Bremen archbishop feud

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Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Bremen

The Bremen archbishop's feud was a conflict in the archbishopric of Bremen , which was fought between Moritz von Oldenburg and Gottfried von Arnsberg over the office of archbishop . The feud began in 1348 and came to a head in 1350, in which the city of Bremen was also involved. It coincided with a devastating outbreak of the plague and resulted in the Hoya feud .

prehistory

Pope Clement VI

After the death of Otto I , Archbishop from 1344 to the beginning of 1348, the search for a suitable successor began. The most promising candidate was his nephew Moritz von Oldenburg, who had been canon of Bremen since 1337 and had been the official of the Archbishopric under Otto I. During this activity he had made numerous friends in the Bremen council and among the ministerials of the archdiocese. On March 14, 1348, he was therefore unanimously elected as the new archbishop by the cathedral chapter . Pope Clement VI in Avignon, however, refused to confirm the election and instead appointed Gottfried von Arnsberg, the bishop of Osnabrück , as the new archbishop in Bremen - presumably in return for corresponding monetary payments . This decision met with considerable resistance on the spot, as never before in the history of the archbishopric had the election of the cathedral chapter been disregarded by a pope. In return, the bailiff of the appointed archbishop was not recognized in Bremen.

Without his own power base in the archbishopric, Gottfried could not enforce his papal claim, especially since Moritz had many knights in the Bremen area on his side and controlled the castle in Vörde , the castle in Hagen and the castle in Ottersberg . The city council also spoke out in favor of Moritz, but in 1349 - with Moritz's consent - officially committed to neutrality in the archbishopric dispute. The situation changed when Gottfried came to Bremen in October 1349. Since his adversary was not in the city at that time, but instead took part in the battles against the False Waldemar with the Dukes of Braunschweig and Lüneburg , Gottfried managed to win the support of the city's citizens, who recognized him as the archbishop sent by the Pope . The Meenheit (citizenship) is said to have stormed a council meeting to emphasize their concerns. The city council, which was weakened by the unrest surrounding the Casal Brotherhood in the spring of 1349, subsequently took the side of Gottfried, contrary to its original position.

The feud

Since Moritz had numerous allies in the region, Gottfried and the city secured the support of the Archbishop of Verden , the city of Stade and the Rüstringer . In addition, the council decided to build a fortification on the important road to Bremervörde and Stade, on the bridge over the Lesum , the castle . On February 20, 1350, Gottfried pronounced a ban on Moritz, as he had "illegally usurped the castles and fiefs of the archbishopric". Most of the ministerials of the archbishopric continued to support Moritz. His allies included a. the Counts of Oldenburg, Heinrich von Issendorf (Vogt zu Vörde), Martin von der Hude (Vogt zu Hagen), his brother Marquard von der Hude (Vogt zu Ottersberg), the Lords of Blomendal Castle , Liborius von Bremen (Vogt zu Wildeshausen ) as well as Otto von Line and Johann von Aumund (both officials in Stedingen ).

The armed conflict began when Heinrich von Issendorf took to the field against the Stader without either side being able to gain a decisive advantage. At the same time, Moritz von Ritterhude attempted an advance on the castle on the Lesum. He could not take this, however, because their defenses were reinforced by Bremen ships. For their part, the people of Bremen made forays into the area of ​​the archbishopric, plundered and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents.

The balance of power changed when Moritz received further reinforcements from Balduin , Bishop of Paderborn, Count Engelbert von der Mark and Count Heinrich von Neubruchhausen. With an army of now 900 knights and infantry, the allies moved towards Bremen and attacked near the Rembertihospital in the eastern suburb, where the Dobben trench ended and the upstream Landwehr of the city was the weakest. Here the civil companies, under the orders of Carnap von Lüneberge, faced the attackers. In the ensuing battle, 30 people from Bremen and their leader fell, some were taken prisoner, the rest withdrew behind the walls of the city. Moritz refrained from attacking Bremen directly because the city's fortifications were very strong. However, he devastated the Paulsstadt, probably also the Rembertihospital was destroyed. In front of the Ostertor he had five of his colleagues knighted , among them Heinrich von Issendorf, Martin von der Hude and Otto von Line. Then he moved to the Lesum, occupied the castle and had it torn down. When he returned to Bremen, the city gates were open and there was no longer any sign of resistance.

The plague in Bremen

Spread of the plague in Europe in the 14th century

The reason for the surprising handover of the city to Moritz was the outbreak of the plague in Bremen, which affected more than a third of the population. The epidemic came to Europe in 1346 and spread to northern Germany from 1350 onwards. When exactly the plague reached Bremen is not known, probably at the end of spring 1350. It reached its peak in June 1350 when 200 deaths were counted in one day alone. In total, more than 7,000 people died as a result of the disease.

On July 13, 1350, Moritz agreed on an armistice with the council. There were Conrad Graf von Diepholz and the Counts of Hoya , Gerhard III. and Johann II. appointed as arbitrators to settle the feud. Bishop Baldiun acted as chairman. On September 2, Moritz concluded an alliance with the city of Bremen. Soon afterwards an agreement was reached with Gottfried - he remained nominally archbishop and Moritz was appointed “guardian of the archbishopric”, with which he practically exercised power in the archbishopric as a bailiff.

The archbishop's feud led directly afterwards to the Hoya feud from 1351 to 1359 and thus marked the beginning of a lengthy, ongoing phase of serious crises for Bremen. Gottfried spent most of his reign in Stade and Hoya with his most important supporter, Count Gerhard III., He thanked him in 1369 and died three years later.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. H. A. Schumacher: The Bremen archbishop feud at the time of the great death 1348 to 1351 . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch , Volume 6 . Bremen 1872, p. 243 .
  2. ^ Dieter Hägermann, Ulrich Weidinger, Konrad Elmshäuser : Bremen church history in the Middle Ages . Bremen 2012, p. 221 .
  3. ^ Friedrich Wagenfeld: The Bremen war journeys on land and on water . Verlag Wilhelm Kaiser, Bremen 1846, p. 66 .
  4. ^ DR Ehmck, W. v. Bippen: Bremen document book . In: Volume 2 . Müller, Bremen 1876, p. 580 f .
  5. ^ Friedrich Wagenfeld: The Bremen war journeys on land and on water . Verlag Wilhelm Kaiser, Bremen 1846, p. 66 .
  6. ^ Ruprecht Grossmann, Heike Grossmann: The St. Remberti pen. Bremen's oldest social settlement through the ages .
  7. H. A. Schumacher: The Bremen archbishop feud at the time of the great death 1348 to 1351 . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Volume 6 . Bremen 1872, p. 243 .
  8. H. A. Schumacher: The Bremen archbishop feud at the time of the great death 1348 to 1351 . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Volume 6 . Bremen 1872, p. 250 .

literature

  • Dieter Hägermann, Ulrich Weidinger, Konrad Elmshäuser: Bremen church history in the Middle Ages . H. M. Hauschild, Bremen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89757-170-9 .
  • H. A. Schumacher: The Bremen archbishop feud at the time of the great death 1348 to 1351. In: Historical Society Bremen (Hrsg.): Bremisches Jahrbuch . Bremen 1872, pp. 223-250. (Digitized version)
  • Hans G. Trüper : Knights and Squires between Weser and Elbe. The ministeriality of the Archbishopric Bremen (= series of publications of the Landscape Association of the Former Duchies of Bremen and Verden. Vol. 12). Landscape Association of the Former Duchies of Bremen and Verden, Stade 2000, ISBN 3-931879-05-4 .
  • Friedrich Wagenfeld : The Bremen war journeys on land and on water . Verlag Wilhelm Kaiser, Bremen 1846, pp. 65–69. (Digitized version)