Fulda Abbey in Germany
Rating: 8,4/10 (1676 votes) 
Fulda Abbey (or the Monastery of St. Boniface) – one of the richest abbeys in medieval Germany, which had imperial status from 774 to 1802. the abbey was founded in 744 on the banks of the Fulda River by a disciple of the 'Apostle of Germany' Boniface with Sturmius. The city of Fulda gradually grew around the monastery. The abbey initially acquired vast territories in Saxony and Thuringia, in 751 it received special privileges: it was directly subordinate to the Pope of Rome, and not to the local bishop. Later, in the IX century, to the relics of St. Boniface, whose ashes rest in the monastery, the flow of pilgrims did not dry out, and more than six hundred monks lived within the walls of the monastery. The abbey and the city that grew up around it went down in history as the center of the Carolingian revival. The monastery housed a library where about 2000 manuscripts were kept, and a scriptorium. Today, most of the archives of the monastery are kept in Marburg. In the 10th century, the monastery acquired a special significance: the abbot of the monastery became the head of all Benedictines in Gaul and Germany; in the 12th century, the abbots served as imperial chancellors; in 1220, Frederick II assigned them the privileges of the princes of the empire. However, soon, as a result of the strengthening of the Mainz archbishops, the abbey's power decreased. By the middle of the 15th the monastery loses its former political significance. During the Thirty Years War, it is often plundered. After the Reformation, the monastery was surrounded by Protestant lands. However, in the 18th century, the cathedral church, damaged in 1294-1312, it was rebuilt according to the project of Johann Dientzenhofer in the late baroque style. During secularization at the beginning of the 19th century, it was planned to transfer the Fulda Abbey to William V of Orange, along with several others. As a result, the city of Fulda, and with it the abbey, were assigned to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.      We also recommend reading Lenin Monastery in Germany Topic: Fulda Abbey in Germany. |
