Erich of Brandenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erich von Brandenburg (* around 1245 ; † December 21, 1295, probably in Grabow in Jerichower Land), was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1283 to 1295.

Life

Erich was a younger son of Margrave Johann I of Brandenburg from his first marriage to Sophia of Denmark. Presumably intended for the clergy at an early stage, he appears in documents from the sixties and seventies of the 13th century as canon and provost of the SS. Bonifacii and Mauricii monastery in Halberstadt .

For political reasons, his brothers, the margraves of the Johannine branch of Brandenburg, tried to appoint him in Magdeburg, first as canons and later as archbishop.

An order from Pope Urban IV to the canons of Magdeburg on June 20, 1264 to grant Erich a canon was unsuccessful, and later efforts to gain a firm foothold in the archbishopric also failed. Archbishop Konrad , threatened by the margraves, joined forces with the princes of Werle, Mecklenburg and Rügen (May 1, 1272) in order to find protection against a war that might be waged in favor of her brother. After the death of Archbishop Konrad (1277), as the Magdeburg Schöppenchronik tells, an ambivalent election took place: One party elected Erich, who was supported by his brother, Margrave Otto IV. And his cousin, Duke Albrecht von Braunschweig, and the other, Canon Burchard from Querfurt. An impending war between the parties was settled by a contract, neither the one elected nor the other elected received the archbishopric, but Günther von Schwalenberg . But the peace did not last long: open war soon broke out between the new Archbishop and Margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg, who was unexpectedly defeated and taken prisoner in the Battle of Frohse (January 10, 1278). Even after his release and release, the unresolved feud continued. In 1283 Erich achieved his long-sought goal after Günther von Schwalenberg in 1278 and his chosen successor Bernhard von Wölpe had renounced in 1282.

Although he only held the archbishop's chair for twelve years, this period is of great importance, especially for the constitutional history of the city of Magdeburg. Nevertheless, there was no lack of feuds in the early days of his episcopate. The citizens of Magdeburg were initially not very satisfied with Erich's election; they did not see him as the metropolitan, but as the brother of the enemy margrave, with whom they wrestled militarily for a long time. Driven by events, the relationship with the new archbishop normalized. When Erich was captured during the siege of Harlingsberg Castle in Braunschweig in the following year, the citizens raised the ransom. A later move against this fortress (1291) had better success, as Erich, supported by the Magdeburg citizenship, in conjunction with Bishop Siegfried II of Hildesheim and other princes, with whom he had an alliance years earlier at the Reichstag in Erfurt of the peace, conquered and destroyed the castle. Even before that (1284) he had to fight a ministerial uprising , with his brother, Margrave Otto IV., Helping him. The feud did not end happily for the archbishop. In order to compensate the margrave for the expenses he had to pledge the Lausitz to him .

The city of Magdeburg, which was striving for independence, used the many feuds and the resulting multiple financial embarrassment of the Archbishop to purchase several important rights from their sovereign. In a deed dated January 17, 1292, he undertook to refrain from feuding the property of the cathedral chapter and the Burgensen: if the country was threatened with war, then with the consent of the canons and the Burgensen, a tax that would not exceed its capacity should be imposed on it. The city acquired other significant rights in the following years, which were among the most important for the development of its constitution. In 1293 the larger guilds put up a strong opposition to the aristocratic elements of the council. In the new elections of the former to the council, the opposition won, and the council now sought to restrict the powers of the lay judges in favor of the former. The lay judges were charged with various accusations, and there were violent acts between the two bodies. Despite all resistance, the lay judges' books were seized, in which the handover of the land was entered, and the request was made to the lay judges that these entries should in future not be made under the ban of the king in the burgrave and mayor's courts, but in Burding. The keys to the books were also taken from the lay judges. In the following year the citizens achieved what they had sought from the archbishop. Duke Albrecht of Saxony sold the burgrave, as far as it extended to the old town and the new market, for the sum of 900 marks, which the city paid to Archbishop Erich. He undertook that the same thing would always remain with the ore monastery and that the mayors should be entrusted with the ban at the same time. The council and the five guild masters are to occupy the lay judges' bench and elect the lay judges from those who are free to do so, which the archbishop would confirm, provided that the current lay judges do not know how to raise any legitimate objections to it. It was also determined that the abolition would have to take place in the castle court in future. In the same year the city also acquired the mayor's office from the archbishop. As a result, the position of the council had changed significantly: it was necessary to assert the powers gained against the lay judges. In March of the following year (1295) the council demanded from the lay judges that everything concerning the handover of property, furthermore army wagering and straight lines, belonged to the castle court, from now on the lay judges should only judge certain criminal offenses. Again, the lay judges refused to submit to these new demands. The council also made use of its right to elect new lay judges without listening to objections from those still in office. But when the archbishop wanted to hold the burgrave's court at Midsummer, the lay judges elected by the council had to resign, and the lay judges themselves made the additional elections. However, some of the lay judges appointed by the council were elected. We are not informed about the further course of these disputes.

In 1294 the Archbishop concluded a contract with the Counts of Barby (Busso and Walther) as Lords of Zerbst, as one wanted to keep with the right to mint in Magdeburg and Zerbst without harming each other. The Lords of Barby vowed not to have any pennies struck on the archbishop's iron stamp in their Zerbst coin. This of course presupposes that such coinage had taken place earlier.

Archbishop Erich did his best to oppose the feuds and robbers of his time. Many acquisitions for the archbishopric also fall during the time of his episcopate; Various spiritual foundations, such as the main monastery of the Ascan dynasty, Lehnin , were given rich donations.

Archbishop Erich von Brandenburg probably died in Grabow (today part of Möckern ) and was buried there too. This assumption is based on a round stone slab with a portrait of Archbishop Erich on the hip, a crook in his right hand and a book in his left hand. The inscription: + ERICVS ARCHIEPISCOPVS (remainder largely illegible, ECCLESIE MAGDEB?). This plate is still in the Grabow village church today .

literature

predecessor Office successor
Bernhard von Wölpe Archbishop of Magdeburg
1283–1295 		Burchard II of Blankenburg
personal data
SURNAME Erich of Brandenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Magdeburg (1283–1295)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1245
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1295
Place of death Grabow