Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm, now in the diocese of Trier (Germany), founded by the Frankish widow Bertrada the elder and her son Charibert, Count of Laon, in 721. The first abbot was Angloardus.

The Abbey ruled over a vast hinterland comprising dozens of towns, villages and hamlets. Its abbot enjoyed the status of a prince (Fürst) of the Holy Roman Empire, and as such had seat and vote on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of ruling princes of the Imperial Diet. After 1574, the archbishops-electors of Trier became the "perpetual administrators" of Prüm Abbey which, while preserving its princely status, became, de facto, an adjunct of Trier.

History

The Abbey's early period up to the 13th century

Bertrada of Prüm's granddaughter was Bertrada the Younger, wife of King Pepin the Short (751–68). Prüm became the favourite monastery of the Carolingian dynasty and received large endowments and privileges. Pepin rebuilt the monastery and bestowed great estates upon it by a deed of gift dated 13 August 762. The king brought monks from Meaux under Abbot Assuerus to the monastery.

The church, dedicated to the Saviour (Salvator), was not completed until the reign of Charlemagne, and was consecrated on 26 July 799 by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne and succeeding emperors were liberal patrons of the abbey. Several of the Carolingians entered the religious life at Prüm; among these was Charlemagne's illegitimate son Pepin the Hunchback, who was exiled there after an abortive uprising and died there in 811, and Lothair I, who became a monk in 855. His grave was rediscovered in 1860; in 1874, the Emperor Wilhelm I erected a monument over it. In 882 and 892, the monastery was plundered and devastated by the Normans, but it soon recovered. The landed possessions were so large that the abbey developed into a principality. Wandelbert (813–70), was head of the school, and a distinguished poet. Abbot Regino of Prüm (893–99) made a name for himself as historian and codifier of canon law.

After the 13th century

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the monastery declined, partly from the oppression of its secular administrators, but more from internal decay. It reached such a pass that the monks divided the revenues among themselves and lived apart from one another.

thumb|left|Prüm Abbey and region c. 1700

Consequently, the archbishops of Trier sought to incorporate the rich abbey and its extensive possessions into the archbishopric. In 1376, Emperor Charles IV gave his consent to this, as did Pope Boniface IX in 1379, but the pope's consent was recalled in 1398. Pope Sixtus IV in about 1473 also gave his approval to the incorporation. But the abbots refused to submit and even in 1511 carried on war against the archbishop, by then an elector. Finally, when the abbey was near ruin, Pope Gregory XIII issued the decree of incorporation, dated 24 August 1574, which was carried into effect in 1576 after the death of Abbot Christopher of Manderscheid.

After this, the archbishops-electors of Trier were "perpetual administrators" of the abbey. The abbey was now brought into order within and without, and once more flourished to such a degree that the two French Benedictine antiquarians Edmond Martène and Ursin Durand, who visited the monastery in 1718, stated in their Voyage littéraire that of all the monasteries in Germany, Prüm showed the best spirit, and study was zealously pursued. The monks made efforts even in the 18th century to shake off the control of Trier.

Secularization of the Abbey

In 1801, Prüm, occupied by French revolutionary troops since 1794, was formally annexed to France, secularized, and its estates sold; Napoleon gave its buildings to the city. In 1815, Prüm passed into the possession of Prussia as a part of the Rhine Province, and in the course of time became part of modern Germany, in the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The church, built in 1721 by the Elector Ludwig, is now a parish church. The remaining monastic buildings are now used for the secondary school named the "Regino-Gymnasium" after the Abbot Regino of Prüm.

thumb|[[Sandals of Jesus Christ]]

Abbey relics

The Sandals of Jesus Christ are considered to be the most notable of the many relics of the church; they are mentioned by Pepin in the deed of 762. He is said to have received them from Rome as a gift of Pope Zachary or Pope Stephen II.

Abbots

  • Angloardus 720–762
  • Assuerus 762–804
  • Tankrad 804–829
  • Markward of Bouillon 829–853
  • Eigil 853–860
  • Ansbald 860–886
  • Farabert I 886–892
  • Regino of Prüm 892–899
  • Richar of Hennegau 899–921
  • Ruotfried 921–935
  • Farabert II of St Paul 935–947
  • Ingelram of Limburg 947–976
  • Eberhard of Salm 976–986
  • Childerich 986–993
  • Stephan of Saffenberg 993–1001
  • Udo of Namur 1001–03
  • Immo of Sponheim 1003–06
  • Urold of Thaun (Daun) 1006–18
  • Hilderad of Burgund 1018–26
  • Ruprecht of Arberg 1026–68
  • Rizo of Jülich 1068–77
  • Wolfram of Bettingen 1077–1103
  • Poppo of Beaumont 1103–19
  • Lantfried of Hesse 1119–31
  • Adalbero 1131–36
  • Godfrey I of Hochstaden 1136–55
  • Rother of Malberg 1155–70
  • Robert I of Cleves 1170–74
  • Gregor I of Geldern 1174–84
  • Gerhard of Vianden 1184–1212
  • Cæsarius of Milendonk 1212–16
  • Kuno of Ahr 1216–20
  • FrederickI of Fels 1220–45
  • Godfrey II of Blankenheim 1245–74
  • Walter of Blankenheim 1274–1322
  • Henry I of Schönecken 1322–42
  • Diether of Katzenelnbogen 1342–50
  • John I Zandt of Merk 1350–54
  • Dietrich of Kerpen 1354–97
  • Frederick II of Schleiden 1397–1427
  • Henry II of Are-Hirstorff 1427–33
  • John II of Esche 1433–76
  • Robert II of Virneburg 1476–1513
  • Gregor II of Homburg 1513
  • William of Manderscheid-Kayl 1513–46
  • Christopher of Manderscheid-Kayl 1546–76
  • From 1576 the Electors of Trier acted as Administrators of the abbey

<!--==Important dates==

  • June 23 721 - (first) foundation with the help of the Echternach monks.
  • 27 May 752 - (second) real foundation by Benedictine monks of the abbey of Saint-Faron near Meaux. On this occasion took place the translation of the relics of the martyrs Marius, and Audifax Abachum and part of the Sandals of Jesus Christ, that Pepin received the Pope Stephen II, the successor of Pope Zachary.
  • 799 official consecration of the abbey church in the presence of Charlemagne and Pope Leo III. The church is called since then Church of the Holy Savior.
  • 855 Prüm Treaty establishing the division of the empire of Lothair I. among his three son.
  • 882 first attack of the Vikings with destruction of the monastery.
  • 892 second attack of the Vikings with drain monks to Dasburg.
  • 1222 Abbey Prüm is elevated to a principality by Frederick II
  • 1576 connecting the abbey, against his will, to the electorate of Trier. This union was probably a result of existing reforming tendencies since 1554 under pressure from the Archbishop of Trier to the Pope. The last abbot Christoph Manderscheid-Kayl died in 1576 and Jacob III von Eltz, Archbishop of Trier succeeded him under the protests of the monks.
  • 1721 transformation of the abbey church in Rococo style during the reign of François-Louis of Neuburg.
  • 1748 other abbey buildings are transformed by Andreas Seitz from the Balthasar Neumann plans. The construction was completed in 1912.
  • 1794 dissolution of the abbey, following the secularization of measures taken by the French.
  • In 1802 the abbey church became a parish church.
  • 1827 Prüm became the seat of a deanery.
  • 1860 discovery of the bones of Lothair I and Primus holy relics and Felicianus
  • 1874-1875 construction of a new grave for the remains.
  • 1891 Prüm doctors and pharmacists create a new shrine for the relics of saints Marius Audifax and Abachum.
  • 1896 inauguration of a new shrine for the relics of the holy sandals of Christ.
  • 1927 transfer of the baroque altar of the church of Saint-Nicolas Carmelites from Bad Kreuznach to Prüm.
  • December 1944 the abbey was badly damaged during the Ardennes offensive.
  • On Christmas Eve 1945 collapse of the middle and right side during a bombing.
  • 1950 end of the reconstruction of the church. The same year Pius XII student at the church a minor basilica.
  • 1952 end of the reconstruction of the abbey. - commented out because a lot of it is superfluous, and what is not superfluous should be properly incorporated into the narrative text above-->

See also

  • List of Merovingian monasteries
  • Merovingian architecture
  • Merovingian art

References

  • Interior of abbey church