Arnold von Selenhofen

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Arnold von Selenhofen (* 1095/1100; †  June 24, 1160 in Mainz) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1153 to 1160.

origin

Arnold's origin has not been established with absolute certainty. For decades it has been discussed in research whether he came from a respected family of servants from Mainz or was of noble descent. In all likelihood he came from a ministerial family in the Mainz suburb of Selenhofen , from which the family's name was derived. He attended the Mainz Cathedral School and studied in Paris . In 1138 Konrad III appointed him . to the head of the court orchestra. He was provost of Aachen Marie pin , Mainz canon and archbishop's city treasurer, then provost in Mainz . The emerging rise was due, on the one hand, to the social contacts that Arnold von Selenhofen had made at court, and, on the other, to the strong commitment he had shown during Adalbert's reign . In 1151 the Staufer King Konrad III appointed him Chancellor , through whose favor he acquired several other benefices .

Archbishop of Mainz

In 1152 Frederick I Barbarossa ascended the throne of the empire. Barbarossa was in conflict with the then Archbishop of Mainz, Heinrich I. This should after the death of Konrad III. organize the election of the new king, but had clearly positioned himself against Friedrich I, because he saw in the son of Konrad the more suitable successor. Contrary to Heinrich's ideas, however, Friedrich I was elected King of the Empire, who then campaigned for Heinrich to be deposed. In June 1153 the deposition by Pope Eugene III. completed. Friedrich Barbarossa appointed his Chancellor Arnold von Selenhofen as his successor - without worrying about the wishes of the majority of clergy and ministeriality in the archbishopric of Mainz .

In addition to his origins from a ministerial family, this external survey was probably one of the reasons for the constant conflicts that Arnold had with many noble vassals as well as with the Mainz city population. Another reason will have been his energetic and ruthless management of the pen. In particular, the important Mainz ministerial family of the Meingote , at the head of which was the Mainz Vitztum Meingot the Elder, saw themselves as direct competitors and adversaries of Arnold.

Conflicts with the city of Mainz

As early as 1155 there was the first unrest in the city of Mainz, which can be seen in reference to the rise of the ministerial in the 11th and 12th centuries. The ministerials were given more and more important positions, including in the administration and the military, and their social position increasingly approached the nobility. However, the latter did not tolerate the rise and saw himself threatened in his privileged position. There was also increasing dissatisfaction among the bourgeoisie, which demanded more freedom and participation. In this respect, the urban population and the nobility could not come to terms with Arnold's rise. Unrest also broke out as the new archbishop helped many ministerials to rise. So he replaced the Schultheis Hartwich and the Vitztum Meingot the elder with the Ministerials Helferich and Hermann. However, these unrest were soon ended by a judge's verdict by Friedrich Barbarossa, who had meanwhile been crowned emperor . As a result, Arnold tried to bind Meingot and his followers by participating in his rule.

In general, Arnold's rigorous rule is said to have caused unrest within the city of Mainz. An example of this can be found in the year 1154. Arnold called all members of the Church in his province together to exclude suspicious clergy through canonical ordinances and laws from the community of clergy and to only support those who are committed to the service of the Church.

Another incident occurred in 1156 in the St. Martin monastery in Mainz. Canons , in agreement with Pope Hadrian IV , revolted against Arnold. They claimed that Arnold endowed laypeople with valuable goods, thereby robbing the church of its property. According to the Vita Arnoldi , this act was due to the fact that the archbishop was looking for financial means to be able to assert himself better in political or church conflicts. No further evidence for this approach can be found, but it is considered clear that Arnold was not financially favored despite his ascent.

Italian campaigns

The Italian campaigns undertaken by Friedrich I. Barbarossa represented a further potential for conflict for Arnold and the city of Mainz. As archbishop and chancellor, Arnold had to present a well-equipped contingent to the king and emperor - a task that he seemed almost impossible to manage and an enormous one Brought difficulties. Barbarossa had already started on his first Italian campaign, in which it was his job to secure the controversial supremacy over the Kingdom of Italy. If he had not yet been able to muster enough troops in this campaign, he obliged Arnold to take part in the second campaign with a specially made contingent. Arnold was once again unable to meet Barbarossa's demands due to his material difficulties. As a result, he decided to collect an army tax from the Mainz. The Ministeriale Rufus, however, knew Mainz's rights and laws and knew that he and his fellow citizens were not obliged to make such payments to the Archbishop. In order to still be able to make the bid, Arnold therefore had to take other measures and he brought the subject of the dispute to the court. In a resulting landmark judgment it was stated that anyone who opposed the army tax would be fined. When the Mainzers did not comply, there were further extensive conflicts between the archbishop and his followers. Ultimately, Arnold had to leave for Italy without the income he had hoped for, determined to enforce the tax after his return to Mainz.

But during his absence, Arnold's opponents took control of Mainz. Relatives of the late Meingot, who had been appointed governor of Mainz by Arnold during his absence, were again at the head of the rebels. In the same year Arnold returned to Mainz and took the city by force.

assassination

In 1159 he left the city again - believing that he was once again in control of the situation and immediately the rebels formed again and destroyed the archbishop's palace. Both sides, rebel and archbishop, sought support from Kaiser Friedrich. In December 1159, he decided in favor of Arnold and handed the rebels over to the Archbishop's grace. The Mainzers declared themselves ready to submit and atone; the measure of atonement was fixed in February 1160 in Pavia .

But when Arnold encountered resistance from Mainz again, he prepared an armed strike against the city from Thuringia and Hesse. Renewed declarations of submission by the Mainzers dissuaded him from this project and he went to the St. Jakob monastery on the Jakobsberg in front of the city (today's citadel ).

On St. John's Day , June 24th, 1160, an angry crowd stormed the monastery, whose abbot sympathized with the rebels, and murdered Archbishop Arnold and his brother. The monastery church was set on fire along with the archbishop. The enduring conflict between the archbishop on the one hand and vassals and townspeople on the other came to a violent end. After a few days, Arnold's remains were secretly recovered by the canons and buried in St. Maria ad gradus in Mainz .

The consequences for the city of Mainz were fatal: Since the murder of a bishop was considered a particularly grave sacrilege , the emperor held a criminal judgment against the perpetrators: the ringleaders, among them the abbot of St. Jakob, were banished . Some of the monks jumped out of the window of the Jakobskloster for fear of the interrogation, the Mainz people were excommunicated . The city was stripped of its rights and freedoms acquired under Adalbert I and the city ​​wall was torn down . However, Mainz regained Barbarossa's favor when it successfully hosted the Mainz Court Conference of 1184 and the Court Conference of Jesus Christ in 1186.

swell

  • Stefan Burkhardt: Vita Arnoldi archiepiscopi Moguntinensis (= monasteries as innovation laboratories. Studies and texts. Vol. 2). Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7954-2940-9 .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Stefan Burkhardt: With staff and sword. Images, bearers and functions of archbishop rule at the time of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. The archbishopric of Cologne and Mainz in comparison. Ostfildern 2008, p. 31.
  2. ↑ a b c Friedemann Needy: The Staufers. Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-89678-288-6 , p. 18.
  3. ↑ Stefan Burkhardt: With staff and sword. Images, bearers and functions of archbishop rule at the time of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. The archbishopric of Cologne and Mainz in comparison. Ostfildern 2008, p. 49.
  4. ↑ Christoph Waldecker: Between emperors, curia, clergy and militant laypeople. The Archbishops of Mainz from 1100 to 1160. Mainz 2002, p. 101.
  5. ↑ Heinz-Dieter Heimann: Introduction to the history of the Middle Ages. 2nd edition, Stuttgart 2006, p. 133.
  6. ↑ Stefan Burkhardt: With staff and sword. Images, bearers and functions of archbishop rule at the time of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. The archbishopric of Cologne and Mainz in comparison. Ostfildern 2008, p. 309.
  7. ↑ Christoph Waldecker: Between emperors, curia, clergy and militant laypeople. The Archbishops of Mainz from 1100 to 1160. Mainz 2002, p. 106.
  8. ↑ Christoph Waldecker: Between emperors, curia, clergy and militant laypeople. The Archbishops of Mainz from 1100 to 1160. Mainz 2002, p. 106.
  9. ^ Ferdinand Oppl: Friedrich Barbarossa. 4th edition, Darmstadt 2009, p. 190 f.
  10. ↑ Stefan Weinfurter: Conflict and conflict resolution in Mainz: On the backgrounds of the murder of Archbishop Arnold in 1160. In: Landesgeschichte und Reichsgeschichte. Festschrift for Alois Gerlich on his 70th birthday. Stuttgart 1995, p. 78.
  11. ↑ Stefan Weinfurter: Conflict and conflict resolution in Mainz: On the backgrounds of the murder of Archbishop Arnold in 1160. In: Landesgeschichte und Reichsgeschichte. Festschrift for Alois Gerlich on his 70th birthday. Stuttgart 1995, p. 78.
  12. ↑ Stefan Weinfurter: Conflict and conflict resolution in Mainz: On the backgrounds of the murder of Archbishop Arnold in 1160. In: Landesgeschichte und Reichsgeschichte. Festschrift for Alois Gerlich on his 70th birthday. Stuttgart 1995, p. 78.
  13. ^ Friedemann needy: The Staufer. Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-89678-288-6 , pp. 18, 58.
predecessor Office successor
Heinrich I of Mainz Archbishop of Mainz
1153–1160 		Rudolf von Zähringen
personal data
SURNAME Arnold von Selenhofen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Mainz
DATE OF BIRTH around 1095
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 1160
Place of death Mainz