Just read that throughout the years, Regensburg has played host to at least 6 monasteries. Well no wonder I see my daily nun! Duh. We’ve had Benedictine monasteries, Carolinian, Dominican, Minorite, Scottish-Benedictine (and how that’s different from Regular Benedictine I have no idea,) and even one that was kind of a dorm for wealthy old women. Now I have yet to research what makes an abbey different from a monastery different from a cloister, but I will. This is gonna be an on-going process, I have a feeling.
Regensburg truly has a volatile history when it comes to religion. Tim and I are actively trying to piece all of this together, but it’s difficult to get the big picture. From what we understand, Regensburg was Catholic before the Reformation, then became Lutheran shortly thereafter (so we’re in the middle 1500s now.) Actually the Duke-type people in Regensburg had a pretty major part in igniting the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), even though the conditions were ripening for some time before it. (Side note: Tim read Germany lost a third of its population during the war because most battles were fought on German soil. That and the fact that the plague had outbreaks as well.) After the war, the city went back and forth from being Protestant to Catholic often, depending on the beliefs of the reigning Prince. How’d you like that? Today you’re Protestant, tomorrow Catholic. Even the clergy had to change, or choose to leave the city.
Unfortunately, Jews have been persecuted here since the dawn of time too, like so many places we’ve visited in Europe. It seems that Christians were not allowed to lend money, so in time of need, they would borrow from the Jews. When the debt could no longer be paid, the answer was simply to run the Jews out of town. And thus, the debt was cleared. Gives you a little insight into some history well before our years, doesn't it?
On a much lighter note, my nun spotting is going very, very well. I’ve even included our visitors and my husband on my quest. We’ve seen a nun eating ice cream in Prague. A nun on the boat to the Cloister Brewery (atta girl!) We saw one on a bike in Wurzburg. And actually, one day Amanda and I saw a nun, a monk and two priests all in the time frame of about 10 minutes. But to top it all, Tom, Jennifer, Tim and I ducked into the Cathedral Dom to check it out and ended up getting blessed by the Bishop of Regensburg. Not bad, huh.
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2 comments:
Ah, if only they had just stolen our money and chased us out... the easist thing was to calumnify (is that a word) us and then murder us.
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