LEIPZia
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Lxipzia
word Leipzig, which is probably of Slavonic origin, is still uncertain. The latest investigations have proved beyond doubt that the region about Leipzig was orig- inally occupied by the Teutons. With the migration of the nations, the Slavs settled there, but in the ninth century, the Germans succeeded in re-establishing themselves. In 922 King Henry I conquered the Daleminzians, and laid out the fortified town of Meis- sen. Other strongholds were subsequently founded in the vicinity. The first mention of Leipzig is to be found in the chronicle of Bishop Thietmar of Merse- burg (1009-18). Another German colony grew up beside this stronghold, to which Margrave Otto of Meis- sen gave a charter (alx)ut 1160), the so-called Stadt- brief of Leipzig. According to this charter Leipzig was given the Magdeburg code of laws, and at the same time an important plan of extension was decided upon.
The expansion of the Gorman people was followed everywhere by the growth of Christianity. Leipzig l)elonged to the Diocese of Mersel)urg. The oldest church was Peterskapclle, the larger Xikoliiikirche was built later. Of this, parts are still extant in the present church of that name. The Thomaskloster, the first monastery, was found*.*^! in the reign of Margrave Diet- rich (1197-1221); bolh the Nikolaikirche and the Peterskapelle were made subordinate to this monas- tery, which was governed by the Augustinian Canons. By purchase and through foundations the monastery, wnose prior was freely elected by the friars, gradually became pK)ssessed of considerable real estate and valu- able tithes. A school, the oldest in Saxony, was soon founded in connexion with the monastery. Three other convents were founded in the town after the Tliomaskloster; first that of the Cistercian Sisters mentioned l>etween 1220 and 1230, which found a great benefactor in Margrave Heimnch (1230-88); then the monastery of the Dominican fathers, founded about 1229 and consecrated in 1210 in the presence of the Archbishop of Magdeburg and the uishops of Merseburg, Naumburg, and Meissen; and lastly the monastery of the Franciscans, which existed at least as early as 1253. Including these four convent churches, Leipzig thus possessed six churches in the Middle Ages; to these were added the Katharinen- kapelle (1210), the Marienkapelle (about 1262), and the chapels belonging to the townhall and the castle (fifteenth oenturj'). The oldest hospital in the town was that founded together and in connexion with the Thomaskloster in 1213; its management was trans- ferred from the convent to the town in 1439. St. John's hospital, erected at the end of the thirteenth century, was originally devoted to the care of lepers.
From the latter part of the twelfth century Leipzig was looked upon as the most important military sta- tion between the Saale and the Mulde. The Messen or annual fairs added greatly to the prosperity of the town; at first they were held in the Spring (Jubilate^ mesae) and Autumn (Michaelisme^ise), but after 1458 they were also held at Christmas or the New Year. In 1419 I^ipzig obtained from Pope Martin V privi- leges on account of her fair, and received in 1515 a papal market privilege. The fame and importance of the city was greatly increased by still another event, namely the foundation of the university in 1449 by the students and professors who had seceded from Prague on account of the tyrannical actions of the Czech- Hussite faction. The foundation was confirmed by Pope Alexander V in 1409. Towards the latter part of the Middle Ages the state of the Church had changed for the worse. The convents were becoming more worldly; in 1445 the Bishop of Merseburg found it necessary to attempt a reform of the Thomaskloster, but met with no success. The remedial measures tried by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa in 1451 brought about no permanent improvement. The preaching acsUvity of St. John Capistran in 1455 was more suc- cessful, at least among members of bis own order (the
Franciscans), bat the Cistercian Sisters in Leipzig
did ever3rthmg in their power to impede a reform.
Later on there was a division in both the Dominican
and Franciscan orders, which led to mutual opposi-
tion, some contending for a more rigorous and some
for a laxer interpretation of the rule. The relations
between the towni council and the townsi>eople on the
one side and the clerics, more particularly the regu-
lars, on the other, became strained in the fifteenth
century. The situation was further aggravated by the
quarrel between the secular clergy and the monas-
teries. Small wonder, therefore, that Luther's reform
movement soon found adherents in Leipzig.
Another connexion which the city had with the new movement was that Tetzel was a citizen, and also that Luther's Theses of 1517 were printed there. The celebrated Disputation between Luther and Karlstadt on one side and Eck on the other also took place in Leipzig; this was held under the most brilliant aus- pices, and lasted from 27 June until 15 Julv, 1519. Although both sides claimed the victory, Lutfier's ad- herents increased so greatly that neither the Bishop of Meissen nor the university dared announce in I^eip- zig before 1521 the Bull of excommunication against Luther, which Eck had brought from Rome. Among the many scholars of the town who energetically op- posed the new movement by word and writing, par- ticular mention must be made of the Dominican Pe- trus Sylvius, Professor Dungersheim of the university, the Franciscan Augustin Alfeld, Ilieronymus Emser. and later Cochljeus. The Reformation made no head- way in Saxony and I^eipzig as long as Duke George lived; he even commanded four hundred adherents of the new teaching to leave the town in 1552, and for- bade the people of Leipzig to attend the University of Wittenberg. After his death in 1539 the Reformation was introduced, and in 1543 all the convents were sup- pressed, their lands sold, the buildings mostly torn down, and Catholic public worship abolished. Besides the Disputation, there is another important event of the Reformation period connected with the town of Leipzig: the so-called Leipzig Interim (see Interim).
In connexion with the political history of the town there are many events which deserve special mention. The town suffered greatly during the Thirty Years War. In 1631 Tilly appeared before it with his army and captured it, l^ut was defeated at Breitenfeld by Gustavus Adolphus on 17 Septeml)er. Ix?ipzig was besieged seven times and was captured six; from 1642 until 1650 it was in the possession of the Swedes; in 1706 it had to pay heavy tribute to Charles XII. Even more oppressive were the burdens of war im- posed on the town by the Prussians during the Second Silesian War in 1745 and during the Seven Years War. In consequence its trade and industries were ruined for years. In the Napoleonic Wars Leipzig was occupied by the French Marshal Davoust in LSOO after the battle of Jena and Auerstiidt; in 1809 it was pillaged by the Duke of Brunswick; and it was only after the battle of Leipzig (16-18 Octoljcr, 1813) that the town was freed from heavy taxation and oppres- sion. Half a million men fought in this mammoth battle, by which Germany was liberated from Na- poleon's yoke. After Saxony's accession to the Ger- man Customs' Union in the year 1834, the town received a new impetus. While in 1834 it only num- bered 45,000 inhabitants, it had 107,000 in 1871, 149,000 in 1880, 455,000 in 1900, and at the present time (1910) has 545,000.
After the Reformation was accomplished ,Catholicism became wholly extinct; at least there is no mention of any Catholic parish until about 1710. Only during the time of the fair Franciscans came from Halber- stadt to Leipzig to say Mass. No mention is made of where the services were held. In 1710 the Catholics received permission to celebrate Mass openly, and EHector Frederick Augustus I, who became a Catholic
