Ernst Auer from Herrenkirchen

Ernst Auer von Herrenkirchen (* before 1411 in Landshut ; † March 23, 1432 ) was a German bishop of the diocese of Gurk .

Life

Ernst Auer von Herrenkirchen was the scion of a Bavarian knight family. On May 23, 1411 the previous provost of the collegiate chapter St. Bartlmä in Friesach was by Pope Johannes XXIII. appointed Bishop of Gurk. Since 1415 Ernst Auer was also Chancellor of Duke Ernst the Iron . When the Duke accepted the homage of the Carinthian estates on March 18, 1414 on the Carinthian customs field - it was the last homage that a Carinthian duke received according to the traditional custom - Bishop Ernst Auer was among those present and then held the high mass in Maria Hall . The bishop also took part in the Council of Constance .

The disputes between the bishop and the cathedral chapter began under Bishop Ernst Auer and continued throughout the 15th century. It was mainly about chapter spiritual rights and property rights. Ernst Auer was the last bishop to exercise the archbishop's general vicariate in the then still small diocese of Seckau ; in 1418 the relevant powers ceased.

In 1420 Pope Martin V. Ernst Auer wanted to appoint Bishop of Trento and then make Papal Chamberlain Nicodemus della Scala Bishop of Gurk. Before taking this step, the Pope requested the consent of Duke Friedrich IV of Austria-Tyrol, who however vigorously opposed this plan, as he already had a relative, Alexander of Mazovia , in mind for the diocese of Brixen . Nicodemus della Scala then received the diocese of Freising .

Bishop Ernst Auer was best known for his reforms, in particular the reform of the Augustinian order, which he was prompted by the Council of Constance and the Provincial Council of Salzburg.

After Duke Ernst's death, Ernst Auer was appointed chancellor to Duke Friedrich's court and appointed the Strasbourg provost Peter Semler as vicar general of his diocese. It is the first time in the history of the diocese that a vicar general has been appointed.

Bishop Auer died on March 23, 1432 and was buried in front of the Catherine Altar of the Strasbourg Collegiate Church, which he donated.

literature

• Jakob Obersteiner: The bishops of Gurk. 1072–1822 (= From Research and Art. 5, ISSN  0067-0642 ). Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1969, pp. 195-210.
• Erwin Gatz (ed.): The bishops of the Holy Roman Empire. 1198 to 1448. A biographical lexicon . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-10303-3 .