Backnang Abbey
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Backnang Abbey (Stift Backnang), dedicated to Saint Pancras, was a house of Augustinian canons regular in Backnang, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
It was founded before 1116 by Hermann I, Markgraf of Verona, and his wife Judit von Backnang-Sulichgau. In 1116 Pope Paschal I confirmed the foundation. As early as 1123 under Hermann II of Baden the monastery had to be revived with the help of Augustinians from Marbach Abbey in Alsace.
Between 1123 and 1243 the abbey was the burial place of the Zähringen Margraves of Baden, a connection which brought much influence and prosperity.
Backnang's geographical position exposed it from the 13th century to Württemberg and for this reason in 1243 Margravine Irmengard transferred the remains of her husband Hermann V of Baden to her foundation of Lichtenthal Abbey in the town of Baden-Baden.
In 1297 possession of Backnang passed to Württemberg. In 1366 Count Eberhard II of Württemberg succeeded in gaining control of the abbey's finances. In 1477 it was changed into a secular collegiate foundation, with th approval of Pope Sixtus IV.
In 1535 the community was dissolved. The canons of Backnang however, by making a complaint to Emperor Charles V, obtained permission to reoccupy it, which they did in 1551. The last of them died in 1593, when the house was finally suppressed.
The abbey church ("Stiftskirche") still stands in Backnang.
[edit] External links
(German) Klosterbuch Baden Württemberg über das Stift Backnang
