Henry of Aquileia

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Heinrich (von Biburg ) († March 28, 1084 ) was Patriarch of Aquileja from 1077 to 1084.

origin

Heinrich came from a Bavarian family (von Biburg bei Abensberg in Bavaria) who were related to the Counts of Scheyern . He was a canon in Augsburg and a member of the royal court orchestra , so he can be seen as a confidante of King Heinrich IV .

Appointed Patriarch of Aquileia

Henry was appointed patriarch on September 8, 1077 by King Henry IV. The king disregarded the decision of the clergy and people of Aquileja who, after the death of the patriarch Sigehard on August 12, 1077, had elected their archdeacon, whose name has not been passed down, as patriarch.

Heinrich von Biburg was appointed at the height of the investiture controversy , after the events of Canossa (January 1077) and the election of the opposing king Rudolf of Swabia by the German opposition King Heinrich IV (March 1077). The filling of the important patriarchal chair with a clergyman loyal to the king was of great importance in this situation. Two letters from Gregory on the election show the great interest that the Pope also had in Aquileia; he could not do anything against the appointment of the royal chaplain, but at the Roman synod of Lent of 1079 Heinrich had to swear an oath of allegiance to the pope. He first stated that his choice was canonical and is also said to have alleged that he was unaware of a prohibition on investiture by a lay person; he swore allegiance to the Pope and received from Gregory the ring, staff and the other signs of his office in a canonical manner. It is noticeable that on this occasion he is not referred to as a patriarch, but specifically as archiepiscopus (archbishop) of Aquileja.

Role in the conflict between king and pope

By resolution of the Synod of 1079, the Pope sent two ambassadors to Henry IV, Cardinal Bishop Petrus von Albano and Bishop Udalrich von Padua; he gave them the patriarch Heinrich as a companion and helper. The anti-royal inclined contemporary annalist Berthold reports that Patriarch Heinrich, whom he still calls unus ex intimis regis Heinrici (one of King Henry's confidants), immediately after receiving his assignment in Rome, sent a messenger to the king and informed the king about the embassy and then made a stopover in Aquileja the journey of the ambassadors deliberately halted to give the king time. King Heinrich received the embassy in Regensburg at Pentecost 1079 (May 12th).

However, the negotiations did not go well; a new meeting was scheduled in Fritzlar, there another in Würzburg. As recently as June 1079, Pope Gregory VII expressed his satisfaction with how the Patriarch had carried out his commission and, in gratitude, granted him the privilege of using the pallium on the days of Saints Ulrich and Afra (June 4, August 7 ), the city saint of Augsburg; Gregor, whom he calls frater (brother) and coepiscopus (fellow bishop), but not patriarch, expressly granted this extended use in tua vita, non loco tuo ( i.e. limited to Heinrich's lifetime).

Then news of the difficulties encountered by the embassy must have reached the Pope; he repeated in a letter his instructions to those he had sent. However, the embassy finally failed, and Bishop Udalrich of Padua and Cardinal Bishop Petrus returned to Rome on separate routes.

Patriarch Heinrich, on the other hand, stayed in Germany; in autumn of the year we meet him at the king's court in Bavaria (in Hirschaid and Regensburg, October 19 and 24). In January of the following year he took part in the Battle of Flarchheim (January 27), in which King Heinrich tried to defeat Rudolf of Swabia, who had been elevated to the rank of anti-king in 1077, and his followers by military means. The battle brought no decisive victory to either side; When King Heinrich now offered the Pope obedience on the condition that the opposing king Rudolf be excommunicated and threatening to raise an anti-pope, Gregory banished the king again (Lent Synod February 1080).

The Synod of Brixen, now convened by the king, which was attended by the majority of Italian bishops, including Patriarch Heinrich von Aquileja with several of his suffragan bishops , declared Gregory deposed and nominated Archbishop Wibert of Ravenna, who was named Clement III , as his successor . accepted (June 25, 1080). During this time Heinrich was often, possibly continuously, at the king's court. He probably accompanied him to Rome and from there via Siena to Lucca (July 1081).

There, in recognition of his services, King Heinrich granted him the dioceses of Trieste and Parenzo with all spiritual and secular powers and determined that the bishop, clergy and people should now render the servitium owed to the king to the patriarch. The king expressly granted the patriarch Henry the right to invest , enthrone and ordain the bishop from now on . The king repeated and justified the bestowal of the diocese of Trieste to the Patriarch of Aquileia on July 23, 1082 in Pavia. Patriarch Heinrich was also in Parma in December 1081 in the vicinity of the king, also during the procession against Rome in February 1082, and he stayed at the court of Henry in Rome in 1083.

death

The last documentary evidence is that Patriarch Heinrich was on June 15, 1083 in Rome as an intervener for the Farfa monastery ; he died on March 28, 1084, a few days before the coronation of Henry IV as emperor by Pope Clement III. (Wibert von Ravenna) on Easter day (March 31st). His successor on the patriarchal chair was Frederick II of Bohemia.

Evaluation of his policy

Heinrich von Biburg is often accused of having acted opportunistically, sometimes in a papal, sometimes in a royal sense; his oath of allegiance to the Pope during the Lent Synod of 1079 is interpreted as a change of party, which was followed by another change of party in the summer of 1079 or later. The fact that King Heinrich withdrew the county of Istria from the patriarch appointed by himself against the resistance of the clergy and people of Aquileja and also against the resistance of the Pope, which he had only given to his predecessor Sigehard for perpetual possession, reminds one of this that the king also understood the patriarch's oath of allegiance as a breach of allegiance.

The annalist Berthold, who was critical of the king, still called the patriarch the intimate of the king after the synod of Lent of 1079, suggesting that Patriarch Heinrich took his oath of allegiance to Gregory hypocritically and, above all, to achieve his recognition in office by the pope. Precisely the fact that he was considered a confidante of the king, but had sworn an oath of allegiance to the pope, made him appear particularly suitable to Gregory as securing and accompanying the papal embassy to the king from 1079.

From the summer of 1079 onwards, Heinrich proved to be loyal to the king; His frequently attested presence at court, his participation in the Brixen Synod from 1080 and King Henry's Rome trains from 1081 to 1083 and the award of the dioceses of Trieste and Parenzo by the king leave no doubt about his loyal attitude towards the king during these years.

literature

predecessor Office successor
Sigehard von Beilstein Patriarch of Aquileia
1077-1084 		Frederick II of Moravia
personal data
SURNAME Henry of Aquileia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heinrich von Bitburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Patriarch of Aquileia
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century or 11th century
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1084