Günther I. (Magdeburg)

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Günther von Schwalenberg was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1277 to 1279 and Bishop of Paderborn from 1307 to May 15, 1310 .

family

Günther came from the family of the Counts of Schwalenberg , the bailiffs of the Paderborn diocese and founder of the Marienmünster Abbey . The family had far-reaching influence in the spiritual offices of Westphalia. His father was Count Volkwin IV. Von Schwalenberg . Of the eleven children of Volkwin and his wife Ermengard von Schwarzburg , two sons became bishops: Günther and Volkwin (in Minden ). Günther's cousin Widukind von Waldeck was bishop of Osnabrück from 1265–1269 , and his nephew Konrad von Sternberg was archbishop of Magdeburg from 1266–1277. The majority of his sisters also entered the clergy, and three of them became abbesses : Kunigunde in the Falkenhagen monastery in Lügde , Ermengard in the Neuenheerse monastery and Mechthild in the Möllenbeck monastery .

Life

From 1268 Günther Propst was in the Dionysiusstift in Enger and from 1272 Thesaurar in Minden. He was also provost in Goslar . In 1268 he became canon in Magdeburg, where his nephew Konrad had been archbishop since 1266. There he became cathedral custodian and thesaurar in 1272, vice- dominus in 1273 and finally provost of the cathedral. In the hotly contested bishopric election of 1277, after the death of Konrad, he won against the cathedral cellar Bernhard von Wölpe . An important condition of his assumption of office was the intactness of the Magdeburg cathedral treasure.

At the same time, the feud in the Magdeburg area began again . Margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg wanted to bring his brother Erich to the archbishop's chair there and in 1277 had allied himself with the Duke of Saxony against Archbishop- Elekt Günther I. Otto's raids in the archdiocese severely affected the monastery and the surrounding area. At Aken and in the Battle of Frohse (January 10, 1278), the margrave was then defeated by the warlike Günther, who was allied with a strong force of the Magdeburg citizens. In the course of the disputes with the Johannische Zweigs Brandenburg, namely with Margrave Otto IV., There were constant mutual visits, which were interrupted in the summer of 1278, when both opponents as allies of King Ottokar II of Bohemia at the battle of Dürnkrut the Marchfeld against the Roman-German King Rudolf I and were defeated with Ottokar, who fell. December 1278 the dormant conflict with Brandenburg flared up again. At the same time, the archbishop was involved in the capture of the Brandenburg-minded Canon Heinrich von Gronenberg as a confidante, possibly a client. This was followed on February 4, 1279 by Pope Nikolaus III, the excommunication of the ministerial minister Reinhard von Strahal, who was associated with the act of violence. and the summons of the archbishop to Rome. During his tenure, Günther never succeeded in persuading the Pope to obtain a license to practice medicine or recognition, and in the harsh punitive measures taken by the Curia in connection with the aforementioned kidnapping, he realized that this would no longer succeed, whereupon he resigned in March 1279. He was followed by Bernhard von Wölpe, who also resigned in 1282 after Pope Martin IV appointed Erich from Brandenburg as the new Archbishop of Magdeburg instead .

In 1307 Günther became Bishop of Paderborn. After confirmation by the Mainz Metropolitan and the transfer of the regalia by King Heinrich VII , Günther was now the elected and confirmed Bishop of Paderborn. But even in Westphalia he proved to be a weak regent. In fact, Provost Bernhard became Lippe's administrator of the diocese. In 1308 he was surety of the bishop and in 1309 chairman of the so-called Permanent Council of the Bishop (defensor and tutor of the security of the bishop). Günther resigned in 1310. He probably retired to his sister's monastery in Marienmünster , in whose abbey church he is very likely buried. His date of death (1310 or shortly thereafter) is unknown. His successor in Paderborn was his cousin Dietrich von Itter .

Web links

literature

  • Hans Jürgen Brandt, Karl Hengst : The bishops and archbishops of Paderborn. Verlag Bonifatius-Druckerei, Paderborn 1984, ISBN 3-87088-381-2 , pp. 135-136.
predecessor Office successor
Konrad II von Sternberg Archbishop of Magdeburg
1277–1278 		Bernhard von Wölpe
Otto von Rietberg Bishop of Paderborn
1307-1310 		Dietrich II of Itter
personal data
SURNAME Günther I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwalenberg, Günther von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Magdeburg and Bishop of Paderborn
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH 14th Century