Benedictine Convent of Saint John
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| Benedictine Convent of St. John at Müstair* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Switzerland |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii |
| Reference | 269 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1983 (7th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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The Convent of Saint John is an ancient Benedictine monastery in Müstair, Switzerland and, by reason of its exceptionally well-preserved heritage of Carolingian art, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
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[edit] History
It is believed that the abbey was established ca. 780 by a bishop of Chur[1][2] perhaps under orders from Charlemagne[2]. It was built during a wave of monastery construction that included the nearby monasteries at Cazis, Mistail, Pfäfers and Disentis. The abbey was located along the Val Müstairpass over the Alps from Italy and was fortified to allow it to control the pass. In 881 the abbey passed over to be completely under the control of the Bishop of Chur. During the early years of the the abbey, a series of frescos were painted in the church during the early 8th Century. Then, in the 11th and 12th Century the abbey experienced a second expansion and new paintings were added or painted over the old frescos. These paintings were lost and were only rediscovered in the 20th Century.
In the 10th Century, the church tower was added to the abbey church. During the expansion of the 11th Century the Bishop of Chur expanded his residence at the Monastry. A fine tower home, cloister and the double chapel of St. Ulrich and St. Niklaus were added. During the expansion, the two story residence chapel of the Bishop was also decorated with extensive stucco and fresco work[1]. At some time in the 12th Century it was converted from a monastery into a convent. The change to a nunnery is first mentioned 1167, but it happened sometime before this date[2].
The Swabian War, which was an attempt by the Hapsburgs to assert control over the Grisons and key alpine passes, started at the Convent[3]. On January 20, 1499, Habsburg troops occupied the surrounding valley and plundered the Convent, but were soon driven back by the forces of the Three Leagues at the Battle of Calven. Following the raid, an armistice was signed between the Hapsburgs and the Three Leagues. However this armistice only lasted a few days before the conflicts broke out between the Three Leagues' Old Swiss Confederacy allies and the Hapsburg troops. These raids quickly escalated into the Swabian War, which ended in September 1499 with the Treaty of Basel which granted virtual independence to the Swiss Confederacy[3].
About 1500 the convent church was modified from a single nave carolingian construction into a three nave late gothic church. Shortly there after, in 1524 and 1526 the Ilanzer Articles weakened the temporal power of the Bishop of Chur and reduced the financial support of the Convent. There was limited construction on the convent following this reduction in income.
In the spirit of the Council of Trent the bishop issued a series of reforms governing religious life from 1600 to 1614. The reforms included who could receive sacraments and created a new Breviary. Other policies, such as the requirement for common sleeping areas, were also relaxed in this era.
Throughout the history of the Convent of Saint John there were conflicts between the Bishop of Chur, The Grey League and the House of Hapsburg. The Convent's spiritual leader, the abbess, and the physical leader, the vogt, were often chosen by one of these three powers.
[edit] Paintings
During the 20th-century restoration works, some Romanesque frescoes from the 1160s were discovered there. Other murals are dated to Charlemagne's reign. The UNESCO recognised these as "Switzerland's greatest series of figurative murals, painted c. A.D. 800, along with Romanesque frescoes and stuccoes"[4].
The original single nave church with five apses has several significant Early Middle Ages frescoes from around 800. The paintings are organized in five rows that stretch from the southern wall across the west wall to the northern wall. The top row features scenes from the life of King David of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The next three rows show scenes from the youth, life and Passion of Christ. The bottom row contains scenes from the crucifixion of St. Andreas. On the western wall the rows are tied together with an image of the last judgement[5]. The paintings were done in a limited range of colors including ochre, red and brown and help in the "comprehension of the evolution of certain Christian iconographic themes, like that of the last judgement"[1].
The apses and the eastern wall were repainted in the 12th Century with Romanesque frecsos showing a variety of biblical themes including the dinner of Herod Antipas (where the dancing of Herodias' daughter lead to the execution of John the Baptist[6]), the wise and foolish virgins, apostles and St. Stephen[2].
[edit] References
- ^ a b c ICOMOS Evaluation for UNESCO
- ^ a b c d Müstair Abbey in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ a b Riezler, Sigmund: Die Grafen von Fürstenberg im Schweizerkriege 1499; Tübingen 1883. (German) from historicum.net. Detailed chronological account of events.
- ^ UNESCO List accessed April 28, 2008
- ^ Niklaus Flüeler, Lukas Gloor, Isabelle Rucki (eds.) (1982). Kulturführer Schweiz (in German). Spreitenbach: Limmatdruck AG, 254-5.
- ^ Matthew 14:6-11; Mark 6:19-28
[edit] External links
The Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monastry of Saint John in Müstair.- Benedictine Convent of Saint John in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- Kloster Müstair limited information in English
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