Dietrich I. von Hengebach

Dietrich von Hengebach (* around 1150, † around 1224) was as Dietrich I from 1208 to 1212 and 1215 archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cologne .

Life

Its origin and descent are not clear. Its nickname points to the Hengebach Castle in the Eifel.

In 1166 he was occupied as provost by St. Aposteln in Cologne . In 1199 he was defeated as a rival candidate by Engelbert von Berg in the election to the Cologne cathedral provost. Since Dietrich did not want to give up, however, a legal dispute ensued until 1204.

After the death of Archbishop Bruno IV , there was initially no election of a bishop, as the prior college did not agree on the rights of the former Archbishop Adolf von Altena . It was only the energetic insistence of King Otto IV that led to an election meeting on December 22, 1208, which then fell unanimously to Dietrich von Hengebach. He was ordained priest and bishop on May 24, 1209.

Since Dietrich did not have the flexibility that the politics of the time required, he fell into the wake of Otto IV. Since Otto IV followed a Staufer Italian policy after his coronation and was banned from church in November 1210, this ban also affected the archbishop because he was one of his followers. The emperor quickly lost political ground. In order to maintain his power base, the emperor needed more and more money, which only his loyal followers could provide him. So the archbishop taxed his subordinates more and more, and also the spiritual institutions, which were actually tax-free. This not only cost him his reputation, but also increased resentment.

When Dietrich refused to announce the papal excommunication of the emperor and persistently ignored it, he met the same punishment in March 1212. Although all priestly and episcopal functions were forbidden to him, the archbishop continued to celebrate mass and consecrated the holy oils on Maundy Thursday, whereupon the papal legate and archbishop of Mainz deposed him in 1212 and Adolf von Altena transferred the leadership of the diocese.

Adolf von Altena saw himself on the up again. Dietrich von Hengebach then initiated a costly process in Rome , which was supposed to bring him back to the office of archbishop and went to Rome personally, where he stayed until the end of the process in 1215. But the judgment confirmed Dietrich's dismissal and at the same time called on the Cologne cathedral chapter to elect a new archbishop. The Archdiocese of Cologne had to pay the costs of the process until 1238 .

After his dismissal he lived again in the provost of St. Aposteln. He died after 1223.

literature

• Wilhelm Janssen : The Archdiocese of Cologne in the late Middle Ages 1191–1515. First part (history of the Archdiocese of Cologne, second volume). Bachem, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7616-1149-8 .
• Hermann Cardauns :  Dietrich I., Archbishop of Cologne . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 179.
• Erich Wisplinghoff :  Dietrich I. von Heimbach. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 677 ( digitized version ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Bruno IV of Sayn	Archbishop of Cologne 1208–1212	Adolf von Altena