Gottfried (Ösel-Wiek)

Gottfried († after 1257) was the first bishop of the Ösel-Wiek diocese in western Estonia .

Gottfried ( Gedefricus, Gottfridus ) was a monk of the Cistercian order . Before his appointment as bishop, he was prior of the Pforta monastery near Naumburg and abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Daugavgrīva in Latvia .

The Riga bishop Albert von Buxthoeven appointed Gottfried in 1227 or 1228 on the basis of a papal power of attorney as the first Catholic bishop of the diocese of Ösel-Wiek, which was newly founded at the same time. Around the same time he was probably also used as secular ruler ( prince-bishop ) of the area. It was not until 1227 that the Estonian population of Saaremaa was finally subjugated and Christianized by the Teutonic Order .

On June 29, 1228 belehnte Gottfried the Livonian Order with one-third of Saaremaa , Muhu and other small islands of his diocese, but retained the spiritual supremacy. In October 1228, King Heinrich (VII) enfeoffed Bishop Gottfried near Wülzburg with five parishes on Saaremaa and seven in Läänemaa , on Hiiumaa and nearby islands. With this, Gottfried became a Roman-German vassal and received all the rights of the Livonian bishops.

A few months later, Gottfried gave up his office. In a document dated July 26, 1229, he is already referred to as a former bishop. From 1229 to 1234, the bishopric of Ösel-Wiek remained vacant .

On November 10, 1234, the papal legate Wilhelm von Modena canceled Gottfried's enfeoffment, after he had already appointed the Dominican Heinrich I as the new bishop of Ösel-Wiek on September 10, 1234 . Heinrich held the office until his death in March 1260.

Gottfried was still alive in 1257. Gottfried is mentioned in Burtscheid as Gottfriedus, episcopus Lyvonie, de ordine Cisterciensi .

Remarks

↑ H (enricus), Dei gratia Romanorum rex semper Augustus, universis imperii fidelibus, quam in Livonia constituis, gratiam suam et omne bonum. Quum rex regum et dominus dominantium, Deus, caput et principatum omnium regnorum Romanumelegit imperium, de gloria nominis Christiani et amplificatione imperii magnopere credimus esse gaudendum. Eapropter venientem ad nos venerabilem Gottfridum, primum Osiliensem episcopum, et episcopatum suum, cum universo populo suo, nuper baptizato, nobis offerentem, benign suscepimus, atque ea, quae nostri iuris ratio postulare videbatur, regia eidem porrex; terminos quoque, ad praefatam diocesim pertinentes, videlicet quinque kelichontas in Osilia et septem in Maritima, cum quadam insula deserta, quae dicitur Dageida, et aliis quibusdam insulis adiacentibus, cum omnium iuris et honoris integritate, success regali in perpetuum confirmantes. Date apud Wilcenburch, cal. Octobris, indictione secunda. ( Source )

personal data
SURNAME	Gottfried
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gedefricus; Godfridus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	First bishop of the Diocese of Ösel-Wiek
DATE OF BIRTH	12th century or 13th century
DATE OF DEATH	after 1257

[1] H (enricus), Dei gratia Romanorum rex semper Augustus, universis imperii fidelibus, quam in Livonia constituis, gratiam suam et omne bonum. Quum rex regum et dominus dominantium, Deus, caput et principatum omnium regnorum Romanumelegit imperium, de gloria nominis Christiani et amplificatione imperii magnopere credimus esse gaudendum. Eapropter venientem ad nos venerabilem Gottfridum, primum Osiliensem episcopum, et episcopatum suum, cum universo populo suo, nuper baptizato, nobis offerentem, benign suscepimus, atque ea, quae nostri iuris ratio postulare videbatur, regia eidem porrex; terminos quoque, ad praefatam diocesim pertinentes, videlicet quinque kelichontas in Osilia et septem in Maritima, cum quadam insula deserta, quae dicitur Dageida, et aliis quibusdam insulis adiacentibus, cum omnium iuris et honoris integritate, success regali in perpetuum confirmantes. Date apud Wilcenburch, cal. Octobris, indictione secunda. ( Source )