Azelin

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Azelin as the 16th bishop of Hildesheim in a painting with medallions depicting all Hildesheim bishops up to the end of the 18th century; Latin inscription: "He received richest foundations from Emperor Heinrich III."

Azelin (* before 1000? † March 8, 1054 in Hildesheim ) was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1044 to 1054 .

Nothing certain is known about Azelin's origin. He belonged to the royal court chapel before King Heinrich III. raised to the Hildesheim bishop's seat. Although the time of the Saxon emperors came to an end in 1024, Hildesheim was still in the center of power of the empire, and the imperial palace of Goslar , which belonged to the diocesan area, reached the height of its splendor at this time. The documents attest to rich foundations and enfeoffments with which Heinrich honored the Hildesheim cathedral .

Characteristic of Azelins pontificate , however, the devastating fire, which on March 23, 1046 was Altfrids Cathedral and Bernward Domburg lay largely in ashes and irreplaceable treasures and documents destroyed.

Azelin then decided to build a new and larger cathedral that should reflect the status of his episcopal city in a contemporary way. He brought the important master builder Benno to Hildesheim and had foundations laid west of the fire ruins. Most of the remains of the old cathedral were removed. Contemporary witnesses criticize him for this and report that the new building did not make progress because walls collapsed and columns tilted. Perhaps these comments only provide additional justification for the decision of Azelin's successor, Hezilo , to abandon the costly plan and rebuild on Altfrid's foundations.

The remains of Azelin's cathedral crypt have been excavated under the prince-bishop's palace (today the vicariate general ). According to later evidence, Azelin's grave is also said to be there.

The Hildesheim Thietmar chandelier, one of four surviving Romanesque chandelier crowns in Germany, was traditionally considered the Azelins foundation for his planned cathedral and was therefore named after him the Azelin chandelier .

literature

  • Adolf Bertram : History of the Diocese of Hildesheim . Lax, Hildesheim et al. 1899–1925, vol. 1, pp. 100–107 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  • Hans Goetting: The diocese of Hildesheim: The Hildesheimer bishops from 815 to 1221 (1227) (= Germania Sacra . New episode 20: The dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Mainz). de Gruyter, Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-11-010004-5 , pp. 263-271 ( digitized version ).
  • Anton Christian Wedekind: Notes on some historians of the German Middle Ages. Volume 3. Perthes and Besser, Hamburg 1836, p. 252 ( limited preview in the Google book search).

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Thietmar Bishop of Hildesheim
1044–1054
Hezilo