Kuno von Stoffeln (born before 1365; died 19 October 1411) was from 1379 until his death Prince abbot of

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 ...

. He descended from the family von Stoffeln with property on Castle Hohenstoffeln on the

Hohenstoffeln Hohenstoffeln is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous m ...

Hegau The Hegau is an extinct volcanic landscape in southern Germany extending around the industrial city of Singen (Hohentwiel), between Lake Constance in the east, the Rhine River in the south, the Danube River in the north and the Randen—as the so ...

. He was substantially involved 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 ...

as the city refused to pay homage to him, and the

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

ers, his subjects, even refused to pay taxes. Due to the price decline of grain after a disastrous plague epidemic, Kuno had been obliged to drastically increase taxes in order to balance the loss of revenue. He first aligned with cities at Lake Constance that were devoted to him and later with Duke

Frederick IV of Austria Frederick IV (1382 – 24 June 1439), also known as Frederick of the Empty Pockets (german: Friedrich mit der leeren Tasche), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1402 until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian ...

in order to put an end to the population's attempts at freedom. He was not granted any luck in battle, however: the abbot's army lost one battle after another. Eventually, Kuno was forced to sell or lease estates in order to fill the abbey till. He left behind a completely run down monastery which had become meaningless in comparison to the aspiring city. In chronicles of the 15th century, Kuno is described as a true spectre.

Reading list

* Gössi, Anton: ''St. Gallen - Äbte: Kuno von Stoffeln, 1379-1411.'' in: ''Helvetia Sacra''. III: ''Die Orden mit Benediktinerregel''. 2/1: ''Frühe Klöster, die Benediktiner und Benediktinerinnen in der Schweiz''. Francke Verlag, Bern 1986, p. 1313–14. * Dierauer, Johannes: ''Kuno von Stoffeln''. in: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB), Vol 17. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 384–86.

External links

''Abt Kuno von Stoffeln (1379–1411)''
in the Stadtlexikon Wil * Feller-Vest, Veronika. 2013: "Kuno von Stoffeln"
Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz
14th-century births 1411 deaths Year of birth unknown Abbots of Saint Gall {{Switzerland-reli-bio-stub