Friedrich of La Roche

Friedrich von La Roche (French: Frédéric de La Roche ; † October 30, 1174 in Nablus ) was Bishop of Acre , Archbishop of Tire and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . As such he was also called Friedrich von Akkon or Friedrich von Tire .

He was a younger son of Henry I († before 1138), Count of La Roche-en-Ardenne from the Lorraine noble family Namur .

Bishop of Acre

Friedrich was canon of the Templum Domini in Jerusalem before he became Bishop of Acre around 1148. Around 1150 he was also Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He took part in the siege of Askalon in 1153. In 1154 King Baldwin III sent him . to Antioch to mediate in the dispute between the local Prince Rainald of Châtillon and the local patriarch Aimerich of Limoges . Aimerich eventually went into exile in Jerusalem. In 1155, Frederick accompanied the Patriarch of Jerusalem , Fulko of Angoulême , to Rome to complain to Pope Hadrian IV about the behavior of some monasteries and churches in Jerusalem that refused to recognize the patriarch's authority. When Archbishop Hernesius of Caesarea and Bishop Ralph of Bethlehem opposed the election of Amalrich von Nesle as Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1157 , Frederick took Amalrich's side and traveled to Rome again to bring the matter before Hadrian IV. There he obtained Hadrian's confirmation for the new patriarch.

Archbishop of Tire

After Archbishop Peter of Tire died in March 1164, Frederick was appointed his successor at the request of King Amalrich I. In Amalrich's campaign against Egypt in 1167, Frederick took part with his own contingent. However, Friedrich fell ill in Egypt and soon returned to Tire. In August 1167 he led the marriage of Amalrich to the Byzantine princess Maria Komnena in Tire .

When Amalrich's campaign in Egypt failed in 1169, the king sent an embassy to Europe to solicit financial help for the crusader states and to organize a new crusade . The first embassy, ​​led by Amalrich von Nesle and Ernesius, Archbishop of Caesarea, was caught in a storm in the Mediterranean and had to turn back. King Amalrich then sent a second embassy under Archbishop Friedrich, Bishop Johann von Banyas and Guibert, the Preceptor of the Order of St. John . In July they reached Rome and met Pope Alexander III. , however, none of the monarchs of Europe was willing to support the distant crusader states: Louis VII of France and Henry II of England were at war against each other, at least Friedrich was able to persuade Heinrich to donate money and promise a later pilgrimage. Friedrich Barbarossa was in constant dispute with the Pope since he was led by Alexander III in 1160. had been excommunicated, so that no support could be expected from him either.

The mission also had the task of finding a suitable husband for the then eleven-year-old Princess Sibylla of Jerusalem , who, given her brother Baldwin IV's leprosy, had a good chance of succeeding the throne. In France, Frederick persuaded Count Stephan I of Sancerre , a brother-in-law of King Louis VII, to come east and marry Sibylla. The embassy returned to Jerusalem in the summer of 1171, together with Stephan and Duke Hugo III. of Burgundy , who came as a representative of Louis VII. For unclear reasons, however, the marriage project failed after a short time, and the young count returned to France without having married the princess.

After a long illness, Friedrich died in Nablus in 1174 and was buried in the Templum Domini in Jerusalem.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Wilhelm von Tire: Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum . around 1170, book 17, chapter 21

literature

• Hans Eberhard Mayer : Frederick of La Roche, bishop of Acre and archbishop of Tire. In: Tel Aviver yearbook for German history. Vol. 22, 1993, ISSN  0932-8408 , pp. 59-72.
• Bernard Hamilton: The Latin Church in the Crusader states. The secular church (= Variorum Publication. 1). Variorum Publications, London 1980, ISBN 0-86078-072-4 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Hugo of Le Mans	Bishop of Acre around 1148–1164	Wilhelm
Radulf	Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem around 1150	Wilhelm
Peter	Archbishop of Tire 1164–1174	Wilhelm