Diether von Nassau

Coat of arms of the Walram count line of Nassau

Diether von Nassau (* around 1250; † November 23, 1307 in Trier ) was a clergyman from the Walram line of the House of Nassau . He was from 1300 to 1307 as Diether III. Archbishop and Elector of Trier .

Family and Early Activity

Diether was the eldest son of Count Walram II of Nassau and Adelheid von Katzenelnbogen . After the death of his father Walram in 1276, Diether's mother and sisters are said to have led a very pious life in the Klarenthal monastery in Wiesbaden . His younger brother Adolf von Nassau was elected king in 1292 and died in the Battle of Göllheim in 1298 after being voted out of office .

Diether had been a Dominican in Mainz since 1292 and had a master's degree in theology . Later, as archbishop, he still actively supported the order of the Dominicans.

From 1295 Diether was in the service of Pope Boniface VIII. Diethers was not the only one who used the Pope to influence King Adolf; In 1297 he was also sent as a negotiator to King Philip IV the Fair of France when King Adolf, misunderstanding the situation, believed that he could use his alliance with King Edward I of England for a political double game.

Archbishop and Elector of Trier

Although the Trier cathedral chapter had voted for the Cologne cathedral provost Heinrich II of Virneburg , the Pope elevated Diether to Archbishop of Trier on January 18, 1300 for political reasons. It was important for the Pope to oppose King Albrecht I with a person who for family reasons - due to the death of Adolf, the predecessor of the king - was not inclined to reconciliation.

From 1300, Diether had Ramstein Castle built and castles fortified in other places. The same year he gave Wittlich the town charter . In 1302 he founded the Collegiate Foundation of Our Lady in Oberwesel .

In the so-called customs war of 1301, which King Albrecht waged against the four allied Rhenish electors, Rudolf I of the Palatinate and the archbishops Gerhard II of Mainz and Wigbold of Cologne were forced to submit to submission. In November 1302 Albrecht also advanced before Trier and forced Diether, who had been deserted from his country, to a humiliating peace.

Diether's reign was marked by conflicts with the cathedral chapter, the clergy and the subjects. The city of Trier suffered from financial difficulties, and there were power struggles between the estates in other cities of the electorate . In the spring of 1303 Diether had to guarantee the city of Trier full freedom of municipal administration after an uprising by the guilds . As early as 1276, the citizens of Koblenz had strived for more independence, even set up a city council and in 1280 prevented the further construction of the city wall and the old castle . In 1304 Diether subjugated the city after fierce fighting, and Koblenz had to renounce the city council as a result.

If, as a result of the war with King Albrecht, the Archbishop's financial embarrassment had been significant, they now doubled.

Diether also created opponents within the church. He confiscated the assets and income of parish churches and in 1303 had the cathedral chapter pay him for concessions. When he also began to take relics into his private possession, in 1306 the pens of Trier Cathedral , St. Simeon and St. Paulin and the St. Maximin monastery complained to Pope Clement V. Diether asked Diether to respond to the allegations take, which he did not. He also treated the papal legate badly, which was followed by excommunication and later suspension .

Diether died before he could comply with further requests to finally appear before the Pope. He left his country in great confusion and debts. He was buried in the Dominican Church in Trier. This was destroyed in 1812.

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  Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Trier

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  Trier Cathedral

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  Ramstein castle ruins

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  Liebfrauenkirche Oberwesel

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  Old Castle Koblenz

literature

• AWE Dek: Genealogy van het Vorstenhuis Nassau . Europese Bibliotheek, Zaltbommel 1970 (Dutch).
• Leopold von Eltester :  Diether von Nassau . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 170 f.
• Adolf Gauert :  Dieter. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 668 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Sandra Ost:  Diether von Nassau. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 26, Bautz, Nordhausen 2006, ISBN 3-88309-354-8 , Sp. 267-271.
• AA Vorsterman van Oyen: Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden dead . AW Sijthoff & JL Beijers, Leiden & Utrecht 1882 (Dutch).

Web links

• Nassau In: Medieval Lands. A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families , compiled by Charles Cawley (English).
• Nassau Dieter von In: Saarland Biographies , responsible for the content: Joachim Conrad.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Conrad.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gauert (1957).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} von Eltester (1877).
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Cawley.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Dek (1970).
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Vorsterman van Oyen (1882).

predecessor	Office	successor
Boemund I of Warsberg	Elector Archbishop of Trier 1300–1307	Baldwin of Luxembourg