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45-694: In the Saxon Wars which lasted more than thirty years after 772, Charlemagne , king of the Franks, was eventually victorious, adding the Saxon territory to his empire and starting the Christianisation of the Saxon people. To that end, bishoprics were established (at Hildesheim and Halberstadt ). In addition, the idea of setting up an abbey in Saxony was first mooted during Charlemagne's reign. However,

90-427: A Probstei , a subsidiary of the motherhouse. Due to the inappropriate location chosen, the monks chose to move in 822 – to the current location near what was then called Villa Huxori . The new house became known as Nova Corbeia (Latin for the "new Corbie"; Old German: Corvey pronounced [ˈkɔʁvaɪ] ). The first abbot of Corvey was a cousin of Charlemagne, Adalard of Corbie . Ansgar , who later became

135-693: A code of law , the Lex Frisionum , and appointed counts, both Saxon and Frank. The laws were severe on religious issues, namely the native paganism of the Saxons. This stirred a renewal of the old conflict. That year, in autumn, Widukind returned and led a revolt that resulted in many assaults on the church. The Saxons invaded the area of the Chatti , a Germanic tribe already converted by Saint Boniface and firmly in Charlemagne's empire. Widukind won over

180-474: A diocese until 1825. Landgrave Victor Amadeus rebuilt the abbey buildings as a Schloss (palace). In 1834, the property fell to Victor von Hohenlohe-Schillingfürst , a member of the House of Hohenlohe . In 1840, he was granted the title Herzog von Ratibor und Fürst von Corvey (Duke of Ratibor and Prince of Corvey) by King Frederick William IV of Prussia . Since then, Schloss Corvey has remained property of

225-716: A Frankish army at the Battle of Süntel while Charles was campaigning against the Sorbs . It was in response to this setback that Charlemagne, at the Blood court of Verden , ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons who had rebelled. Upon this Blutgericht , some historians have stated the massacre did not happen, or that it was actually a battle, but according to Alessandro Barbero, none of these claims are credible. The action led to two straight years of constant warfare (783–785), with Charlemagne wintering in central Saxony, at Minden . Gradually,

270-550: A Saxon expedition was the casus belli for the first war waged by Charlemagne against the Saxons. It began with a Frankish invasion of Saxon territory and the subjugation of the Engrians and destruction of their sacred symbol Irminsul near Paderborn in 772 or 773 at Eresburg . Irminsul may have been a hollow tree trunk, presumably representing the pillar supporting the skies — similar to the Nordic tree Yggdrasil and apparently

315-727: A common belief among the Germanic peoples. Charlemagne's campaign led all the way to the Weser River and destroyed several major Saxon strongholds. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, Charlemagne turned his attention to his war against the Lombards in northern Italy ; but Saxon free tenants, led by Widukind , continued to resist and raided Frankish lands in the Rhine region. Armed confrontations continued unabated for years. Charlemagne's second campaign came in

360-542: A stream of missionaries who evangelised Northern Europe. The site of the abbey, where the east-west route called the Hellweg crossed the Weser, was of some strategic importance and assured its economic and cultural importance. The abbey's historian H. H. Kaminsky estimates that the royal entourage visited Corvey at least 110 times before 1073, occasions for the issuance of charters. A diploma granted by Otto I in 940,

405-562: Is a free act of the will, not a forced act. We must appeal to the conscience, not compel it by violence. You can force people to be baptised, but you cannot force them to believe." His arguments seem to have prevailed – Charlemagne abolished the death penalty for paganism in 797. Wibald Wibald ( Latin : Wibaldus ; early 1098 – 19 July 1158) was a 12th-century abbot of Stavelot (Stablo) and Malmedy in present-day Belgium , and abbot of Corvey in Germany . He figured prominently in

450-471: Is now northern Germany . They resulted in the incorporation of Saxony into the Frankish realm and their forcible conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity . The Saxons were divided into four subgroups in four regions. Nearest to the ancient Frankish kingdom of Austrasia was Westphalia , and farthest was Eastphalia . In between the two kingdoms was that of Engria (or Engern), and north of

495-527: The Avars . The Eastphalians and Nordalbingians joined them in 793, but the insurrection did not catch on as previous ones and was completely put down by 794. An Engrian rebellion followed closely in 796, but Charlemagne's personal presence and the presence of loyal Christian Saxons and Slavs immediately crushed it. In the battle of Bornhöved in 798, the Obotrite allies of Charlemagne under Thrasco defeated

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540-600: The Nordalbingian Saxons, killing 2,800–4,000 of them. The last insurrection of the Engrian people occurred in 804, more than thirty years after Charlemagne's first campaign against them. This time, the most unruly tribe of them all, the Nordalbingians, found themselves effectively disempowered to rebel. Charlemagne deported 10,000 of them to Neustria and gave their now vacant lands to the loyal king of

585-622: The Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda . In 1807, it went to Jérôme Bonaparte 's Kingdom of Westphalia . After the Congress of Vienna , Corvey fell to Prussia in 1815. As compensation for lost territory west of the Rhine, it was awarded to Victor Amadeus , the Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg , in 1820. While Corvey had ceased to exist as a political state in 1803, it continued to exist as

630-480: The "Apostle of Scandinavia", founded the abbey school in 823. The abbey library was established with works from Corbie, augmented by the output of the local scriptorium. In 826, Corvey became an independent abbey, dedicated to Saint Stephen . In 833, it was granted the right of coinage within the Franconian realm, as the first place east of the Rhine . In 836, the remains of Saint Vitus were gifted to Corvey by

675-515: The Carolingian three-tower set-up was replaced with twin towers. By the mid-12th century, a substantial town (also named Corvey) had grown up around the abbey. In 1265, the neighbouring town of Höxter , jealous of its nearby rival and its Weser bridge, allied itself with the Bishop of Paderborn and their troops destroyed the town of Corvey and damaged the abbey. The town never recovered and over

720-504: The Franks gained the upper hand. The turning point came in 785, when Widukind had himself baptized and swore fealty to Charlemagne. It was with the conclusion of this war that Charlemagne could have claimed to have conquered Saxony, and the land had peace for the next seven years, though revolts continued sporadically until 804. In 792, the Westphalians rose up against their masters in response to forcible recruitment for wars against

765-573: The Obotrites. Einhard , Charlemagne's biographer, said on the closing of the conflict: The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with the Franks to form one people. Towards

810-556: The Saxons knew he left Italy) for the third time in 776, when a rebellion destroyed his fortress at Eresburg. The Saxons were once again brought to heel, though Widukind fled to the Danes . Charlemagne built a new camp at Karlstadt . In 777, he called a national diet at Paderborn to integrate Saxony fully into the Frankish kingdom. Many Saxons were baptised . The Carmen de conversione Saxonum celebrates this event. The chief purpose of

855-497: The Saxons. In 785, he issued the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae which asserted, "If any one of the race of the Saxons hereafter concealed among them shall have wished to hide himself unbaptized, and shall have scorned to come to baptism and shall have wished to remain a pagan, let him be punished by death." However, Alcuin took issue with the emperor's policy of forcing pagans to be baptised on pain of death, arguing, "Faith

900-542: The abbey by Giovanni Angelo Arcimboldi (future Archbishop of Milan ). In 1634, during the Thirty Years War the abbey building was sacked by imperial troops who also laid siege to Höxter. It was later demolished. Only the Westwerk remained. It took decades for the local area to recover from the devastation of the war. After Christoph Bernhard von Galen , Bishop of Münster became prince and administrator of

945-404: The abbey in 1665, reconstruction began. The Carolingian church was replaced by a Gothic building, with the exception of the Westwerk . Under von Galen's successors Christoph von Bellinghausen (1678–96), Florenz von der Felde (1696–1714) and Maximilian von Horrich (1714–22) the other substantial Baroque buildings still there today were erected. In 1792, Corvey ceased to be a Benedictine abbey and

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990-632: The abbey of St Denis near Paris. Saint Vitus now became the patron saint of the Saxons. Since he was also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers , his veneration was very popular in the Middle Ages and Corvey became a destination for pilgrims. Other gifts and donations by individuals made Corvey one of the richest abbeys in Central Europe and made possible ambitious building projects. Its position as Reichsabtei meant that its abbot

1035-539: The abbey through the critical period. The abbey also participated in attempts to reform the Catholic Church during the 11th century. It was the dominant theological centre in the region and established numerous subsidiary abbeys. A final period of prosperity followed under the leadership of Wibald (abbot from 1146–58). At that time, the Westwerk was reconstructed in the High Romanesque style , and

1080-576: The abbot on a mission to Constantinople in 1154 and again in 1157. His sudden death at Bitolia in Paphlagonia in 1158 while returning from the second mission gave rise to the suspicion that he was poisoned by the Byzantines . More than 400 of Wibald's epistles are still extant. He himself collected them in the so-called Codex epistolaris Wibaldi . The letters consists primarily of writings about administration and political issues, important to

1125-465: The abbot. Hoping to acquire the island of Rügen , he took part in the partly successful 1147 Wendish Crusade . During the absence of Conrad III in Outremer (1147–49), Wibald was the tutor of the king's young son Henry Berengar , but seems to have had little to do with the political affairs of Germany during that period. Conrad's successor, Frederick I Barbarossa , esteemed Wibald highly and sent

1170-539: The court circle of the German kings of his time. Wibald was born near Stavelot in 1098. Soon after he studied at the monastic schools at Stavelot and the abbey of Saint-Laurent at Liège , where one of his teachers was Rupert of Deutz . He entered the Benedictine monastery at Waulsort near Namur in 1117. After presiding for some time over the monastic school there he went to the monastery at Stavelot and in 1130

1215-567: The diet was to bring Saxony closer to Christianity. Missionaries , mainly Anglo-Saxons from England , were recruited to carry out this task. Charlemagne issued a number of decrees designed to break Saxon resistance and to inflict capital punishment on anyone observing heathen practices or disrespecting the king's peace. His severe and uncompromising position, which earned him the title "butcher of Saxons", caused his close adviser Alcuin of York , later abbot of Marmoutier Abbey , Tours , to urge leniency, as God 's word should be spread not by

1260-539: The end of the wars, Charlemagne had begun to place more emphasis on reconciliation. In 797, he eased the special laws, and in 802, Saxon common law was codified as the Lex Saxonum . This was accompanied by the establishment of ecclesiastic structures (including bishoprics in Paderborn, Münster , Bremen , Minden , Verden and Osnabrück ) that secured the conversion of the Saxon people. The last Saxon uprising

1305-528: The family. The famous abbey library has long since been dispersed, but the "princely library" ( Fürstliche Bibliothek ), an aristocratic family library, containing about 74,000 volumes, mainly in German, French, and English, with a tailing off circa 1834, survives in the Schloss. One striking feature of the collection is the large number of English Romantic novels , some in unique copies, for in Britain fiction

1350-406: The first of its kind, established the abbot, Folcmar, in a new kind of setting. The abbot was granted bannus – powers of enforcement – over the population of peasants that were to seek refuge in the fortress built in the monastery's lands; in return they were expected to maintain its structure, under the abbot's supervision. The workforce under monastic protection was drawn from three pagi , under

1395-408: The following decades reverted to a small village. This event marked the beginning of the long period of decline of the abbey. The Reformation threatened Corvey as it did the other ecclesiastical territories in north-west Germany but the princely abbey did survive somewhat precariously as a self-ruling principality at the border of Protestant Brunswick and Hesse-Kassel. From the mid-16th century onward,

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1440-495: The jurisdiction of four counts , who, however, were to have no rights to demand castlework from them. In the Investiture Controversy , the abbot of Corvey took a stand with the Saxon nobles against Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor . Its abbot Markward (served 1081–1107), "without doubt one of the most important abbots of the thousand-year history of the abbey" (Kaminsky), and his successor Erkenbert (1107–28) saw

1485-492: The monastery unless Wibald resigned the abbacy, he returned to Stavelot, having been Abbot of Monte Cassino for only forty days. During the reign of Conrad III (1138–52), Wibald became still more influential. All the emperor's negotiations with the Apostolic See were carried on by Wibald, and he visited Rome on eight occasions on imperial embassies. The emperor would enter upon no political undertaking without consulting

1530-579: The most influential councillors of the Holy Roman Emperor Lothaire II and King Conrad III . Combining patriotism with a submissive devotion to the Holy See , he used his great influence to preserve harmony between the emperors and the popes. In 1137 he accompanied Lothair on a military expedition to Italy and through the emperor's influence was elected Abbot of Monte Cassino . When King Roger II of Sicily threatened to destroy

1575-617: The plan was only implemented under his son, Emperor Louis the Pious , who announced the creation of an abbey east of the river Weser at a synod in Paderborn in 815. This was located at a place named Hethis . Although there is some uncertainty over the exact location, it is today thought to be near Neuhaus im Solling  [ de ] . The first monks arrived in 816 from the Benedictine abbey from Corbie Abbey in Picardy. They set up

1620-600: The prince-abbot and his monks ran the administration in cooperation with a partly Protestant assembly consisting of three noble families, one town (Höxter) and a prelate. The prince-abbot, who had a seat and vote in the Reichstag as a member of the College of Ruling Princes, took only a modest part in imperial affairs, while the home affairs of the abbey were limited to little more than gentry-like estate management. In 1508, books 1–6 of Tacitus ' Annals were discovered at

1665-451: The public. Circles est. 1500: Bavarian , Swabian , Upper Rhenish , Lower Rhenish–Westphalian , Franconian , (Lower) Saxon Saxon Wars Frankish victory The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought, primarily in what

1710-459: The sword but by persuasion; but the wars continued. In summer 779, Charlemagne again went into Saxony and conquered Eastphalia, Engria, and Westphalia. At a diet near Lippspringe , he divided the land into missionary districts and Frankish countships . He himself assisted in several mass baptisms (780). He then returned to Italy, and there was no Saxon revolt. From 780 to 782, the land had peace. Charlemagne returned in 782 to Saxony and instituted

1755-471: The three, at the base of the Jutland peninsula, was Nordalbingia . Despite repeated setbacks, the Saxons resisted steadfastly, returning to raid Charlemagne's domains as soon as he turned his attention elsewhere. Their main leader, Widukind , was a resilient and resourceful opponent, but eventually was defeated and baptized (in 785). In mid-January 772, the sacking and burning of the church of Deventer by

1800-627: The year 775. Then he marched through Westphalia, conquering the fort of Sigiburg , and crossed Engria, where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, he defeated them, and their leader Hessi converted to Christianity. He returned through Westphalia, leaving encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg . All of Saxony except Nordalbingia was under his control, but the recalcitrant Saxons would not submit for long. After warring in Italy, he returned very rapidly to Saxony (making it to Lippe before

1845-510: Was answerable directly to the emperor in secular matters. The first stone church was consecrated in 844. In 873–885, the Westwerk that is still extant today was constructed. Corvey thus became "one of the most privileged Carolingian monastic sanctuaries in the 9th-century Duchy of Saxony ". It soon became famous for its school, which produced many celebrated scholars, among them the 10th-century Saxon historian Widukind of Corvey , author of Res gestae Saxonicae . From its cloisters went forth

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1890-407: Was elected Abbot of Stavelot and Malmedy. On 22 October 1146, he was also elected Abbot of Corvey and four months later the convents at Fischbeck and Kemnade were annexed to Corvey by Conrad III . During the abbacy of Wibald, the monastery of Stavelot reached the period of its greatest fame, and at Corvey the monastic discipline which had been on the decline was again restored. Wibald was one of

1935-550: Was more often borrowed than bought, and was read extensively in the lending libraries . The poet and author of the Deutschlandlied , August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben , worked here as librarian from 1860 until his death in 1874. He is buried in the church graveyard. The present owner of the palace is Viktor, 5th Duke of Ratibor and 5th Prince of Corvey, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst-Metternich-Sándor (b. 1964). The palace, library, and church are today open to

1980-466: Was raised by pope Pius VI to the status of a prince-bishopric. Theodor von Brabeck  [ de ] (abbot/bishop 1776–94) and Ferdinand von Lüninck  [ de ] (bishop 1794–1825, also bishop of Munster 1821–1825) were the last ecclesial princes at Corvey. In 1803, the Prince-Bishopric of Corvey was secularized under Napoleonic administration and became briefly part of

2025-522: Was the Stellinga , which occurred between 841 and 845. Alluding to the Saxons, the contemporary poet of the Paderborn Epic praises terror as a means of conversion: "What the contrary mind and perverse soul refuse to do with persuasion, / Let them leap to accomplish when compelled by fear." One of Charlemagne's famed capitularies outlined part of the religious intent of his interactions with

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