Bertolf of Trier

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Bertolf , or Berthold (other spellings: Bertulf , Bertholf ; † February 10, 883 ) was Archbishop of Trier from 869 to 883 .

family

He was a son of Count Gebhard im Lahngau and thus a member of the house of the Konradines . His mother was a sister, unknown by name, of the powerful but deposed Margrave Ernst in the Bavarian Nordgau and the Bohemian Mark in 861 . His brothers were Udo (Count in Lahngau ), Waldo (Abbot of Schwarzach on the Upper Rhine and of St. Maximin in Trier ) and Berengar (876–879 Count in the Saxon Hessengau ).

Bertolf is also referred to as the nephew of Bishop Adventius von Metz , who should have been a brother of Bertolf's mother. Adventius crowned Charles the Bald King of Lorraine in the cathedral of Metz in 869 and was one of Charlemagne's most important advisers.

choice

After Archbishop Theutgaud of Trier was excommunicated and deposed by Pope Nicholas I in Rome in October 863 and died in Rome in 868, Charles the Bald succeeded in 869 in electing his candidate Bertolf as his successor and having the Pope confirmed. Bertolf had previously been abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Mettlach . The choice was probably right for the Trier cathedral chapter because it ended the long years of vacancy . Karl sweetened the choice by giving the new archbishop the Merzig crown estate .

The choice of Bertolf was a provocation for Ludwig the German , as the West Frankish King Karl interfered in the interests of the East Franconian Empire. He then brought his own candidate into play. Interestingly, this was Bertolf's brother Waldo, who eight years earlier at the Reichstag in Regensburg with his brothers Udo and Berengar and their uncle Ernst had been condemned for infidelity and, like them, had lost his offices and dignities. However, this attempt failed due to the resistance of the other archbishops , who obviously wanted to see an official brother again in Trier.

Term of office

On September 26th and 27th, 870 Bertolf presided, together with the Archbishops Liutbert of Mainz and Willibert of Cologne, at a synod in Cologne, at which the Carolingian new building of the Cologne Cathedral , the so-called Hildebold Cathedral , was inaugurated.

In 878, the Metz Bishop Wala was raised to the rank of Archbishop by Pope John VIII at the Council of Troyes. As a result, he came into conflict with Bertolf, who forbade his suffragan to wear the archbishop's pallium . After the mediation by Archbishop Hinkmar von Reims , Wala finally gave in in this conflict called pallium dispute in 880.

In 879 Bertolf consecrated the St. Severus Monastery , donated by his father Gebhard in 845 in Kettenbach and moved to Gemünden in 879, in the presence of Gebhard, King Ludwig III. and his brother, Waldo of St. Maximin.

The most outstanding event in Bertolf's tenure, however, was the invasion of the Normans in April 882. The archbishop fled to Metz in time and was therefore out of danger. Coming from Koblenz , the Normans took Trier on Maundy Thursday, April 5th. After a few days of rest, they looted and ravaged the city on Easter Sunday. Then some of them moved with the booty down the Moselle towards Koblenz, while the rest moved towards Metz. In the battle of Remich on the Moselle , in today's Luxembourg , they faced a small contingent on April 11, 882, led by Bishop Wala von Metz, Count Adalhard II von Metz and Bertolf von Trier. The Normans won, but then turned to Bingen and Mainz. Wala fell in battle, Adalhard and Bertolf escaped.

Bertolf died on February 10, 883. He was buried in the St. Paulin Abbey near Trier, which had been spared the Norman invasion.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Page of the Diocese of Trier with the official spelling
  2. ^ Johann Leonardy: History of the Trier Land and People . Trier 1870, p. 876.
predecessor Office successor
Theutgaud Archbishop of Trier
869–883 		Radbod
personal data
SURNAME Bertolf of Trier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berthold; Bertulf; Bertholf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Trier (869–883)
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 883