Pankraz Vorster (31 July 1753 – 9 September 1829) was a Swiss

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 ...

. He served as the last 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 1796 to 1805.

Early life

Pankraz Vorster was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

to an old family from

Fürstenland Fürstenland or Alte Landschaft is the name of a historical territory of the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, corresponding to the modern districts of St. Gallen (without the city proper), Wil and Rorschach. It was a subject territory of the Abbey of ...

. He was the son of Captain Joseph Zacharias Vorster and Countess Anna Maria Rosa Berni. He was raised mainly by his uncle, who was a pastor in

Grub Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to: Places * Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland * Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland * Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavar ...

and

Wittenbach Wittenbach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of St. Gallen in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Wittenbach is first mentioned in 1297 as ''Witebach''. Geography Wittenbach has an area, , of . Of this area, 58 ...

. In 1771, he completed his studies in

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

. He taught Philosophy, Science and Theology at a school.

Priest

On 13 July 1777, he was ordained as a priest. In 1784, he undertook a study trip with Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger to Swabia and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. In 1785, he led the opposition against Abbot Beda Angehrn. In the eyes of some monks he threatened the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

's large investments and its autocratic administration. He was penalized and was moved in September 1788 as ''suboeconomus'' (vice governor) to

Ebringen Ebringen (Breisgau) is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Ebringen is located about 5 km (3 mi) south of Freiburg at the Schoenberg and belongs to the Freib ...

, a St Gall domain under Austrian suzerainty south of Freiburg im Breisgau. In 1796, Vorster reconciled with Angehrn and returned to St. Gallen.

Abbot

On 4 June 1796, Vorster was elected abbot and supported the efforts for democracy in the monastery's dominions. In 1797, he conceded the region its own seal and ancient right of choice of a magistrate. On 3 February 1798, the chapter arbitrarily granted its subjects their independence, ending the monastery's secular rule. The previous

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

of the Abbey in the County of

Toggenburg Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the river Thur and that of its main tributary, the Necker. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis'') of the canton of St. Gallen ( ...

, Karl von Müller-Friedberg, had arbitrarily dismissed the

Counts of Toggenburg Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

to independence on 1 January. On 14 February in Gossau, the Constituent Landsgemeinde of the Republic of Free St. Gallen met. Vorster moved to Neu-Ravensburg, an exclave north of Lake Constance, and formally raised a protest against his subjects' action on 3 March 1798.

Exile

After the invasion of France, Vorster tried in vain to remove the Abbey from Switzerland with a proclamation on 9 June 1798, so as to rejoin the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. With the arrival of the troops of the coalition in St. Gallen, Vorster returned to the monastery on 26 May 1799, and began to rebuild the

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...

. He had to flee again on 29 September to Mehrerau after the defeat of the coalition in Zurich. Vorster exiled himself to Ebringen, in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

's sphere of influence, which became the monastery's last ruled territory. From there, he worked continuously for the recovery of his monastery. He refused all offers to restore the monastery without sovereignty. In 1803, he sent an emissary to the Helvetic Republic and to the Consulta in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, to seek

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's support for the restoration. The

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...

decreed that all monasteries should be restored. However, Karl von Müller-Friedberg prevented restoration for St. Gallen because of Vorster's extensive demands and because the newly established canton would have endangered St. Gallen. Instead, Vorster received St. Gallen from the bishop of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Franz Xaver von Neveu Franz Xaver ''Freiherr'' von Neveu (1749–1828) was the last Prince-Bishop of Basel, reigning from 1794 to 1803. After the Prince-Bishopric of Basel was mediatised to the Margraviate of Baden in 1803, Neveu remained Bishop of Basel, though witho ...

, on 4 November 1804 in

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital ...

. Months later, the Great Council of the Canton of St. Gallen on 8 May 1805 approved the monastery's liquidation. Vorster left Ebringen in September 1805 to Vienna. Vorster was called "the gravedigger of his monastery" because he prevented any compromise. In 1814–1815 Vorster personally asked the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

to recover his rule, but could only obtain a pension of 6000

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

, while the canton retained control of St. Gallen. Vorster unsuccessfully attempted, with the support of the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, to get the affiliation of at least one Diocese of St. Gallen before the Federal Council at

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 ...

on 16 July 1816. In the same year he moved to

Arth Arth is a village, a town, and a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of the villages Arth, Oberarth, and Goldau. The four settlements Rigi Kulm, Rigi First, Rigi Klösterli, an ...

Death

From 1819 he withdrew into the

Muri Abbey Muri Abbey (german: Kloster Muri) is a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Zürich, Switzerland. It is currently established as Muri-Gries in Sout ...

, where he died in 1829. Formally, he remained the abbot of St. Gallen until his death, because from the perspective of the Catholic Church the monastery was only abolished in 1845. In 1923 his body was interred in the St. Gallen

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

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