Heinrich IV of Absberg

Representation with Heinrich IV.

Rumburg Castle , seat of the Absberg-Rumburg family line, to which Heinrich also belongs

Heinrich IV. Von Absberg (born March 19, 1409 in Dornhausen ; † July 26, 1492 ) was Bishop of Regensburg from 1465 to 1492.

Heinrich in the family context

Heinrich von Absberg (zu Rumberg, Reicheneck and Dornhausen) came from the Franconian noble family of Absberg . He was a family member of the Absberg-Rumburg sideline. According to Johann Gottfried Biedermann , he was the son of Heinrich von Absberg zu Rumberg , Reicheneck and Dornhausen and Magdalena, born from Seiboldsdorf . His siblings were Anna, Magaretha, Magdalena and Ulrich. Ulrich, a member of the Swan Order , continued the line.

The castle Rumburk is now one of Enkering , a district of Kinding in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria . In 1488 Heinrich von Absberg built a chapel on the spot where the parish church of St. Odilia stands in Absberg today. The originally Catholic family switched to Protestantism in 1533 .

Bishop of Regensburg

Heinrich had already been elected bishop in 1457, but the election was declared invalid and Ruprecht I of the Palatinate-Mosbach was appointed bishop. Ruprecht I died at the age of only 32 and Heinrich was again available as a candidate.

After the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV redeemed old pledges, including burgrave rights, the mayor's office, the chamber office and justice of justice, the customs and the suburb of Stadtamhof, the imperial city submitted to the Bavarian duke. This used his position to curtail the rights of the bishop, the Bavarian officials committed various legal violations against the clergy. Heinrich IV had foreseen this and had tried in vain to use financial incentives to keep the city from connecting with the Bavarian duchy. Due to the intervention of Emperor Friedrich III. the Duke had to leave the city again in 1492.

Heinrich IV fought against the so-called "false doctrines" which were spread in the diocese by Lewin and Janko von Wirsberg . There were attacks against the Jewish population.

The printing press allowed in Regensburg for the first time the production of various religious writings. There is a wood carving by Michael Wolgemut that contains the kneeling bishop Heinrich IV von Absberg in the motif.

After the death of Henry IV his coadjutor Ruprecht took over the successor.

Epitaph of Heinrich

The tomb of Heinrich made of reddish marble is located in the side aisle of the Regensburg Cathedral of St. Peter. The central motif is the bishop with the appropriate robe, miter and crosier . In the corners there are four family coats of arms and a surrounding text.

literature

• Johann Gottfried Biedermann : genealogy The Reich Frey immediate knighthood country to Franken praiseworthy local Altmuhl ... . Bayreuth 1748. Plate CLXVIII.
• Michael Buchberger (Ed.): 1200 years of the diocese of Regensburg . Regensburg 1939, p. 44 f.
• Josef Staber: Church history of the diocese of Regensburg . Regensburg 1966, pp. 88-94.

Web links

Commons : Heinrich IV. Von Absberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on Heinrich von Absberg on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Description of a wood carving with a depiction of Heinrich from the hand of the artist Wolgemut (English)
• Epitaph of Heinrich

predecessor	Office	successor
Ruprecht I of the Palatinate Mosbach	Bishop of Regensburg 1465 - 1492	Ruprecht II of the Palatinate-Simmern