S. Afra
Community ID: 
 
2427
 
Alternate Names: 
 
S. Afrakloster in Würzburg
 
Town: 
 
Würzburg
 
Diocese: 
 
Würzburg
 
Medieval Location: 
 
The convent originally stood in the Karthause.
 
Corporate Status: 
 
Abbey
 
Dedication: 
 
S. Afra
 
Date Founded: 
 
1147
 
Date Terminated: 
 
1803
 
Religious Order: 
 
Benedictine
 
Rule: 
 
Benedictine
 
Foundation Information: 
 

This convent was founded by Abbot Raphold of S. Stephan and Bishop Sie(g)fried circa 1147 upon the dissolution of a hospital and poorhouse near the cloister of S. Stephan. The convent was established with the goods from the dissolved hospital. The women followed the Benedictine rule. Abbots Konrad and Benedict of S. Stephan and Bishop Lorenz acted as the spiritual supervisors for the community (Link, 625-6).

 
Notable Heads: 
 

Notable abbesses were: Walburg of Wichsenstein, the first abbess, 1147; Mechthilde; Anna von Rndersacker; Caecilie of Tholbe; Bathilde; Caecilie of Grumbach, 1474; Anna of Ebnet, 1428; and Margareta, who supported the Protestant Reformation.

 
Relative Wealth: 
 

According to Link, in the Middle Ages this convent was one of the richest foundations in Bavaria.

 
Secondary Sources: 
 

Klosterbuch der Diocese Wurzburg.; Das kloster Banz in seinen beziehungen zu den hochstiften Bamberg und Würzburg unter abt Johannes Burckhard: ein beitrag zur geschichte der fränkischen Benediktinerklöster

 
Miscellaneous Information: 
 

The convent was secularized in 1803, and in 1805 Prince Wertheim Rosenberg purchased the cloister buildings.

 
Contributors: 
 
June Mecham
 
Contributors Notes: 
 

Afra, martyr (304) - formerly a prostitute, converted to Christianity;
burned at the stake in Augsburg (although she had been converted by st
Narcissus, bishop of Gerona in Spain)during Diocletian's persecutions. Link provides the names for several other abbesses from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries which have not been included in the present record.

 
Date Started: 
 
1147
 
Date Finished: 
 
1803
 
Length: 
 
1370