Ellwangen Abbey (german: Kloster Ellwangen) was the earliest Benedictine monastery established 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 ...

, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg, about 100 km (60 mi) north-east of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

History

Imperial abbey

According to the monastery chronicles authored by Abbot Ermanrich (d. 874), who became Bishop of Passau, the abbey was established in

Alamannia Alamannia, or Alemannia, was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni, a Germanic peoples, Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman ''Upper Germanic Limes, limes'' in 213. The Alemanni expanded from the Main ...

about 764 by

Herulph Herulph (†815) (Herulphe, Hariolf, Hariolfus) was a Benedictine of the Abbey of St. Gall who founded Ellwangen Abbey. He is a Catholic saint; his feast day is December 13. Life Herulph was born about 730 in Ellwangen near Stuttgart. He was the ...

and his brother Ariolf, both documented as Chorbishops of Langres.Odden Per Einar. "Den salige Herulf av Ellwangen (~730-~815)", Den katolske kirke, December 28, 2015
/ref> Ellwangen in its early days was home to Abbots Lindolf and Erfinan, who were respected authors. Abbot Gebhard wrote part of the Life of Saint Ulrich there, but died before completing it. Abbot Ermanrich (c. 845) wrote a biography of

Saint Solus Saint Solus (also Sualo, Sola) (d. c. 790-794) was an English monk, in Germany with St. Boniface. Life Solus was from southern England. In 744, he went to the Monastery of Fulda where he was ordained priest by Saint Boniface, became a monk, a ...

. The monk Adalbero was made

Bishop of Augsburg Diocese of Augsburg is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich.Liutbert became

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, as also did Abbot Hatto (891).

Saint Gebhard Gebhard of Constance ( la, Gebhardus Constantiensis; german: Gebhard von Konstanz; 949 995 AD) was a bishop of Constance from 979 until 995. He founded the Benedictine abbey of Petershausen Petershausen is a municipality in the district of Da ...

, Abbot of Ellwangen, became Bishop of Augsburg in 995. Abbot Milo about the middle of the tenth century was one of the visitors appointed for the visitation of the Abbey of St. Gall. Abbot Helmerich introduced the Hirsau Reforms. While Emperor Louis the Pious had already placed the monastery under his royal protection in 814, Ellwangen became an Imperial abbey (''Reichsabtei''), with the privilege of

Imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...

, (''Reichsfreiheit'') probably granted in 1011 by King Henry II and again confirmed by Emperor

Charles IV of Luxembourg Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

in 1347.Hind, George. "Ellwangen Abbey." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 December 2022 Financial accounts of the abbey indicate that it purchased raw honey to make ''lattweg'', a honey-based paste for medicinal use. In 981 the imperial monastery had to provide

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy ...

with 30 armored riders free of charge for his campaigns in Italy. In February 1431, the abbey bore the cost of hosting

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia ('' jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...

and his court, on the Emperor's return to Nuremberg. During the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

, the abbey was required, along with other ecclesiastical institutions, to provide a military contingent, complete with horses, weapons, armor, and wagons for Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg's campaign of August 1431. It also had to provide for the defense of its own territory against potential Hussite raids. At the same time however, the conventual life declined and the Benedictine occupation of Ellwangen came to an end in the first half of the 15th century. On 14 January 1460 with the consent of Pope Pius II it was converted into a college of secular Canons Regular under the rule of a provost.

Prince-provostry

The provost of Ellwangen achieved the status of a

Prince of the Empire A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

(''Reichsfürst''), who not only ruled over an immediate territory but also held a direct vote (''votum virile'') in the Reichstag assembly. As the head of a secular college of

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons, he was one of only two prince-provosts, beside the Provost of Berchtesgaden. In the late 16th and early 17th century, the territory became one of the main areas of

witch-hunting A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

in Germany. In reaction to the Protestant Reformation, the provostry joined the Catholic League in 1609; it was occupied by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War in 1632, but again vacated after the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. In the course of the German Mediatisation of 1802, Ellwangen fell to the Duchy of Württemberg.

Territory

Nothing is known of Ellwangen's property during the period of its Benedictine history, but after it had passed into the hands of the secular canons, its possessions included the court manor of Ellwangen, the manors of Jagstzell,

Neuler Neuler is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) ...

, Rötlen, Tannenberg, Wasseralfingen,

Abtsgmünd Abtsgmünd is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district. Abtsgmünd is located at the confluence of two streams, the Lein and the Kocher. Famous locals include Patrick Benedict Zimmer who was born in the t ...

, Kochenburg near the town of

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

Heuchlingen Heuchlingen is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the nor ...

on the River Lein, and Bühlertann where the abbey had a number of holdings.Ghosh, Shami. "The Imperial Abbey of Ellwangen and its Tenants'', ''Agricultural History Review'', 62, II, pp. 187–209
/ref>

Buildings

Most of the ecclesiastical buildings still exist, though they are no longer used for religious purposes. In the secularisation of 1802 the abbey was dissolved and its assets taken over by the Duchy of Württemberg. The present-day Late Romanesque was consecrated in 1233, after a 12th-century preceding building had been devastated by a blaze. Today it serves as the parish church of Ellwangen. A cloister was added in 1467 and in the 17th century the interior was largely refurbished in a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. From 1737 onwards it was again decorated with further Rococo supplements, among them works by

Carlo Carlone Carlo Innocenzo Carlone or Carloni (1686–1775) was an Italian painter and engraver, active especially in Germany. Biography He was a native of Scaria, near Como, in Lombardy, but may have been from the Carloni family of Genoese painters. H ...

. In 1964 the church was elevated to the status of a

basilica minor In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular b ...

by Pope Paul VI. Ellwangen Castle (''Schloss ob Ellwangen'') from 1460 on served as the residence of the Prince-provosts. It was rebuilt in a Baroque style about 1726. From 1802 a property of the House of Württemberg, it was for a short time the place of exile of Princess

Catharina Catharina is a feminine given name, the Dutch and Swedish spelling of the name Catherine. In the Netherlands, people use a great number of short forms in daily life, including ''Carine'', ''Catelijne'', ''Cato'', ''Ina'', ''Ineke'', ''Kaat'', ''Kaat ...

and her husband

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

in 1815/16. The castle is today administered by the State of Baden-Württemberg. It hosts a museum and a youth hostel.

Notable Prince-provosts

* Henry of the Palatinate 1551-1552 *

Otto Truchsess von Waldburg Otto Truchsess von Waldburg (25 February 1514 – 2 April 1573) was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from 1543 until his death and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Childhood and Education Otto was born at Scheer Castle to the Swabian noble House of ...

1553-1573 *

Count Palatine Francis Louis of Neuburg Francis Louis of Palatinate-Neuburg (; 18 July 1664 – 6 April 1732) was bishop and archbishop of several dioceses, prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and of the Teutonic Order. Life He was born in Neuburg an der Donau as son of Phili ...

1694-1732 * Franz Georg von Schönborn-Buchheim 1732-1756 * Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony 1787-1802

References

External links

Klöster in Baden-Württemberg: Fürstpropstei St. Vitus Ellwangen - Geschichte
{{Authority control Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03 States and territories established in 1011 Monasteries in Baden-Württemberg Benedictine monasteries in Germany Christian monasteries established in the 8th century Buildings and structures in Ostalbkreis 8th-century establishments in Germany 1010s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1011 establishments in Europe Basilica churches in Germany