In 1456, Richwin was elected Abbot Tilmann's successor after his death. During his term of office, the Mainz Abbey Feud broke out in 1461, a conflict over the chair of the Archbishop of Mainz, which was even fought by military means.
The conflict began when the incumbent Archbishop of Mainz, Diether of Isenburg, was deposed by Pope Pius II in 1461. His place was taken by Adolf II of Nassau, who had lost to Diether in the 1459 archbishop election. The first battles soon broke out. A sad climax was the conquest and plundering of the city of Mainz by Adolf's troops on October 28, 1462. Only the Peace of Zeilsheim on October 5, 1463 put an end to the feud. While Adolf II of Nassau received the archiepiscopal see, Diether of Isenburg was compensated. After Adolf's death in 1475, the Mainz cathedral chapter once again elected Diether as archbishop. This time his rule was not questioned and he reigned undisturbed until his death in 1482.
Eberbach Monastery was not directly involved in the conflict, but offered refuge to the Mainz cathedral preacher Gabriel Biel, who had fled Mainz. After the Mainz Abbey feud, Abbot Richwin ruled for another eight years and died on November 5, 1471. His red sandstone tomb slab follows the common type of Eberbach abbot tomb slabs.
Source: German Inscriptions Online (43, no. 238), Academy of Sciences Mainz
Image of the tomb: Michael Leukel
The epitaph reads:
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These are fascinating life stories that can be found carved in stone in Eberbach - and which are now being told with the help of a QR code project.