Heinrich von Helfenberg

Heinrich von Helfenberg († February 5, 1326 ) was called Heinrich III. Bishop of Gurk .

Heinrich von Helfenberg came from a Styrian knight family that ruled Helfenberg and Peilenstein. He became Canon of Salzburg, Chancellor of Archbishop Rudolf von Hoheneck and was also on friendly terms with his successor, Konrad IV von Fohnsdorf . He belonged to the legation that traveled to the Pope in Orvieto in 1290 to propose a successor in the archbishopric. When the previous Lavant Bishop Konrad was made archbishop, Pope Martin IV appointed Heinrich von Helfenberg as his successor in the diocese of Lavant on February 26, 1291 . He received the episcopal ordination from Cardinal Bishop Latinis of Ostia.

As a confidante of Archbishop Konrad, Heinrich von Helfenberg had already been drawn into Lavant's politics as Bishop of Lavant, something that his opponents, the Dukes of Austria and Carinthia, should not forget. Peace was concluded in Vienna on September 24, in which Heinrich played a key role.

In 1298, after the death of the Gurk bishop Heinrich von Helfenberg, Archbishop Konrad and the Gurk cathedral chapter postulated the new bishop. On April 13, 1299, this postulation was confirmed by Pope Boniface VIII . In 1301 there was a dispute between the Lords of Metnitz and the Gurk Bishop, which degenerated into bloody acts of violence. The Duke of Carinthia, who was the guardian of the Gurk Church, did nothing against the troublemakers due to his dislike of the bishop.

Since the peace made between Salzburg and Austria in 1297, Heinrich was a loyal friend of the Habsburgs . When there was a break between Duke Albrecht of Austria and Duke Heinrich of Carinthia because of the succession to the throne in Bohemia, Bishop Helfenberg stood on Austria's side. Only when Duke Heinrich of Carinthia had to give way to the new Bohemian King Johann von Luxemburg in 1311 did the widow Albrecht instigate a reconciliation between Austria and Carinthia, and in 1313 Bishop Heinrich was admitted to the ducal council. In 1312 he was sent as an envoy by Duke Friedrich of Austria to the Roman King Henry VII , in 1314 he witnessed the marriage of Duke Frederick with Isabella of Aragón . He also played a major role in the ambiguous election of a king in 1314, when he read out a solemn protest against the participation of excommunicated, outlawed and unauthorized people.

His participation in feuds and wars repeatedly embarrassed the bishop and his diocese. He was forced to pledge goods over and over again. During his reign, Gurk was on the economic edge. Bishop Heinrich died on February 5, 1326 and was buried in Gurk Cathedral on the north west wall.

literature

• Jakob Obersteiner: The bishops of Gurk. 1072–1822 (= From Research and Art. 5, ISSN  0067-0642 ). Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1969, pp. 127–136.
• Erwin Gatz (ed.): The bishops of the Holy Roman Empire. 1198 to 1448. A biographical lexicon. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-10303-3 .