Gerhard II of Eppstein

Gerhard II von Eppstein (* around 1230 ; † February 25, 1305 ) was Archbishop and Elector of Mainz from 1289 to 1305 . He played a leading role in the deposition of the Roman-German King Adolf von Nassau .

Life

Gerhard's parents were Gottfried II von Eppstein and Elisabeth von Isenburg-Cleeberg . Through relationships of his relatives, especially his brother-in-law, Archbishop Werner von Eppstein of Mainz , Gerhard was able to obtain several benefices. On March 6, 1289, Pope Nicholas IV confirmed him as the new Archbishop of Mainz, after he was defeated in two double elections in 1285 and 1288.

Like his predecessors, Gerhard pursued an expansive territorial policy. In August 1291, he managed to massive pressure on the King Rudolf von Habsburg in 1287 as a successor to the Archbishop of Mainz Henry II. As Reich nurses in Thuringia used Gerlach von Breuberg , the Thuringian kingdom castles - with the exception of Boyneburg - in his possession to bring. Adolf von Nassau recognized this on July 1, 1292 and also promised the archbishop the administration of the imperial government for Mühlhausen and Nordhausen and Ballhausen Castle . On July 15, 1292, the new king fully renewed the former position of the Archbishop of Mainz as Reichspfleger in Thuringia by appointing Gerhard as Imperial Vicar in Thuringia and captain of the peace (which was still established by King Rudolf) .

Gerhard also continued the anti-royalty policy of his predecessors and supported Adolf von Nassau against Albrecht I's candidacy in the election of 1292 as a king . He later turned away from Adolf and was instrumental in his deposition from the royal throne in 1298. He owed the Archbishopric of Mainz so much and became insolvent himself, so that he was excommunicated in 1296 because, among other things, he made his payments to the Curia too slowly in connection with his survey.

Gerhard was the last Eppsteiner on the Archbishop's Chair in Mainz and fought for recognition of the rights to the Archbishopric of the Empire for the Archbishops of Mainz. Some sources rated as critical paint an unflattering character image of the archbishop. However, the role of Gerhard in consolidating the role of the elector against the Roman-German monarchy is undisputed.

literature

• Alois Gerlich : G. II. V. Eppstein , in: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Volume 4, Sp. 1313.
• Martin Mattheis: The relationship of the German princes and counts to King Adolf of Nassau (1292-1298). In: Mitteilungen des Historische Verein der Pfalz 97, 1999, pp. 353–399. ( Digitized version )
• Hans Patze : Archbishop Gerhard II of Mainz and King Adolf of Nassau. Territorial Policy and Finance. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, Vol. 13 (1963), pp. 83–140. ( Digitized version )
• Goswin von der Ropp :  Gerhard II., Archbishop of Mainz . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, pp. 743-746.
• Fritz Trautz:  Gerhard II of Eppstein. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 268 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

• Eppstein, Gerhard II. Von. Hessian biography. (As of June 23, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
• Entry on Gerhard II von Eppstein in the Rhineland-Palatinate personal database

Remarks

1. ^ Martin Mattheis: The relationship of the German princes and counts to King Adolf von Nassau (1292-1298). In: Mitteilungen des Historische Verein der Pfalz 97, 1999, pp. 353–399, here: p. 357.
2. ^ Martin Mattheis: The relationship of the German princes and counts to King Adolf von Nassau (1292-1298). In: Mitteilungen des Historische Verein der Pfalz 97, 1999, pp. 353–399, here: p. 364.

predecessor	Office	successor
Heinrich II of Isny	Elector-Archbishop of Mainz 1288–1305	Peter von Aspelt