FOLIA MENDELIANA 50/1 Supplementum ad Acta Musei Moraviae XCIX, 2014

MENDEL’S OATH AS ABBOT AND PRELATE ANNA MATALOVÁ Mendelianum Centrum, Muzejní 2, Brno

ABSTRACT – In the past century attempts were made to spread that Mendel’s Augustinian monastery was exempt. In this connection the word exempt was used in trying to lift Mendel to a higher position in the catholic church establishment and to weeken the general view of Mendel as a freethinking priest.

It has been repeatedly mentioned that the Augustinian monastery had a special position in the church hierarchy. It was taken out from the jurisdiction of the local Bishop. It was exempt. Oswald Richter published a book Johann Gregor Mendel wie er wirklich war including the reproduction of Mendel’s abbatical oath.1 Oswald Richter marks with a question mark Mendel’s submission to the local Bishop instead of the curia of the Pope if it was exempt. According to the documents preserved from the Augustinian monastery it is evident that Augustinian abbots in Brno had all their decisions approved by the Bishop. Even the election of the new Augustinian abbot was controlled personally by Hammermüller from the Bishop’s chapter. The list of Augustinian priests proposed to take part in the election was signed by Brno Bishop Anton Ernst on January 15, 1868. The list contained 14 names. Mendel is characterized as substitute teacher at Technical Modern School in Brno, member of the Agriculture Society in Brno and Society of Zoology and Botany in Vienna. On March 31, 1868 Mendel was elected Abbot and Prelate of the Augustinian Order St. Thomas. In the third election Mendel obtained twelve votes, one priest could not vote because of illness, one vote (most probably Mendel’s) went to Matthew Klácel, Mendel’s best friend.2 Klácel was ten years older than Mendel. He helped him in autodidact studies for taking examination at Viennese University to qualify as a teacher, he signed with Mendel the petitions of revolting Augustinians pleading for freedom in 1848, Klácel gave Mendel moral support in 1855 after the second failure at passing the university examination. Klácel was a pantheist who was downgraded as a teacher of philosophy for spreading dangerous ideas.3 There were not many priests as candidates. Anton Alt who was a natural authority among Augustinians did not want to apply for his high age. The taxations for a new abbot were very high. On March 26 shortly before the election Mendel wrote to his brother-in- law about the election of the abbot as follows: “We shall only be twelve electors, for one of the priests, Pater Fulgenz, is seriously ill with a nervous fever. It is quite uncertain which of us will be the lucky one. Should the choice fall on me, which I hardly venture to hope, I shall send you a wire on Monday afternoon. If you do not get a telegram, you will know that someone else has been elected.”4 Mendel was of the opinion that his new function of abbot would not prevent him of experimentation with plant hybrids. He informed prof. Nägeli in Munich about his new

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