Foundation and early years 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, 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 . The first monks arrived in 816 from the
Benedictine abbey from
Corbie Abbey in Picardy. They set up 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 ). The first abbot of Corvey was a cousin of Charlemagne,
Adalard of Corbie.
Ansgar, who later became 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 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 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.
Imperial rights granted A diploma granted by
Otto I in 940, 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 the jurisdiction of four
counts, who, however, were to have no rights to demand castlework from them. Gospels. A 10th-century book illumination from the scriptorium of Corvey Abbey, now in the
Morgan Library & Museum in New York.
Strife and decline 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 (1107–1128) saw 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. In 1508, books 1–6 of
Tacitus'
Annals were discovered at 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.
Reconstruction 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 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 (1678–1696), Florenz von der Felde (1696–1714) and Maximilian von Horrich (1714–1722) the other substantial Baroque buildings still there today were erected. ==Prince-Bishopric of Corvey==