Giselher of Magdeburg

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Giselher (also: Giseler ; † January 25, 1004 in Trebra ) was Bishop of Merseburg from 971 to 981 and Archbishop of Magdeburg from 981 to 1004 .

Life

Giselher came from a Saxon noble family, was a man full of energy, but also ambitious. In 971 he became the second bishop of Merseburg. He increased the possessions of his diocese with a large forest between Saale and Mulde , which came from a donation from Emperor Otto II . When the first Archbishop of Magdeburg, Adalbert , died in 981 , Giselher persuaded the Emperor and Pope to succeed him, while the diocese of Merseburg was dissolved and its territory was divided between the neighboring dioceses of Zeitz and Meißen and the Archdiocese of Magdeburg .

Under Otto's successor Otto III. a resolution was passed to restore the diocese of Merseburg. The archbishop resisted the request to return to his old bishopric, which was therefore only restored after his death in 1004.

In 992 Giselher consecrated an altar in the new cathedral in Halberstadt to St. Mauritius , patron of the archbishopric.

On January 17, 1000, Archbishop Giselher found himself with Otto III. at the Staffelsee in order to regain the favor of the emperor. The reason for this was probably Giselher's previous partisanship for the Bavarian Duke Heinrich in his revolt against the emperor.

After at least six days, the emperor and his entourage, including Giselher, headed for Poland . From Bavaria it went via Thuringia , Zeitz , Meißen to the border river Bober to Eulau Castle . From there it probably went to Gnesen via Glogau , Kosten and Posen . Around 990 the archbishop narrowly escaped an attack by 200 selected Lutician warriors. Seven years after this incident, he was again the target of an attack by the Lutizen: he was lured in front of the gates of the Arneburg on the Elbe, which lay in a northerly direction from Stendal . Giselher narrowly escaped again, but most of his companions lost their lives.

After the death of Count Binizo, the Wettin Dedo I received the county rights in northern Hassegau through Giselher's mediation with the emperor .

Archbishop Giselher was buried in Magdeburg Cathedral "in front of the altar facing south".

swell

  • Thietmar von Merseburg : Chronik (= selected sources on German history of the Middle Ages. Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe. Volume 9). Retransmitted and explained by Werner Trillmich . Darmstadt 1957. (several new editions)

literature

predecessor Office successor
Adalbert Archbishop of Magdeburg
981–1004
Tagino
Boso Bishop of Merseburg
971–981
Wigbert