Digital prosopography in the late medieval diocese of Basel
The lower clergy of the deaneries of Sisgau and Frickgau from 1460 to 1490
Raphael Walker, M.A., University of Bern
For the Diocese of Basel, detailed accounts kept by the episcopal vicar general and keeper of the seal are preserved in the Archive de l'ancien Ev锚ch茅 de B芒le in Porrentruy from 1441 (Fig. 1). These registers record the taxes, duties, and sealing fees, as well as the investiture, absence, and testamentary fees that had to be paid to the episcopal curia by every holder of a benefice or their provisional representative. As quantitative serial sources, they constitute a valuable resource for exploring the socio-historical dimensions of the local lower clergy through digital prosopography.
Fig. 1
Title page of the Regista computationum. Archiv des ehemaligen F眉rstbistums Basel, AAEB, A 85/40. Registra: Vicarius generalis et Sigillifer, p. 1. Reproduced with kind permission by the Archive of the former Prince-Bishopric of Basel.
The Registra computationum shown in Fig. 1 comprise over 1,557 pages and are divided into revenue registers (Registra receptorum) and expenditure registers (Registra expositorum).[1] The various subcategories are consistently arranged in the same order: The Registra receptorum hebdomadalium record the weekly revenues received by the episcopal administration. They are followed by the Registra investiturarum which list all clergy in the diocese who received investiture. The Registra commissionum are organized annually according to the twelve deaneries of the Diocese of Basel and record all the clergy employed on a provisional basis who were required to pay a fixed, standardized tax of one florin, the so-called comissio. These provisionally employed clerics were contractually bound temporary workers, and their employment was limited to one year.[2] This section therefore provides direct evidence for the absenteeism of appointed benefice holders in the deaneries of Sisgau and Frickgau, as well as of the frequency with which temporary clergy were appointed to replace them. The subsequent Registra absentiarum record all non-resident benefice holders, although the reasons for their absence are not specified. The concluding Registra fertonum list all priests who paid the so-called ferto, a testamentary fee amounting to one quarter of a mark of silver.[3]
Analyzing these rich sources in a case study for the two deaneries of Sisgau and Frickgau revealed a total of 508 members of the lower clergy over a thirty-year period, from 1460 to 1490. These individuals were entered into a Nodegoat database enabling multiple modes of analysis as well as spatial and chronological contextualization and visualization.[4] The key entities in this dataset are persons, events and locations, as illustrated below by a source example (Fig. 2) and the corresponding database entry (Fig. 3) derived from it.
Fig. 2
Johannes Schattwald in the Registra commissionum. 芦Item dominus Johannes Schattwald pro Sigillo commisionis vicarius ecclesie in Wittnaw dt 1 fl禄. AAEB, A 85/40, p. 879. Reproduced with kind permission by the Archive of the former Prince-Bishopric of Basel.
Fig. 3 Nodegoat database entry of Johannes Schattwald. Illustration by the author.
In Fig. 2, Johannes Schattwald appears in the Registra commissionum, as vicarius ecclesie in Wittnau together with his payment of the commissio of one Florin. In the Nodegoat database, the corresponding entry contains his standardized name, divided into given name and surname with his corresponding title. An automatically assigned Nodegoat ID serves as a unique identifier, allowing multiple events to be linked to the same individual. As shown, the event vicar (higlighted in red) is directly linked to additional information in this case the paid sum of one florin and the corresponding category in the Registra computationum. The event is further linked to a specific date: in this case, the fiscal year 1468/69 and to a location, namely the church in Wittnau. To ensure the traceability of the data, each database entry is supplemented by the corresponding source text together with the relevant page and line numbers (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Source text entry for Johannes Schattwald. Illustration by the author.
Using this extensive body of source material, it was possible to reconstruct the parish network of the Sisgau and Frickgau deaneries for the period from 1460 to 1490 by geolocating every church mentioned in the registers (Fig. 5). In a second step, the two deaneries were distinguished by color: the parishes of Sisgau are shown in blue and those of Frickgau in red. The size of the dots indicates the number of benefices at each church held by parish priests vicars, chaplains, or early mass celebrants, as documented in the sources.[5] Of the documented 508 members of the lower clergy 333 clerics held a total of 687 ad-hoc assigned benefices. Among these 333 temporary assigned clergymen, 234 are mentioned only once, whereas the remaining 99 can be linked to multiple appointments.
Fig. 5
This map shows the two sample deaneries of Sisgau (blue) and Frickgau (red), the parishes within them and the frequency of appointments to the individual churches between 1460 and 1490. Illustration by the author.
As noted above the issue of absenteeism of the benefice holders in the individual parishes led to the hiring of temporary clergy and consequently the need for higher mobility on their part. This pattern can be illustrated by the example of Nicolaus Christen (Fig. 6) who served in the southwestern part of the Frickgau shown in the lower left corner of the map above (Fig. 5).
Fig. 6
Nodegoat database entry of Nicolaus Christen. Illustration by the author.
Christen was a monk of Sch枚ntal Abbey, which was responsible for providing pastoral care in Waldenburg, Reigoldswil, and Onoldswil.[6] As you can see from the chart, Christen is documented in these parishes between 1462 and 1474. In Reigoldswil, he assumed pastoral duties on eight occasions, most likely as a temporary vicar (marked in red). During the same period, however, he is also recorded as absent on nine occasions: three times from the church in Waldenburg, five times from the church in Onoldswil, and once from the church in Reigoldswil (marked in black). In each of these cases, he was most likely absent from the vicarage. Accordingly, the records consistently show, for each year in question, one absence from one of the churches mentioned above alongside one temporary appointment in Reigoldswil.[7] This legal arrangement 鈥� involving two benefices, one held permanently and the other on a temporary basis 鈥� appears to have been permissible under canon law. However, the practice of assigning monks or other clergy from monasteries to parishes as vicars or parish priests was criticized in 1483 by Kaspar zu Rhein, Bishop of the Diocese of Basel, who argued that it could undermine the stability of pastoral care.[8]
Taking a closer look at Christen鈥檚 geographical mobility, as illustrated below (Fig. 7), we can derive that, starting from Sch枚ntal Monastery in the lower right corner, he served annually from 1464 to 1474 as a temporary vicar in Reigoldswil, located approximately 12 kilometers away. His professional network extended further through the benefices he held in Onoldswil and Waldenburg, although he served these positions in absentia. Can we thus assume that Reigoldswil was the financially more lucrative post? Unfortunately, while the Liber marcarum of 1441 provides some indication of benefice values, its figures are at best approximate.[9] Furthermore, the actual income of annually appointed priests remains unknown, as remuneration was negotiated individually through a form of lease agreement between the substitute and the benefice holder.[10] But how was the problem of absenteeism managed at the level of the individual parish?
Fig. 7 The mobility of Nicolaus Christen. Illustration by the author.
Fig. 8
Clergymen in the parish of Onoldswil. Illustration by the author.
The chart above (Fig. 8) provides a clear example based on the attendance records of the church of Onoldswil. Nikolaus Christen鈥檚 absences are marked in black. During the fiscal years 1464/65 and 1465/66, the temporary vicar Peter K枚nigsberg replaced the absent Christen. Nikolaus Christen鈥檚 absence between 1470 and 1471 was apparently covered by two vicars-for-hire, Konrad Merbrot and Thomas L盲mmli. His final absence, around 1473/74 was most likely also compensated for by a temporary vicar. It was not until 1475 that the appointment of a permanent vicar, Moritz Frauenstein, can be traced.[11] This may be interpreted as a response to Nikolaus Christen鈥檚 persistent absence from the church. Unlike Christen, Frauenstein no longer belonged to a monastic order, which may indicate a shift in the organization of pastoral care at the church of Onoldswil, although no further information about Frauenstein has been identified.
In summary, it can be concluded that the absence of properly instituted clergy in the Sisgau and Frickgau deaneries can be traced over an extended period at individual churches, such as Onoldswil. This phenomenon, referred to in historiography as structural absenteeism, can, nevertheless only be demonstrated for selected churches. Whenever such situations arose, however, a well-established administrative practice came into effect, whereby vacant positions were immediately filled.[12] The presence of temporary employed clergymen ensured the continuity of sacramental and pastoral care for the affected parishioners although little can be said about the quality of such services and, in Christens鈥� case, his role as a monk of the Sch枚ntal Monastery created a particular legal situation. Through Christen鈥檚 appointment as a vicar on an annual basis, the monastery retained the income generated from the benefices while having pastoral duties carried out by lower-paid substitute clergy.[13] Unfortunately as already discussed, the precise income generated in this manner remains unknown. Nevertheless, the annual efforts made by these temporary clergy to obtain benefices suggest the existence of personal networks between benefice holders and their representatives. All these factors point to a dynamic group of contractually bound temporary clergymen characterized by diverse patterns of mobility, career paths and in some cases even the possibility of advancement to permanent benefices.[14]
Raphael Walker has been a doctoral researcher in the Department of Medieval History at the University of Bern since January 2025. His dissertation seeks to provide the first comprehensive study of the educational landscape of medieval Switzerland, a subject that remains to be fully explored in historical scholarship. The project aims to identify and digitally analyse all students from present-day Switzerland who attended universities across premodern Europe between 1250 and 1550.
This article is based on a paper presented by the author at the 2026 Warwick Symposium on Parish Research dedicated to the theme of 鈥�Parish Data鈥�.
[1 Archiv des ehemaligen F眉rstbistums Basel, AAEB, A 85/40. Registra: Vicarius generalis et Sigillifer, pp. 116-1693. https://archives-aaeb.jura.ch/detail.aspx?ID=352334.[2] P茅geot, Pierre; Prongu茅, Jean-Paul, Contribution 脿 l'茅tude du clerg茅 paroissial rural 脿 la fin du Moyen 脗ge: les pr锚tres du Sundgau (1441-1500), in: Revue d'Alsace 115 (1989), pp. 3-36, here: pp. 4, 12.
[3] Freyther, Laurent, Der bisch枚flich-baslerische Liber Marcarum vom Jahre 1441 in seiner Vorgeschichte, seinen Zweck und seiner Bedeutung, in: Archiv f眉r Els盲ssische Kirchengeschichte 7 (1932), pp. 113-160, here: pp. 146-147, 156. Open source: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k170875n/f135.item.
[4] https://nodegoat.net/about#data-modelling.
[5] On the terminology oft he clergy see: Pfleger, Luzian, Die els盲ssische Pfarrei. Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung. Ein Beitrag zur kirchlichen Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte (Forschungen zur Kirchengeschichte des Elsass 3), Strassburg 1936, here: pp. 180-191.
[6] Gampp, Axel Christoph; Sommerer, Sabine, Der Bezirk Waldenburg, in: Gesellschaft f眉r Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte GSK (Hg.): Die Kunstdenkm盲ler der Schweiz. Die Kunstdenkm盲ler des Kanton Basel-Landschaft, Bd. 4, Basel 2014, here: p 274.
[7] AAEB, A 85/40, pp. 747, 768, 771, 794, 796, 823, 826, 850, 853, 878, 881, 929, 932, 956, 959, 1002, 1004, 1137.
[8] Feine, Hans Erich, Kirchliche Rechtsgeschichte. Die katholische Kirche, K枚ln/Wien 51972, p. 396; P茅geot, Prongu茅, clerg茅 paroissial rural, p. 14.
[9] Freyther, Liber Marcarum, pp. 122, 133, 137.
[10] Feine, Kirchliche Rechtsgeschichte, p. 207. In their study of the Sundgau, P茅geot and Prongu茅 were likewise unable to identify any correlation between the value of benefices and the frequency of appointments. See P茅geot and Prongu茅, Clerg茅 paroissial rural, pp. 16-17.
[11] AAEB, A 85/40, pp. 771, 768, 796, 793.
[12] P茅geot, Prongu茅, clerg茅 paroissial rural, p. 16, 22.
[13] Arend, Sabine, Zwischen Bischof und Gemeinde. Pfarrbenefizien im Bistum Konstanz vor der Reformation (Schriften zur s眉dwestdeutschen Landeskunde 47), Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2003, here: p. 77; Feine, Kirchliche Rechtsgeschichte, p. 411.
[14] See for example Scheler, Dieter, Patronage und Aufstieg im Niederkirchenwesen, in: Schulz, G眉nther (Hg.): Sozialer Aufstieg. Funktionseliten im Sp盲tmittelalter und in der fr眉hen Neuzeit (Deutsche F眉hrungsschichten in der Neuzeit 25), M眉nchen 2002, pp. 315-336.