Berno

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berno's picture on a glass painting in the provost church of St. Anna in Schwerin

Berno (* in the 12th century ; † January 14, 1191 in Schwerin ) was the first bishop in the diocese of Schwerin and was called "Apostle of the Abodrites ".

Life

In 1154 Berno was still a monk of the Cistercian monastery Amelungsborn in the diocese of Hildesheim near Stadtoldendorf in the Weser Uplands. Nothing is known about his origins and family. From 1156 he began with the mission in the Abodritenland, later Mecklenburg .

Heinrich the Lion appointed him Bishop of Mecklenburg, the ordination was probably given by Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen . The exact year and day of consecration is unknown, as is the place of consecration. A previously intended mission by Bishop Emmehard had failed. Emmehard died in 1155, the bishopric remained orphaned for three years, so the consecration could have been 1158.

At the beginning of Christianization , the Obodrites still followed the Wendish rites, and proselytizing was difficult. In some cases they fought violently against the Christian faith. In 1160 Berno moved the bishopric because of the constant endangerment of Mecklenburg with gradual renaming to the new capital of the diocese, Schwerin. In the same year, Archbishop Hartwig, with the consent of Heinrich the Lion, placed the Schwerin diocese under the metropolitan authority of the Hamburg Church. From Schwerin, Berno preached "more vigorously to the people who sat in the darkness, the light of faith".

Heinrich the Lion ordered the reconstruction of Schwerin Castle in 1160 and placed a permanent garrison under Gunzelin von Hagen in the formerly Abodritic fortress. Under the protection of this castle, a small Christian community emerged, which was mainly composed of the castle crew, but also from Wends. As early as 1164, Berno had several other clergy with him. In the following years, Bishop Berno was often in the company of Duke Henry the Lion, his former patron to find, so in July 1163 in Lübeck on the occasion of the consecration of the Lübeck Cathedral where Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen and his Mitsuffragan of Ratzeburg , the Premonstratensian monk Evermod , took part. He himself traveled personally through the country in order to promote Christianization by founding churches, baptisms and sermons and came to Demmin .

The Obodriten prince Pribislaw was baptized after his defeat against Henry the Lion in 1164 in order to survive with his dynasty. Despite occasional violent reactions from the residents, proselytizing has since prevailed, so that in 1166 the expansion of the diocese to the mouth of the Peene was planned. The last important cultic center of the Obodrites and all other not yet Christianized Wends of the southern Baltic Sea area was in the tribal area of ​​the Ranen on Rügen . Therefore, in 1168, Berno and Pribislaw, who, as Henry the Lion's liege bearer, were obliged to work alongside the Danish bishop Absalon von Lund von Roskilde in a procession to destroy the pagan places of worship and idols under the leadership of the Danish King Waldemar I. Der Zug ended with the submission of the Rügen princes to the Danish sovereignty. The people of Rügan had to be baptized en masse. The continental part of the subject area north of the Ryck was placed under the diocese of Bernos, but in 1178 a documentary confirmation of the ecclesiastical responsibility for half of the island of Rügen by the Pope, probably due to the disempowerment of Henry the Lion, could not be enforced.

On September 9, 1171, Berno solemnly consecrated the first cathedral church in Schwerin, the Schwerin Cathedral, with great sympathy from the worldly and clergy . At first there was no question of a cathedral chapter, it can only be documented in 1178. A Magister Heribert and the canons Remigius, Berno and Brunward, who later became cathedral dean and successor to Bishop Bernos, were named.

Berno had great success with the founding of monasteries. The Cistercians , who on March 1st, 1171, on the advice and encouragement of Bishop Bernos and Prince Pribislaw, founded the monastery of Old Doberan were particularly helpful . In the Dargun monastery, founded in 1172 by the Danish Abbey of Esrom , Bishop Berno von Schwerin consecrated the first altar in the monastery chapel in Dargun on November 30, 1173 in the presence of Abbot Walbert of Esrom and confirmed donations from Pribislav and the Pomeranian prince Kasimir I. The certificate but was only issued in 1178. Bishop Berno was in Lübeck on June 24, 1173 . Here he was next to the Premonstratensian Bishop Evermod von Ratzeburg co-consecrator at the episcopal ordination of the previous Benedictine abbot Heinrich von St. Aegidien zu Braunschweig , which the Havelberg Bishop Walo carries out.

On February 1, 1177, Berno held a general synod tempore Alexandri pape, regnante Frederico imperatore piissimo in Schwerin. A very interesting formulation for this time, since Pope Alexander was mentioned for the first time in a document of Bernos next to the reigning Emperor Friedrich .

At least two trips to Rome by Bishop Berno are documented as guaranteed. From his first trip at the beginning of 1178, Berno brought with him a certificate of confirmation for his diocese. This was between the 13th and the 24th of March 1178 in Rome in the name and order of Pope Alexander III. Issued by Albertus, Cardinal Priest and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. On June 1 and 2, 1178, Bishop Berno was in the old episcopal city of Chur , where he consecrated the choir and the St. Mary's altar in the local cathedral . On June 17, 1178, he consecrated an altar in honor of Our Lady in the Benedictine monastery in Zwiefalten . In the Cistercian abbey of Eberbach Monastery , Bishop Berno consecrated two more altars on July 21, 1178.

In September 1178, Pope Alexander III invited. through nuncios the clergy of Orient and Occident and all of Italy from Tusculum to visit the third Lateran Council. Bishop Berno was the only participant from the Bremen church province. During the papal council from March 5 to 18, 1179 in Rome, Berno signed the council resolutions there on March 15, 1179. On June 14, 1179, Bishop Berno consecrated the high altar in the Salem monastery .

The last decade was overshadowed by unrest and political changes for Berno and his diocese. After the overthrow of his former benefactor, Duke Heinrich the Lion, with his exile in 1180, Prince Pribislaw of Mecklenburg died on December 30, 1178 at a tournament in Lüneburg . The settlement of the Cistercian monks in Althof (Old Doberan) was destroyed on November 10th, 1179 by an attack by pagan Lutizen. 1185 were also the German Count Gunzelin von Schwerin and the Pope Alexander III. died.

In order to gain protection and security, Berno went to the Hoftag in Erfurt in November 1181 . There he received an imperial confirmation of his estate on December 2, 1181. He also attended the court in Altenburg in 1183 and was thus able to secure his position. The situation in Mecklenburg calmed down later, although Christianity was already widespread and since 1181 had an energetic advocate in Prince Heinrich Borwin I , son of Pribislaw. In 1186 the convent was resettled in Doberan with monks from the home monastery Amelungsborn.

The last time Bishop Berno was named as a witness in a document from Prince Nicholas on April 8, 1189 for the Doberan Monastery.

It is not known where Bishop Berno died. Even the day of his death is given differently. The day of his death was probably January 27, 1191. It is also not known where his remains were buried, whether in the bishop's church in Schwerin or in the midst of his friars in Doberan, or in any other place. Recent document research suggests a burial in Schwerin Cathedral. It is also not known whether Bishop Berno had made testamentary dispositions.

seal

Episcopal seal

Two different seals are known from Bishop Berno .

In the elliptical seal there is a standing bishop, right hand raised in blessing, holding the bishop's staff in the left, crook pointing inwards. The inscription reads: + BERNO. DEI. GRACIA. MAGNOPOLITANUS: EPC:

In the second seal is a bishop enthroned in pontifical garb, carrying the staff in his right hand and the gospel in the left. The inscription reads: + Berno di gra magnopolitanus epc.

It is Bishop Berno's seal, which has been preserved and is still present in the high altar of the choir of the cathedral of Chur, which he consecrated.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Otto Gaethke: Duke Heinrich the Lion and the Slavs northeast of the lower Elbe. Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1999, ( Kieler Werkstücke. Series A: Contributions to Schleswig-Holstein and Scandinavian history. 24), (At the same time: Kiel, Univ., Diss., 1998), ISBN 3-631-34652-2 , P. 249.
  2. ^ Alfred Rische: Directory of the bishops and canons of Schwerin. 1900 p. 11.
  3. ↑ From a document by Friedrich I from 1170, Mecklenburgisches Urkundenbuch MUB I. (1863) No. 91.
  4. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 74, 77, 78, 80.
  5. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 100, Karl Schmaltz: Kirchengweschichte Mecklenburgs I. 1935, p. 76.
  6. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 125.
  7. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 111 with bishop's seal.
  8. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 109.
  9. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 122.
  10. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 124.
  11. ↑ Bündener Document Book I. (1947) No. 398.
  12. ^ Hermann Tüchle: Dedicationes Constantienses. Church and altar consecration in the Diocese of Constance until 1250. 1949, 53 No. 129 Notae Zwifaltenses.
  13. ^ H. Bär, K. Rosse: Diplomatic history of the Eberbach Abbey in the Rheingau. I. 1855 pp. 316-317.
  14. ↑ Werner Ohnsorge: Papal and anti-papal legates in Germany and Scandinavia, 1159–1181 . 1929, pp. 64, 110.
  15. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 129.
  16. ^ Karl Schmaltz: Church history Mecklenburgs I. 1935, p. 202.
  17. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 147.
  18. ^ Mecklenburgisches Jahrbuch MJB V. (1840) Friedrich Lisch : The year of the death of Bishop Berno von Schwerin , pp. 222-223.
  19. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 430.
  20. ↑ Traugott Ohse: Berno - the Apostle Mecklenrgs 2005, p. 24.
  21. ^ Josef Traeger: The Bishops of the Medieval Diocese of Schwerin , 1984 pp. 25–30.
  22. ↑ MUB I. (1863) No. 111.
  23. ↑ Meyer-Marthaler: The seals of the bishops of Chur in the Middle Ages , Graubünden 1944.
predecessor Office successor
- Bishop of Schwerin
1162 -1,191 		Brunward
personal data
SURNAME Berno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first bishop of Schwerin
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1191
Place of death Schwerin