Caspar von Schönberg (Bishop)

Caspar von Schönberg (* around 1395 ; † May 31, 1463 in Meissen ) was Bishop of Meissen from 1451 until his death . He came from the important Saxon noble family Schönberg . Throughout his life he was on good terms with the Saxon Elector Friedrich the Meek . This entrusted him several times with important diplomatic missions.

Family and education

Caspar was one of the six sons of the electoral councilor Caspar von Schönberg zu Reinsberg and his wife, a born von Honsberg. Already in his youth he was destined for a spiritual career and in 1416 he obtained a lower prebend at the Meißner Domstift. In 1417 he began to study in Leipzig ; he graduated with a master's degree in theology and a doctorate in both rights. Since 1425 at the latest he was a member of the Meissen cathedral chapter , which elected him its dean in 1435 .

In the service of Frederick the Meek

Elector Friedrich II recognized Schönberg's diplomatic fate early on and, despite his ecclesiastical offices, summoned him to his court and employed him. In 1438 he was a member of the Saxon embassy that was supposed to persuade the Habsburg Albrecht II to accept the Roman-German royal crown in Vienna . In the 1940s, Caspar von Schönberg was commissioned by the Elector to deal with the political problems that had arisen as a result of the disputes between the Pope and the Council .

Caspar was one of those noblemen to whom Frederick II gave the guardianship of his underage sons in his will in 1447.

Schönberg was also active as a bishop on behalf of the electoral prince, for example in 1454 he mediated a border conflict with Bohemia . The bishop, who was endowed with an important inheritance and numerous church benefices, also supported the elector financially.

The good relationship with Friedrich was only tarnished for a short time in 1455 when Caspar arranged for his nephew Kunz von Kauffungen to be buried in the Freiberg Cathedral . He was executed because of the kidnapping of the elector's sons ( Altenburg prince robbery ). The angry elector had the body removed from the church.

In the episcopate

In April 1451 Caspar von Schönberg was unanimously elected as the new Bishop of Meissen . He owed the clear decision not least to the great influence of the elector on the Meißner cathedral chapter. In November he received from Naumburg Bishop Peter von Schleinitz in the presence of the electors episcopal ordination . During his tenure, he mostly resided at Stolpen Castle and in Mügeln .

At the end of 1451, Caspar von Schönberg met Nikolaus Cusanus , who traveled to Germany as a papal legate in order to promote church reforms. In the following year Caspar began reforms in the monasteries of the city of Meissen. Caspar also let the famous penitential preacher John of Capestrano work in his diocese. He preached in various Saxon cities in 1452/53. After Capestrano's death, Caspar von Schönberg stood up for the canonization of the preacher at the curia .

During his tenure, Schönberg also ensured the financial consolidation of the Meissner Stift. At the same time he sought to strengthen the position of the bishop in relation to the chapter by expanding the episcopal table goods. He used most of his private fortune for spiritual foundations, especially for the reconstruction and furnishing of the churches in his diocese that were destroyed by the Hussites .

The cathedral chapter chose his younger brother Dietrich von Schönberg as his successor.

Caspar von Schönberg was buried in the Meissen Cathedral . The sandstone grave slab shows the bishop in an incised drawing. A brass plate was subsequently mounted on this tomb, which left damage to the original stone plate. It is the work of the Vischer family of blacksmiths . The figure of the bishop is very finely crafted, and the coat of arms depicts his origins.

literature

• Matthias Donath: The grave monuments in Meißen Cathedral. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3937209456 , pp. 331–334.
• Willi Rittenbach, Siegfried Seifert: History of the Bishops of Meißen 968-1581 . (= Studies on the history of the Catholic diocese and monastery. 8). Leipzig 1965.

Web links

• Eberhard Holtz: Caspar von Schönberg . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johannes IV Hoffmann von Schweidnitz	Bishop of Meissen 1451–1463	Dietrich III. from Schönberg