The splendors of the late Carolingians are exhibited in Mainz this summer
Hatto was born in 850 in Swabia as the son of a powerful noble family. Early on he acquired a good education – he later wrote a vita of St. Verena in classical Latin. In his 30s he became abbot of a series of Benedictine monasteries: Reichenau (from 888) Ellwangen (896) and Lorsch (898), plus Weissenburg and Klingenmünster. From 891 to his death in 913 he was archbishop of Mainz.
In this capacity he worked as a trustworthy and loyal councillor to the German king, Arnulf, whom he accompanied to Italy in 894-95. In 896 Arnulf was crowned emperor in Rome. After his death in 899 Hatto became guardian of the prince, Louis IV, and took part in the government until his death in 911. Finally he was active in the election of Konrad I as king in 911. His reputation as a ruthless and dishonourable man stems from two incidents: one where he broke an oath concerning the safe-conduct of Adalbert in connection with a resurrection. Another incident was when he tried to have Henry of Saxony – Heinrich von Sachsen, father of Otto the Great – killed. These events were later recorded by Widukind as infamous. Later – in the 14th century – a rumour was spread that he due to such acts ended his days in the Mouse Tower in Bingen, where rats and mice ate him up.
However, focus this year – the 1100 anniversary of his death – is on his influence on the arts in late Carolingian Europe. In an exhibition in Mainz in the Cathedral Museum a series of precious artefacts and illuminated manuscripts are on show; foremost the so-called Tuotilo-ivories, which belong to St. Gallen. Well worth a detour…
Glanz der späten Karolinger: Erzbischof Hatto I. von Mainz (891-913). Von der Reichenau in den Mäuseturm
Cathedral Museum Mainz, Domstraße 3, 55116 Mainz
Exhibition 17.05.2013 – 11.08.2013
CATALOGUE:
Glanz der späten Karolinger: Erzbischof Hatto I. von Mainz (891-913). Von der Reichenau in den Mäuseturm
By Winfried Wilhelmy (ed) and Dr. habil. Stephanie Haarländer, Universität Mannheim; Wilfried E. Keil M.A., Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; Christian Klein, Wiesbaden; Prof. Dr. Sebastian Scholz, Universität Zürich; Dr. Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm, Mainz; Dr. Christoph Winterer, Frankfurt am Main
Schnell & Steiner 2013
Language: German
ISBN-13: 978-3795427146