Hesse

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The name of a German tribe, and also a district inGermany extending along the Lahn, Eder,Fulda, Werra, and the Lower Main and Rhine. The district comprises today the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt and thePrussian province of Hesse-Nassau (capital, Kassel). The territory of the Hessians — the descendants of the Chatti, who, with the Cherusci, were masters ofGermany before the Roman domination — was divided during the period of theFrankish empire into severalGaue (i.e. districts — Saxon Hessengau,Frankish Hessengau, Buchonia, Oberlahngau, etc.), ruled over by counts.

About 350Christianity was preached in a portion of this territory by St. Lubentius ofTrier, who built achurch at Dietkirchen near Limburg. In the sixth centurySt. Goar preached the Gospel along the Rhine, while in the following centurySt. Kilian (d. 689) preached in the districts along the Main and the Rhön. The chief missionary of the Hessians wasSt. Boniface. Hebaptized two counts at Amöneburg about 722, founded aBenedictineabbey there, felled the celebrated sacred oak of Thor at Geismar, and founded at Büraberg near Fritzlar the first Hessianbishopric in 741, consolidated withMainz in 774, and also themonastery of St. Peter at Fritzlar. Commissioned by thesaint, his disciple Sturmi founded themonastery ofFulda and St. Lullus the Abbey of Hersfeld. From these centres ofChristian culture manyreligious communities andcloisters were founded on the conclusion of the Saxonwars, andChristianity subsequently made rapid progress among the people. The greater portion of the land was throughout theMiddle Ages under theecclesiastical jurisdiction of theArchbishops ofMainz; the smaller portion under the exempt Abbots ofFulda and Hersfeld, or under the Bishops ofTrier (10 churches in Lahngau) andPaderborn (4).

Under the weak successors of Charles the Great, the old constitution of theGaue gradually changed, and the counts (Grafen) from responsible officials became independent lords. As thebishops andmonasteries also acquired much landedproperty, Hesse was parcelled up into numerous territories. Among the Hessian nobility, the most prominent in the tenth and eleventh centuries were the Counts of Ziegenhain, of Felsberg, of Schaumburg, of Diez, but above all the Gisos, Counts of Gudensberg. The daughter of the fourth and last Giso married in 1122 Count Louis I of Thuringia, who in 1130 was raised to the rank of landgrave by Emperor Lothair. As the Hessian nobility recognized him as their overlord, Hesse was thus united with Thuringia. Louis at the same time received the protectorate of the most important religious foundations of the land, and for a period of more than a century the union of Hesse and Thuringia continued unbroken. With Henry Raspe, the brother-in-law of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, the male line of the Thuringian landgraves became extinct in 1247, whereupon the Hessians chose Henry of Brabant, Elizabeth's grandson, as their landgrave. Hesse was separated fromThuringia, and, after a long struggle with other claimants of the title, Henry established his authority as Landgrave of Hesse. For a large portion of his territories he owed fealty to theArchbishop ofMainz; for his allodial estate and the imperial fiefs which he possessed, he received in 1292 from King Adolph of Nassau the hereditary rank of prince of the empire. He chose Kassel as his residence, and from him is descended the present princely house of Hesse, which can thus trace its line back to St. Elizabeth.

By the acquisition of previously independent territories (Giessen, Treffurt, Schmalkalden, Katzenellenbogen, Diez, etc,) Henry's successors increased the domain of the landgraviate to such an extent that it became one of the most powerful German principalities. Hermann I (1377-1413) played an important rôle inecclesiastical affairs. Intended originally forHoly Orders and surnamed "the learned" on account of hislove of thesciences, he espoused during the Great Schism the cause ofGregory XII in opposition toMainz. The slumbering quarrel withMainz broke out under Hermann's son, Louis I the Peaceful (1413-58), and Archbishop Conrad ofMainz suffered a decisive defeat atFulda in 1427. Theschism and the wrangles between the landgraves and thearchbishops greatly contributed to disturbecclesiastical order, and in many of the numerousmonasteries the ancient discipline had fallen into decay. On the whole, however, the Hessian Church was in an excellent condition at the outbreak of theReformation inGermany.

After repeated divisions, all the Hessian lands were reunited by William II. Philip the Magnanimous (1509-67), William's son and successor, at first adopted a hostile attitude towards the doctrines ofLuther, which soon found adherents in theFranciscan Jacob Limburg of Marburg and the Augustinian provincial Tilemann Schnabel of Alsfeld. He banished orimprisoned theheretical preachers, and came to be regarded by them as the most dangerous opponent of "the Gospel". In 1525, however, he was won over toProtestantism by Joachim Camerarius andMelanchthon, who wrote for him the "Epitome renovatæ ecclesiasticæ doctrinæ". The recess of the Diet ofSpeyer in 1526 enabled him to set up a territorial Church. At a synod of the higher dignitaries of the regular andsecular clergy at Homberg in October, 1526, the reform regulations devised by the ex-Franciscan, Lambert of Avignon, were adopted. TheFranciscan guardian,Nikolaus Ferber of Marburg, alone raised his voice against their adoption, but his protest was disregarded. At the Convention of Hitzkirch, in 1528, theArchbishop ofMainz,Albert of Brandenburg, found himself compelled to waive temporarily his claims toecclesiastical jurisdiction in Hesse. Thus the Reformatory ordinances (Reformationsordnung) — which were of an extreme type, rejecting the Mass, feasts of thesaints,pilgrimages, pictures,relics, etc. — spread rapidly over the country. Foundations andmonasteries were suppressed, theirproperty confiscated, public worship forbidden toCatholics. To establish the new teaching on a firmer basis the firstProtestantuniversity was founded at Marburg in 1527, while the Rituals of 1537, 1539, and 1566, in the composition of whichBucer's influence is unmistakable, fixed the constitution of the Hessian Church on an episcopal synodal basis.

Philip'simprisonment byCharles V scarcely exercised a perceptible influence on the progress of theReformation, and in 1551 Sebastian von Heusenstamm,Archbishop ofMainz, was compelled to resign finally all claims tojurisdiction in Hesse. In this manner was theChurch founded bySt. Boniface almost entirely annihilated. TheReformation was also introduced into the territories which were subsequently (e.g. in 1648) acquired by Hesse; only in the domain of the Abbey ofFulda and in a few enclaves belonging to the Archbishopric ofMainz (Fritzlar, Amöneburg, Neustadt) did theCatholicFaith survive. Philip the Magnanimous divided Hesse at his death among his four legitimate sons, but, as two of these died without heirs in 1583 and 1604 respectively, hisfamily was split into two chief lines — that of Hesse-Darmstadt, represented by George I, and that of Hesse-Kassel, represented by William IV. From these two lines sprang in the course oftime some collateral lines, but no member of thefamily at present occupies a throne. In contrast to hisfather, the first Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, George I (1567-96) espoused the cause of the Hapsburgs. He increased hisfamily possessions considerably, and in this his example was followed by his eldest son Louis V (1596-1626), who for his attachment to the emperor was called "the Faithful". He founded the University of Giessen in 1607. George II (1628-61) acquired a portion of Upper Hesse in 1648; his brother Frederick returned to theCatholicFaith, becameCardinal and Prince-Bishop ofBreslau, and died in 1682. Although three sons of Louis VI (1661-78) also returned toCatholicism, there was no mitigation in the sternLutheranism of the land.

Only in the territory belonging to the collateral branch, Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, which becameCatholic in 1652 and extinct in 1834, was theCatholicChurch tolerated. Landgraves Ernest Louis (1678-1739) and Louis VIII (1739-68) sought an understanding withAustria.Louis IX (1768-90) afforded free religious facilities to the Reformed Churches; in 1786 he granted to theCatholics Darmstadt as a "privilege" permission to hold Divine service. General freedom was first received by theCatholics under Louis X (1790-1830), who created the present Grand Duchy of Hesse. In thewar againstrevolutionary France, the possessions of Hesse-Darmstadt on the right bank of the Rhine were ceded to the French by the Peace of Lunéville, a few districts inBaden and Nassau being also lost. In compensation Louis received the Duchy ofWestphalia, which had previously belonged to theArchdiocese of Cologne, and some districts in theArchdiocese of Mainz and the Bishopric of Worms, and later (1809) three Hessian domains of the German Order, theFulda domain of Herbstein, and the estates of the Order of Malta in Hesse. In 1806 Louis received the title of Grand Duke (Louis I); at the Congress ofVienna he received in compensation for the Duchy ofWestphalia, which fell toPrussia, the oldecclesiastical and palatinate lands on the left bank of the Rhine together with the townsMainz and Worms. With the accession of suchCatholic territories, the existing anomalousecclesiastical conditions could no longer be maintained. Hesse therefore took part in the negotiations of several German states, which resulted in the erection of theecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine by thepapal Bulls "Provida solersque" (1821) and "Ad Dominici gregis custodiam" (1827). In furtherance of the arrangements, the Grand Duchy of Hesse founded the new Bishopric ofMainz, which was made subject to the Archbishopric ofFreiburg. Although the organic decrees of 1803 had created a kind of national Church, they were only partially carried out, and the position of theCatholicChurch was here more favourable than in the other states of theecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine (e.g. in Baden). Under Louis III (1848-77), who began to rule during the lifetime of hisfather Louis II (1830-48), conditions were at first favourable to theCatholics. In 1854Bishop Ketteler concluded with the Minister von Dalwigk the Convention ofMainz, which ensured for theChurch a greater measure of freedom and independence, but on the other hand made great concessions to the State. In consequence of the opposition of the Estates, the convention had to be withdrawn in 1866. After the foundation of theGerman Empire, theKulturkampf extended also to Hesse under the Liberal ministries of Hofmann and von Starck, that is from 1871 to 1884. The five ecclesiastical laws of 23 April, 1875, are in theirKulturkampf spirit an exact reproduction of thePrussian "May Laws". After the death ofBishop Ketteler in 1877, the episcopal See ofMainz remainedvacant until 1886. It was only under Grand Duke Louis IV (1877-92) and during the Finger ministry, that the churchlaws were revised, and those of 1875 modified. Under Ernest Louis, who succeeded in 1892, further changes facilitated the admission ofreligious orders. (Concerning the ecclesiastical statistics of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, whose boundaries coincide with those of the Bishopric of Mainz, seeMAINZ.)

In Hesse-Kassel William IV (1567-92) was succeeded by Moritz "the Learned" (1592-1627), during whose reign theThirty Years' War broke out. His son, William V (1627-37), allied himself with Gustavus Adolphus and was forced to retire into exile. Under William VI (1637-63) the foundation of Hersfeld and a portion of Upper Hesse were acquired by Hesse-Kassel. The succeeding rulers were William VII (1663-70) and then Charles (1670-1730), whose son became King of Sweden as Frederick I in 1720, and later, during his government of Hesse (1730-51), was represented by his brother William (landgrave, 1751-60). William's son,Frederick II, reverted to theCatholicChurch in 1749, but, when hisconversion became known, hisfather, in concert with the Estates, withPrussia, andHanover, demanded that Frederick as landgrave should neither appoint aCatholic to a public position nor permit publicCatholic worship. To these demands Frederick, to preserve his right of succession, was compelled to agree. During his reign (1760-85) the abuse of selling soldiers toEngland reached its culmination. In North America between 15,000 and 20,000 Hessians fought forEngland against the colonies struggling for freedom. His son, William IX (1785-1821), in accordance with the Peace of Lunéville, received rich compensation (mostly inecclesiastical territory) for Rheinfels, ceded to the French, and was granted in 1803 the title of elector. From 1806 to 1813, Hesse-Kassel belonged to the Kingdom ofWestphalia, founded byNapoleon. After the Restoration the greater part of the estates of the Abbey ofFulda was assigned to Hesse-Kassel. The Revolution of 1830 compelled William II (1821-47) to give the land a constitution which ensured to every citizen complete liberty ofconscience and freedom to practise his religion. The status ofCatholics was regulated by the erection of theecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine, when Electoral Hesse was placed under the Bishopric ofFulda. The profligacy of William II, the tyrannical rule of his son Frederick William I (1847-66), and the suppression of all political freedom caused an estrangement between princes and people. In the conflict betweenPrussia andAustria in 1866, when the elector, after a period of neutrality, voted againstPrussia at the German Diet and ordered the mobilization of his troops, his territories were occupied by thePrussian army, and united withPrussia on 20 September, 1866, since which date they have shared the destiny ofPrussia. It now forms with other territories acquired byPrussia in 1866 (the Duchy of Nassau, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg,Frankfort-on-the-Main, etc.) thePrussian province of Hesse-Nassau. TheCatholics of the government district of Kassel and those of Bockenheim, one of the wards of the city ofFrankfort, belong to theDiocese of Fulda; the remainder belong to theDiocese of Limburg. The ecclesiastical statistics will be found under these articles.

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