Melker Reform

Melk Reform, revival of the Benedictine orders in the area of Southern Germany and Austria as a consequence of the Council of Constance, with Melk as its centre, where - at the suggestion of Duke Albrecht V and by the good offices of Pope Martin V - some Austrian and Bavarian Benedictine monks from the Reformed Monastery of Subiaco ("Consuetudines Sublacenes"), headed by the new abbot Nikolaus Seyringer (1418-1425), were summoned from Matzen. The Melk Reform attached great importance to the strict observance of the rules of the order and monastic discipline as well as liturgical revival ("Consuetudines Mellicenses", based on Subiaco) and literary work. Because of this and its connections with many other monasteries (especially due to numerous guests in Melk and reciprocal visits) and to the University of Vienna (Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl) it introduced early humanism to the monasteries. The Melk Reform not only affected the whole area of Austria and South Germany but also took effect beyond the order.

Literature: M. Niederkorn-Bruck, Die Melker Reform im Spiegel der Visitationen, 1994.