Heinrich of Asti

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Heinrich von Asti ( Enrico d'Asti , actually Enrico da Comentina ; * in Asti , Piedmont , † January 17, 1345 near Smyrna ) was an Italian bishop, papal diplomat and crusade leader. From 1341 he was bishop in the Venetian Negroponte (Greece) and Latin titular patriarch of Constantinople .

In February 1341 he negotiated on behalf of Pope Benedict XII. with the Catalan Company .

For Benedict's successor Pope Clement VI. In 1342 he arranged the establishment of a crusade alliance against the Turks of Aydın , consisting of the papacy, the Republic of Venice , the Order of St. John on Rhodes and the Kingdom of Cyprus . Clemens then appointed him papal legate for Romania and leader of the crusade against Smyrna in the summer of 1343 . Heinrich von Asti was initially still busy because of another conflict with the Catalan company.

In the spring of 1344 the crusader fleet finally set sail. The Genoese Martino Zaccaria was in command of the military . Since his loyalty was uncertain (he was planning an attack on the island of Chios ), Patriarch Heinrich was expressly authorized to remove him from office if necessary. On October 28th, the crusaders reached Smyrna and captured the port by hand. The castle behind the city remained in Turkish hands and the crusaders soon found themselves exposed to Turkish counter-attacks, which could be repelled.

Somewhat outside of the city and thus also outside of the defensive ring were the ruins of a church that was regarded by Christians as the late ancient metropolitan church. To celebrate the victory over the Turks, Heinrich von Asti decided to hold a mass there. Zaccaria had objections, but had to submit to the higher-ranking patriarch, so that the Christian leadership went to church on January 17, 1345. The Turks saw this, saw the opportunity, and attacked while the crusaders held the service. Most of the Christian soldiers managed to escape to the safe haven, but the leaders of the crusade, including Zaccaria and Heinrich von Asti, were surrounded and killed in the church (the truth of these circumstances of death is, however, controversial).

Pope Clement VI when he received the news of his death, appointed Raymond Saquet , Bishop of Thérouanne , as the new papal legate and crusade leader. However, he was not very enthusiastic about this dignity and stayed in France. The new titular patriarch of Constantinople was (if only briefly) Stephan de Pinu .

When the Pope negotiated a peace treaty with the new Turkish leader Hızır Bey in 1348 , he offered the repatriation of the bones of those killed. However, this probably did not take place until 1392, when Heinrich's bones were transferred to Asti. There, in his hometown, he is venerated as a martyr and blessed .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kenneth Meyer Setton: The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , American Philosophical Society, 1976 ( full text available online on Google Books ), p. 455
  2. ^ Setton: The Papacy and the Levant , pp. 183, 185, 188/189, 191
  3. ↑ Setton: The Papacy and the Levant , p. 192. In A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (edited by Setton), p. 294, Anthony Luttrell writes that the leaders were killed in an attack on Castle Hill . Runciman, however, reports that the crusader leadership was killed in an inland advance.
  4. ^ Setton: The Papacy and the Levant, p. 193
  5. ^ Setton: The Papacy and the Levant , p. 217
  6. ↑ Beato Enrico da Come Tina Patriarca di Costantinopoli, martire gennaio 17
personal data
SURNAME Heinrich of Asti
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Enrico d'Asti; Enrico da Comentina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian bishop, patriarch of Constantinople, papal diplomat and crusade leader
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Asti , Piedmont
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1345
Place of death Smyrna