Albert Suerbeer

Seal of Albert II Suerbeer

Albert II. Suerbeer (* late 12th century in Cologne , † between November 1272 and March 1273 in Riga ) was the first archbishop of Riga .

Life

Albert studied at the Sorbonne , graduated with a master's degree and became a cathedral scholar in Bremen . After the death of Albert von Buxthoeven in 1229 he was appointed Bishop of Riga by the Archbishop of Bremen, Gerhard von Oldenburg . The cathedral chapter of Riga did not recognize the appointment and chose its own candidate, the Magdeburg canon Nikolaus von Nauen , who was given by Pope Gregory IX. 1231 was confirmed.

Thereupon Albert was ordained Archbishop of Armagh on September 30, 1240 , becoming Primate of Ireland . After participating in the Council of Lyon in 1245, where he continued to show himself as a supporter of the Pope, he left Ireland because Pope Innocent IV needed him in a dispute with Emperor Frederick II in Germany. The Pope therefore appointed him Archbishop of Prussia , Livonia and Estonia on January 10, 1246 , and Legate of Gotland , Holstein , Rügen and later of Russia on March 19 . In 1247 he got the vacant Diocese of Lübeck and became administrator of the Diocese of Chiemsee .

After Nikolaus von Nauen's death in 1253, Riga became the archbishopric and Albert became archbishop. The dioceses of Dorpat , Ösel , Kurland , Samland , Pomesanien , Ermland and Kulm were subordinate to him. According to a compromise that came about under Wilhelm von Modena , Albert promised to stop his activities against the Teutonic Order .

In 1267 Albert allied himself with Gunzelin , the son of the Count of Schwerin, who came to Livonia as a crusader . Albert appointed Gunzelin as an advocate (governor) of his diocese, which led to a deep conflict with the Livonian Order . While Gunzelin was recruiting troops in Germany, the Order held Albert prisoner. He was forced to recognize the authority of the order.

literature

• Wilhelm Mantels:  Albert II. (Suerbeer) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, pp. 202-204.
• Heinrich Laakmann :  Albert II. Suebeer. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , pp. 130 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Albert II. Suerbeer. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 84.
• Anti Selart: The mendicant monks in the Baltic Sea area at the time of Archbishop Albert Suerbeer of Riga (mid-13th century) . In: Journal for East Central Europe Research , Vol. 56 (2007), pp. 475–499.
• Bernhart Jähnig: Albert Suerbeer (OP) († 1272/73). In: Erwin Gatz (Ed.): The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire 1198 to 1448. Vol. 1, pp. 647–648.
• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Albert Suerbeer. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Archer	Archbishop of Armagh 1240–1246	Reginald
Albert	Administrator of Chiemsee 1246–1247	Heinrich I of Bilversheim
John I.	Bishop of Lübeck 1247–1253	John II of Diest
Nikolaus von Nauen	Archbishop of Riga 1253–1273	John I of Lune