A Lamentable Affair The Excommunication, Network and Indulgences of the Stralsund Birgittines in 1514–1515
A Lamentable Affair The Excommunication, Network and Indulgences of the Stralsund Birgittines in 1514–1515

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the events surrounding the excommunication of the Birgit-tine monastery Marienkrone in Stralsund by the bishop of Schwerin between 1514 and1515. It explores the turn of events from the perspective of the Birgittine connectionsto secular rulers and the Papal Curia. The discussion focuses on the dynamics of theexcommunication in connection with the Birgittine indulgences as the primary causefor the punitive action. The article aims to discuss how a monastery and a religiousorder, on the eve of the Reformation, organised an international campaign to resolvea local conflict. It also demonstrates the vulnerability of religious houses in a changingreligious and political climate and Marienkrone’s dependency on its patrons to givefinancial aid to pay fees for curial procedures in Rome. The core of the conflict betweenthe Birgittines and the secular clergy of Stralsund was the far-reaching indulgences ofthe Birgittine Order that spurred competition between the religious institutions aboutvisitors and incomes. Indulgences are here discussed as the core of the conflict and thearticle traces it back to the long tradition of the Birgittine Order to issue indulgences,which practice at the time of the conflict had become increasingly questioned fromwithin the Church, which also were at the core of the Lutheran Reformation that be-gun in 1517, just three years after the conflict in Stralsund.

• Details
• Contents