confirmation of prerogatives and a

jura regalia ''Jura regalia'' is a medieval legal term which denoted rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty (''jura majora'', ''jura essentialia''), such as royal authority; or accidental (''jura minora'', ''jura a ...

on 24 October 1413. In the same year, as it was custom, the abbot on his part confirmed the rights of the cities of Saint Gall, Wil and Wangen. A dispute between the abbey and the Appenzeller, which had begun during the reign of Henrich's predecessor and had 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 ...

, in which the abbey was defeated, was in 1412 brought before the federal ''

Tagsatzung The Federal Diet of Switzerland (german: Tagsatzung, ; french: Diète fédérale; it, Dieta federale) was the legislative and executive council of the Old Swiss Confederacy and existed in various forms from the beginnings of Swiss independen ...

'', but the negotiations remained fruitless. In the year 1417, several visitations took place in the abbey. They all concluded that the monastery was in high need of reform. Subsequently, Abbot Heinrich was removed from office and Konrad von Pegau was on 9 May 1418 pronounced abbot in his stead. One last documentary mention of Heinrich as abbot appears on 13 June 1418. Due to an agreement with Abbot Heinrich von Mansdorf, Heinrich von Gundelfingen received a

life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may ...

of 200 gulden on 21 August 1419. After Heinrich von Mansdorf's death, Heinrich, as the only conventual, became again caretaker and governor of the abbey.

Life

Works

Further reading