Fromhold von Vifhusen

Fromhold von Vifhusen (also Fromhold von Fiefhusen ; † December 28, 1369 in Rome ) was Archbishop of Riga from 1348 until his death in 1369 .

Life

Fromhold came from a family that belonged to the Lübeck upper class and whose members are also attested in Livonia . Fromhold's brother Johannes von Vifhusen was Bishop of Dorpat . Fromhold is attested for the year 1342 as canon and prior of Riga . After Bishop Engelbert von Dolen died at the Curia in Avignon in 1347 , Pope Clement VI appointed. Fromhold von Vifhusen on March 17, 1348 as his successor. The episcopal ordination took place by the bishop of Palestrina , Peter Després ( Pierre IV. Despres ). Although no archbishop had stayed in Riga for 25 years because of the ongoing conflict with the Teutonic Order , Fromhold stayed in Avignon in 1349 . Therefore, the Teutonic Order was warned by the Pope to settle the dispute with the Archbishop or the Archbishop. At the same time he asked the Roman-German King Charles IV for his help. He appointed him and the Swedish King Magnus II as protectors of the archbishop.

Fromhold traveled via Danzig to his archdiocese with a letter of introduction from Grand Master Heinrich Dusemer , where he arrived in January 1350. In order to win the cathedral chapter for himself, he returned the goods that had been confiscated from his predecessors. However, since he could not enforce his claims against the Teutonic Order under the Livonian landmaster Goswin von Herike , he soon left his diocese again. Therefore Pope Innocent VI commissioned. to take the bishops of Västerås , Linköping and Oslo , Riga. As they were unsuccessful with their request made in 1354, Magnus Eskilli, Bishop of Västerås, imposed spiritual punishments on the order. Now the Pope turned to Bertram Cremon, Bishop of Lübeck, with whom Fromhold von Vifhusen was staying, as well as Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode and the Livonian Landmeister Goswin von Herike for help . After his coronation as emperor in 1355, Charles IV confirmed all privileges to the Archbishopric of Riga. The verdict of a trial against the Teutonic Order carried out at the Curia in 1359 could not be enforced, although Pope Innocent VI. was confirmed because it did not correspond to the actual balance of power in Livonia.

When Fromhold's papal commissioner wanted to release the city of Riga from its oath to the Teutonic Order, the city council protested against it, fearing disadvantages. Therefore, the city and the Livonian order were banned and interdict imposed, which remained in force with brief interruptions for three decades.

In 1365 Fromhold turned to Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode with a request for support. Emperor Charles IV appointed the kings of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Poland to be protectors of the Church of Riga. In May 1366 the Grand Master managed to convene a meeting in the Ordensburg Danzig , at which Fromhold and his cathedral chapter, his brother, the Dorpater Bishop Johannes with his cathedral chapter, the Ösel canons, the Bishop of Lübeck, representatives of the city of Riga and vassals of the Riga and Dorpat monasteries took part. The compromise proposed by the Grand Master stipulated that the Livonian landmaster renounce rule over Riga and the archbishop renounce sovereignty over the Livonian order . The necessary papal confirmation of the result achieved was probably thwarted by Fromhold, as he had hoped for a better result for himself, probably because of the prominent supporters. Presumably as a protest, he went to the Curia again, which had its seat in Rome for a short time. There he died on December 28, 1369. The balance of power in Livonia remained unchanged.

literature

• Bernhart Jähnig: Fromhold von Vifhusen (Fiefhusen) († 1369) . In: Erwin Gatz : The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1448 . ISBN 3-428-10303-3 , pp. 653f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See the street named after the family in Fünfhausen (Lübeck)

predecessor	Office	successor
Engelbert von Dolen	Archbishop of Riga 1348–1369	Siegfried von Blomberg