Johann of the Palatinate

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Johann III., Count Palatine near Rhine, as administrator of the diocese of Regensburg

Johann von der Pfalz (* May 7, 1488 in Heidelberg , † February 3, 1538 ) was called Johann III. the 48th Prince-Bishop of the Regensburg Bishopric from 1507 to 1538.

origin

Johann III. von der Pfalz came from the house of the Wittelsbach family . His father was Philip the Sincere , Elector of the Palatinate . His mother was Margarete von Bayern-Landshut , daughter of Ludwig IX. from Bavaria-Landshut . His brothers include Georg von der Pfalz , Bishop of Speyer, and Heinrich von der Pfalz , Prince-Bishop of Worms , Utrecht and Freising, and Prince Provost of Ellwangen .

Bishop of Regensburg

A spiritual way of life was for Johann III. planned for early years. Nevertheless, he was not very well educated in religious matters, but demonstrated skills as a secular administrator. He remained administrator of the diocese because he did not want to receive higher orders.

He mediated in unrest in Regensburg in the period from 1511 to 1513. The reason for the uproar in the Regensburg citizenship was the reassignment of the office of imperial governor after the death of Sigmund von Rohrbach . In an economically troubled Regensburg, this office increasingly appeared as a supply post for imperial favorites, combined with a delay in decisions due to the frequent absence of the official concerned. Emperor Maximilian I gave knight Thomas Fuchs von Schneeberg this office. The upheaval in the city led to the formation of a council from the ranks of the bourgeoisie, which announced investigations, in fact attempting to take revenge on the officials who were the emperor. The revolutionary moves came to a standstill through a conservative reshuffle of the citizens' council and an imperial commission finally punished the leaders of the unrest.

Johann III. however, favored the agitation against the Regensburg Jews , which enjoyed popularity among the bourgeoisie. So there were sermons hostile to Jews and the bishop brought legal disputes to his court, which were financial in nature through money lending, but were interpreted as a religious conflict between Jews and Christians. While Emperor Maximilian I was able to reprimand the bishop in letters of complaint and limit hostilities, dramatic events followed after his death in 1519. The synagogue was demolished and the Jews asked to leave the city. In the place where the synagogue had been demolished, the pilgrimage to the beautiful Maria , which sometimes showed fanatical features, soon began . The bishop took over the administration of the considerable income from the pilgrimage.

Wörth Castle on the Danube Johann von der Pfalz had large parts of Wörth Castle remodeled in the Renaissance style

If the city and the clergy had agreed on the persecution of the Jews, old contradictions quickly came to light again. The point of contention was tax levies from the clergy, which the bishop mainly claimed for himself and challenged against the city or the sovereigns within the diocese. Signs of the Reformation showed up in many individual events, the movement of the “re- Anabaptists ” was of great importance, linked to the fate of Balthasar Hubmaier , who was last tortured and burned for his convictions in Vienna. The dean's office in Wunsiedel was lost to the diocese. The local sovereign Margrave Georg the Pious allowed himself to summon the clergy of his area as part of a church visit and judged them according to their loyalty to him and their attitude to the new faith, of which he was a former champion. He had disliked clergy imprisoned or withdrew their income. The canon Melchior von Sparneck offers another example of the upheavals of this time.

Three years before his death, the bishop negotiated with his brothers Ludwig V and Friedrich II , and then with the cathedral chapter, for an early successor, a still minor palatine. The cathedral chapter refused his resignation and his pension claims, because they feared the gentlemen who Johann III. to earn his livelihood demanded to lose permanently from the bishopric to the Palatinate. At the end of his time as an administrator, he left behind a debt of 30,000 guilders .

literature

predecessor Office successor
Ruprecht II of the Palatinate-Simmern Administrator of Regensburg
1507–1538 		Pankraz of Sinzenhofen
personal data
SURNAME Johann of the Palatinate
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann III. from the Palatinate
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Regensburg
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1488
PLACE OF BIRTH Heidelberg
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1538