HERSFELD. - Ancient Benedictine abbey in the province of Hessen-Nassau in Prussia. It was founded in 744 by Sturmius, a disciple of St. Boniface, in honor of the apostles Simon and Jude.

Charlemagne enriched the monastery, and Pope Stephen III granted it exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. Around 780 Lullus, bishop of Mainz, transferred the relics of St. Wigbert to H. and built a church in his honor there, which was completed in the year 850. The abbey flourished especially under Abbot Gozbert (d. 985): at that time a rich library was assembled and the Annales Hersfeldienses were produced. Abbot Gotthard (1005-12) revived monastic discipline. In the struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV the abbey sided with the Emperor; at the end of the 11th century it recovered until the 15th century, but then declined; in 1513 Abbot Wolpert resigned and H. was united with Fulda until 1515. In 1517, with Abbot Krato, Lutheranism penetrated it, and in 1606 Otto, prince of Hesse, became its administrator. Meanwhile the famous library fell into ruin and the manuscripts were dispersed. During the Seven Years' War the church was destroyed by the French, in 1761.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Annales Hersfeldiennes, in MGH, Scriptores, III, pp. 18-116; Ph. Hafner, Die Reichspartei H. bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrh., Hersfeld 1890; J. Beckmann, s. v. in LThK, IV, pp. 1007-1008; Cottineau, I, p. 1410.

Enrico Josi

@incollection{ec6_hersfeld, author = {Josi, Enrico}, title = {Hersfeld}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1422--1423}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/hersfeld} }

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