Heinrich I of Mainz

Grave slab in the minster church of St. Alexandri in Einbeck

Heinrich I of Mainz (* around 1080; † September 1 or 3, 1153 in Einbeck ) Heinrich Felix von Harburg was also Archbishop of Mainz from 1142 and temporarily for Konrad III. Imperial administrator . He got into a dispute with Pope Eugene III. When he opposed the election of Frederick I as king, Heinrich was deposed in 1153.

Early years

Heinrich possibly came from a Thuringian noble family, possibly the Wartburg. In 1122 Heinrich is attested as provost of the St. Viktor monastery in Mainz . In addition, he was provost of the cathedral in this city from 1128 and at times also archdeacon . He was the former Archbishop Adalbert I close. It was from this relationship that he owed his appointment as archbishop after the death of his predecessor Markolf . It was invested by Konrad III. He was possibly ordained bishop by papal legates . This appointment is remarkable, as Heinrich did not belong to the court orchestra or the court chancellery.

First years in office

In the north he continued Adalbert's territorial policy in the area of ​​the Weser and Harz Mountains and was on good terms with Heinrich the Lion . There was no break with the king, especially since he gained advantages in the south to the disadvantage of the Archbishopric of Mainz .

During his tenure, Heinrich promoted monasteries and monasteries and campaigned for the strengthening of church discipline. He took many monasteries under episcopal protection. In 1143 he held a synod in Mainz. He had a good relationship with the Popes Innocent II , Celestine II and Lucius II . The relationship with Eugene III was more difficult. From the beginning there was tension between the two. In 1146 a monk called Radulf in Mainz and other places in the Rhineland to pogroms against the Jews . Thereupon Heinrich and Arnold I of Cologne turned to Bernhard von Clairvaux as the highest Cistercian for help in this matter, which they also received . Bernhard reprimanded Radulf and ordered him to return to the monastery. In 1147 Heinrich took part in the Trier synod . There he made the Pope aware of Hildegard von Bingen, who was later canonized . The Pope approved of her work and allowed her to set up a branch in Bingen .

Due to the crusade of Konrad III. Heinrich became imperial administrator in the same year. He was also the guardian and educator for Konrad's son, Heinrich. Because of these obligations, he did not leave the inner Reich. Therefore, but possibly also for other reasons, he was not present at the papal synod of Reims in 1148 , which is why he was through Pope Eugene III. was suspended. A short time later, a court day in Frankfurt issued a permit. After Heinrich visited the Pope in Rome, he was confirmed in his office. As a result, the Pope tried to make Heinrich a mere recipient of orders, but this did not succeed in the long run.

As Konrad III. When he returned in 1150 and took over imperial power again, Heinrich resumed his previous territorial policy in favor of the Archbishopric of Mainz.

Conflict with Pope and King

The conflict with the Pope came about over the Heidenheim monastery . It was about the replacement of Benedictines by canons, against the will of the Pope. By 1149/50 at the latest, the relationship between the Pope and the highest German bishop was severely disturbed. Heinrich annoyed the elected Archbishop Arnold of Cologne by withdrawing the Limburg provost . The position with the king improved with the appointment of Arnold, treasurer in Mainz , as chancellor. Mainz was not affected by the conflict between the king and Henry the Lion. After the murder of Count Hermann von Winzenburg and his wife in 1152, Archbishop Heinrich left his Mainz fiefdom to Heinrich the Lion . This later brought him the charge of squandering church property.

After the death of Konrad III. it was Heinrich's job to organize the election of a new king. In the 1152 election he took a stand against Friedrich I and campaigned for the son of Konrad, Friedrich . When the election finally came down to Friedrich I, he did not refuse, but stayed away from the coronation in Aachen . Friedrich I then tried to overthrow Heinrich. This succeeded with papal approval despite the commitment of Bernhard von Clairvaux and Hildegard von Bingen in favor of Henry at Pentecost 1153 in Worms . After that he retired to the Amelungsborn monastery without becoming a monk. He died there in the same year. He was buried in the Einbeck cathedral church.

literature

• Christoph Waldecker :  Heinrich I of Mainz. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 23, Bautz, Nordhausen 2004, ISBN 3-88309-155-3 , Sp. 628-635.
• Christoph Waldecker : Between emperor, curia, clergy and militant lay people. The Archbishops of Mainz in the period from 1100 to 1160. Mainz 2002 (= sources and treatises on the history of the Middle Rhine Church, volume 101). ISBN 3-929135-35-3
• Peter Herd :  Heinrich I of Mainz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 369 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Cornelius Will :  Heinrich I. (Archbishop of Mainz) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 538 f.
• Stephanie Haarländer : In the pitfalls of politics: Archbishop Heinrich I (1142–1153). In: Handbook of Church History in Mainz. Volume 1, pp. 316-324, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-429-02258-4

Web links

• Information on the bishop's grave in the Einbeck cathedral church on German inscriptions online

Remarks

1. ↑ Mainzer Urkundenbuch II / 1, ed. by Peter Acht , no. 154. See Wolf-Heino Struck: The Georgenstift in Limburg and the historical forces of the Limburg area. In: Nassauer Annalen. Volume 62, 1951, page 49ff.
2. ↑ Stephanie Haarländer: In: Handbook of the Mainzer Church History. Würzburg 2000, Volume 1, p. 324

predecessor	Office	successor
Markolf	Archbishop of Mainz 1142–1153	Arnold von Selenhofen