The Melk Reform () was a reform of monastic life begun at

Melk Abbey Melk Abbey () is a Benedictine abbey above the town of Melk, Lower Austria, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube river, adjoining the Wachau valley. The abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several member ...

in 1418 that spread throughout the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

and Augustinian houses of the

Duchy of Austria The Duchy of Austria (; ) was a medieval principality of the Holy Roman Empire, established in 1156 by the '' Privilegium Minus'', when the Margraviate of Austria ('' Ostarrîchi'') was detached from Bavaria and elevated to a duchy in its own ri ...

and other parts of southern Germany following the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

.Tom Gaens
"Water with the Wine: Henry of Coesfeld as a Defining Theologian of Melker Reform Thought"
in M. Niederkorn-Bruck and G. Glassner (eds.), ''600 Jahre Melker Reform (1418–2018)'', Thesaurus Mellicensis 6 (Melk, 2022), pp. 126–144.. Published online 25 March 2016, retrieved 1 January 2025. It was part of the wider Observant movement.James D. Mixson, ''Poverty's Proprietors: Ownership and Mortal Sin at the Origins of the Observant Movement'' (Brill, 2009), pp. 139ff. On 17 January 1418,

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...

, acting upon the request of Duke Albert V of Austria, granted Abbot of Rein Abbey and Prior Leonhard Petraer of Gaming Charterhouse the right of

canonical visitation In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to car ...

to all Benedictine and Augustinian foundations in Duke Albert's lands. In June, was sent to visit Melk and reform in both spiritual and temporal matters. He restored communal living, admitted novices who were not of noble birth and instituted customs ('' consuetudines'') in addition to the

Benedictine rule The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

. These were based on the customs of Seyringer's own abbey of Subiaco. The reform was put into writing in a "visitation charter" and Seyringer became the new abbot. The reformed observance of Melk was expanded under Seyringer and his successors through visitations. It reached the Augustinian canonry of and in 1426, at the invitation of Duke William III of Bavaria, it reached

Tegernsee Abbey Tegernsee Abbey ( German ''Kloster Tegernsee'' or ''Abtei Tegernsee'') is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around it are named after the Tegernsee, the lake ...

, bringing the reform to Bavaria. Besides discipline and adherence to the rule and customs, the Melk Reform insisted on liturgical revival and literary production. It was a vehicle for the spread of

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

, especially through its connection to Nicholas of Dinkelsbühl of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

References

{{reflist 1418 establishments 15th-century Catholicism