Hildebold (Munster)

Hildebold (also Hildbold ) († 969 ) was the ninth bishop of Münster from 941 to 969 . Little is known about his work in the diocese. In Reich politics he was a supporter of Otto I.

Life

He came from a Franconian aristocratic family that also owned property in Saxony. Nothing is known about his early years. Hildebold owed his appointment to the episcopate to his family relationship with the Liudolfingers . During his reign he was therefore always in close contact with Otto I.

There is also hardly any news about the measures taken inside the diocese. He is said to have given the cathedral in Münster a missal decorated with gold and gems . The scant evidence suggests that the relationship between the bishop and the cathedral chapter was good.

Hildebold played an important role in imperial politics. He took part in the Synod of Verdun in 947, which, among other things, should end the dispute between Hugo von Vermandois and Artold von Reims over the diocese of Reims . After the negotiations failed, Hildebold was one of those clergymen who made a preliminary decision in favor of Artold. In 948 the universal synod of Ingelheim took place to settle the dispute ; In addition to emissaries from the Pope, Otto I and Ludwig IV of France as well as almost all German bishops, including Hildebold, were present. Hildebold was also present at the synod of French and German bishops in Mousson that same year . He was named first among the bishops present.

He was one of the high-ranking clergymen, on whose advice Otto I in 950 granted protection and immunity to the Enger monastery founded by his mother Mathilde . In 953 Hildebold took part in a meeting of loyal clergymen and nobles from Lorraine in Aachen . It is possible that Otto's brother Brun was made Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine at this meeting . A short time later, Hildebold installed the Rather, who had been expelled from Verona, as Bishop of Liège in Cologne Cathedral . There is little evidence about the following years. He probably did not take part in the Roman procession and the coronation of Otto I as emperor in Rome. It was only after Otto returned from Italy that the name Hildebold was found in his vicinity again.

The sources on the person and his work are poor. It is limited to the chronicle of bishops and a few other mentions.

literature

• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.3: The diocese. Berlin, 2003. ISBN 978-3-11-017592-9 (Germania sacra New Series Vol. 37,3) pp. 56ff. Partial digitization

predecessor	Office	successor
Rumhold	Bishop of Munster 941–969	Dodo