Berno of Hildesheim

Berno as the 25th Bishop of Hildesheim on a painting with medallions depicting all Hildesheim bishops up to the end of the 18th century; Latin inscription: "He gave gifts to the royal provost in Goslar".

Berno von Hildesheim († October 28, 1194 in Hildesheim ) was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1190 to 1194 .

Life

Nothing is known about his family origins. Before he became bishop, he belonged to the Hildesheim cathedral chapter . He served Bishop Hermann at times as a chaplain. He is mentioned as such in a document from 1162. In the same year he appears as a subdeacon and some time later as a deacon . In the 1170s it was referred to as the magister scolarum of the Hildesheim Cathedral School . So he must have been a learned man. He was ordained a priest before 1178. In 1179 he also became provost of the Petersbergstift in Goslar. In 1181 he appears in documents for the first time as cathedral dean.

After the death of his predecessor Adelog , he was quickly elected bishop. The election was the surprising death of against the background of Frederick I take. Henry VI. therefore undertook the investiture even before he moved to Rome . A short time later he must also have been ordained a bishop.

He subsequently appeared as a sponsor of various monasteries, monasteries and churches.

After Henry VI. had found that Heinrich the Lion and his son were not keeping to the agreements, he had called on the Saxon greats in 1191 to take action against both. An assembly of princes took place in Goslar , therefore in the area of ​​Bernos. This decided a military intervention against Henry the Lion. His son Heinrich was ostracized a short time later. The bishops Dietrich von Halberstadt , Berno von Hildesheim and the abbot Widukind von Corvey gathered their troops in June 1192 in a fortified camp near Leiferde an der Oker . Henry VI. did not come across as expected. The army marched through the rulership of the Guelphs , plundering and in particular devastating the possessions of the Steterburg monastery .

The town bailiff of Braunschweig Ludolf von Dahlum fell away from Heinrich the Lion, but this did not change the strengths in favor of the attackers. The provost of Steterburg finally managed to bring about an armistice. Thereupon the army of the allies disbanded and Henry the Lion was able to take action against Ludolf von Dahlum. In this Wolfenbüttel , Peine and Dahlum conquered and destroyed.

The emperor came to Saxony only in autumn. Berno was temporarily present at his court and acted as a witness for an imperial document. The canonization of Bishop Bernward falls during his term of office . The papal legate Cardinal Cinthius, who was temporarily stuck in Hildesheim because of the war events, advised that the miracles performed by Bernward should be conjured up before him and Berno. On the cardinal's onward journey through the diocese, he was accompanied by Berno. Abbot Dietrich von St. Michael traveled to Rome on the advice of the cardinal in spite of all difficulties in order to promote the canonization. This succeeded in December 1192. In January 1193 a corresponding mandate was issued by Celestine III. to Berno and the diocese. After the equally difficult return trip, the abbot brought Berno the decision of the Pope. Almost secretly, in order to avoid a tumult among the people, the bishop opened Bernward's grave early with the abbot and some monks, wrapped the relics they had taken in linen and left them guarded in the monastery church. The canons protested against this procedure, who feared a falsification of the relics and refused to cooperate. It was only with difficulty that Berno succeeded in appeasing his displeasure and translating the bones into the cathedral. Later the body, or at least a large part of it, came back to Michael's monastery.

Due to the reconciliation of the emperor with Henry the Lion, the political situation calmed down somewhat since 1194. As a result, the bishop devoted himself mainly to the administration of his diocese and the care of monasteries and monasteries. The Steterburg Abbey, for example, benefited from this. In addition, he released a considerable amount of pledged goods. The cathedral chapter and cathedral also benefited from his generosity. After his death he was buried in Hildesheim Cathedral.

literature

• Hans Goetting : The Diocese of Hildesheim. The Hildesheim bishops from 815 to 1221 (1227). Berlin u. a., 1984 (Germania Sacra NF 20.3) pp. 463-456

Web links

• Berno (Bishop of Hildesheim). In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 67, Leipzig 1752, column 891.

predecessor	Office	successor
Adelog	Bishop of Hildesheim 1190–1194	Konrad