Bruno II of Berg

This article deals with Archbishop Bruno of Cologne. For the biography of the archbishop of the same name see Brun (Cologne) (* 925; † 965) and the founder of the Carthusian monastery Bruno of Cologne (* ~ 1030; † 1101).

Bruno von Berg (* around 1100 ; † May 29, 1137 in Trani / Apulia ) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1131 to 1137 as Bruno II .

Life

He was a son of Count Adolf I von Berg and his wife Adelheid von Lauffen , an uncle of Archbishop Friedrich II von Berg and a nephew of Archbishop Bruno von Trier .

Around 1119 Bruno von Berg was mentioned as provost of St. Castor in Koblenz . From 1127 he was provost to St. Gereon in Cologne , at the same time he was also canon in Cologne. In 1130 he rejected the election of Archbishop of Trier and thus the successor to Archbishop Meginher . For this he had given Pope Innocent II certain hidden reasons . Even Bernard of Clairvaux , the Bruno before 1126 in Reims had met and referred to him as his friend knew about those reasons. He advised him against accepting the election, especially since there was no time for penance between Bruno's serious self-accusation and acceptance of office.

On December 25, 1131 he was in the presence of King Lothar III. and a papal legate was elected Archbishop of Cologne in a second election contrary to canon law . The provost Gottfried von Xanten , who had actually been elected shortly before, was moved to abdicate before his enthronement after Bruno was called back by his relatives from France, where he was studying. On March 18, 1132, Bruno von Berg, who suffered from epilepsy , was ordained bishop .

In 1133, together with his brothers Adolf and Eberhard, he converted the eponymous castle Berge near Altenberg into a Cistercian abbey . Around 1134 he confirmed the Knechtsteden Premonstratensian Abbey in Dormagen near Neuss, founded by the later Archbishop of Cologne, Hugo von Sponheim .

Bruno von Berg died on May 29, 1137 in Trani / Apulia, when he was Lothar III. accompanied on a campaign against Roger II of Sicily .

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Bruno II. Archbishop v. Cologne (1100-1137). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 773.
• Alexander Berner: Crusade and regional rule. The elder Counts of Berg 1147-1225. Böhlau, Cologne 2014, pp. 72–74.
• Hermann Cardauns:  Bruno II, Archbishop of Cologne . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 429 f.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Oediger : History of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The diocese of Cologne from the beginning to the end of the 12th century. Volume 1, 2nd edition. Bachem, Cologne 1972.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Oediger:  Brun II. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 671 ( digitized version ).
• Bruno II of Berg . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Volume 2. dtv, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-423-59057-2 , Sp. 785.
• Richard Knipping: The regests of the Archbishops of Cologne in the Middle Ages . Volume 2. Hanstein, Bonn 1901 ( online ).
• Albert Lauscher : Archbishop Bruno II of Cologne. 1132-1137 . Bachem, Cologne 1902.

predecessor	Office	successor
Friedrich I of Schwarzenburg	Archbishop of Cologne 1131–1137	Hugo von Sponheim