Konrad von Eberstein

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Coat of arms of the Counts of Eberstein, Scheibler's Wappenbuch, 1450–80
Alt-Eberstein ruins, former headquarters of the Eberstein family.
Grave slab of Eberhard von Eberstein, brother of Bishop Konrad, in the Rosenthal church ruins .
Frauenalb monastery ruins, Gothic portal with the Eberstein rose.

Konrad von Eberstein also Konrad V. von Eberstein (* around 1185, probably in Alt-Eberstein , today Baden-Baden ; †  June 25, 1245 in Speyer ) was the 49th Prince-Bishop of the Speyer diocese from 1237 to 1245 , one of the most important of his Time and came from the Swabian noble family of the Ebersteiner .

Family circle and origin

In 1085 the noble lords of Eberstein were first mentioned in a document, their ancestral castle was Alt-Eberstein, today located in the district of Ebersteinburg of the city of Baden-Baden. Konrad von Eberstein was probably born on this family seat, as the son of Eberhard von Eberstein and his wife Kunigunde von Andechs .

The mother belonged to the famous Andechs-Meranier family . Their uncle Otto already held the bishopric of Bamberg and, through his mother, Bishop Konrad II of Speyer was also the cousin of St. Hedwig . Hedwig's niece, St. Elisabeth of Thuringia , is the daughter of his other cousin, Queen Gertrud of Hungary and also the daughter of St. Elisabeth herself, Abbess Gertrud von Altenberg , is one of the official blessed of the Catholic Church. Two cousins ​​of Bishop Konrad also worked as bishops, namely Eckbert von Andechs-Meranien , as Bishop of Bamberg and Berthold von Andechs - a personal friend of St. Francis of Assisi - from 1218 to 1251 as Patriarch of Aquileja in Friuli . The sister of the two church princes, Mechthild von Andechs, was an abbess in Kitzingen .

In the 12th century, the Ebersteiners, who originally come from Ortenau, came to large estates in the Ufgau and Kraichgau and built up a rich rulership in the northern Black Forest, which until then was still relatively uninhabited. Part of their property were fiefdoms of the Speyer diocese, they had lands in Alsace, in the Ortenau district, in the valleys of Murg , Alb and Pfinz , in Kraichgau and also in the Palatinate. The family monasteries and spiritual centers were the Cistercian monastery in Herrenalb (founded in 1148 by Count Berthold III - the grandfather of the future bishop - on the occasion of his return from the crusade ) and the Benedictine convent Frauenalb (1180/85 by Count Eberhard III - the father of the future bishop - established).

Eberhard IV von Eberstein , the brother of Bishop Konrad von Speyer, owned the Stauf rule in the northern Palatinate , which he had received from the maternal inheritance of the Andechser family, and was there in 1241 the founder of the Rosenthal nunnery near Eisenberg .

The sister of Bishop Konrad von Speyer, Hedwig von Eberstein, was married to Ruprecht (I.), Raugraf zu Neuenbaumburg. Her two sons Eberhard I , Raugraf von Baumburg and Friedrich I, Raugraf von Baumburg officiated one after the other as bishops of the neighboring Speyer diocese of Worms . Eberhard I. von Worms consecrated the church of the Rosenthal Monastery, founded by his uncle Eberhard von Eberstein on May 22, 1261. Raugraf Heinrich I († 1261), another nephew of this line, was one of the main characters in the deadly jealous drama about Duchess Maria von Brabant and is buried in Rosenthal.

Another sister of Bishop Konrad, Agnes von Eberstein, married Count Friedrich II. Von Leiningen from the Palatinate . Two of her sons were also clergy. Berthold von Leiningen officiated as Bishop of Bamberg, the other son, Heinrich von Leiningen , succeeded his uncle Konrad von Eberstein as Bishop of Speyer, and later left his entire fortune to the Church in his will.

Konrad von Eberstein obviously came from a very religious family that had relationships up to the highest levels and was also related to the diocese of Speyer and the Palatinate. Several saints and blessed of the Catholic Church, as well as numerous clergymen and nuns emerged from the families Andechs, Eberstein and their relatives. Their charity was extremely large and it was not uncommon for the church or individual monasteries to receive rich donations, sometimes even as heirs. The family biographer Georg Heinrich Krieg von Hochfelden therefore came to the conclusion in 1836 in his story of the Counts of Eberstein in Swabia :

"In this period of Eberstein's history you can see that this family laid the foundation for its decay through unmeasured donations to the church, since the monasteries Herrenalb , Frauenalb , Rosenthal and Allerheiligen were donated from their funds ."

Clergyman and bishop

Konrad von Eberstein was canon in Strasbourg and Speyer (cathedral chapter) in 1224 . On January 21, 1237 he was elected Bishop of Speyer and received episcopal ordination on Pentecost of the same year.

The Speyer historian Johann Philippus Simonis writes about Bishop Konrad V. von Eberstein in "Historical Description of all Bishops in Speyer" , Freiburg 1608:

“He was a pious, just and God-fearing gentleman who was not only diligently responsible for the services of worship, but also made the temporal welfare of his diocese very important. He was particularly gracious and condescending towards his poor subordinates, whom he himself heard with their concerns and whose requests he helped if possible. He had a peaceful mind, which earned him the beautiful name of a peacemaker. "

- Ludwig Stamer, Church History of the Palatinate, Volume 2, 1947

In 1238 the head shepherd granted the city of Speyer a tax privilege. Konrad von Eberstein and his episcopal successor (and nephew) Heinrich Graf von Leiningen were loyal supporters of Pope Innocent IV , who had fled to Lyon in a dispute with Emperor Friedrich II . Both bishops and the diocese of Speyer were therefore given numerous graces by the Pope; In May 1244, for example, a papal privilege was granted to the Speyer cathedral chapter and a request from the Pope to support the Speyer cathedral. As early as 1239, the bishop had gotten into a dispute with the city of Speyer because of their partisanship for Friedrich II. At the end of 1244, Konrad von Eberstein issued a warning letter against cohabitation in the clergy.

In contrast to his successor - who, despite all the goodwill, had predominantly political interests - Bishop Konrad von Eberstein particularly cultivated the religious and social aspects of his office. He died in Speyer in 1245 and was buried in the Herrenalb monastery - the family's grave.

coat of arms

The prince-bishop's coat of arms is usually quartered . The fields of the coat of arms alternate between the family coat of arms of the von Eberstein and the coat of arms of the diocese of Speyer, a silver cross on a blue background. The family coat of arms of the Counts of Eberstein shows a rose with five red petals on silver.

literature

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predecessor Office successor
Conrad IV of Tann Bishop of Speyer
1237–1245 		Heinrich von Leiningen
personal data
SURNAME Eberstein, Konrad von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eberstein, Konrad V. von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Speyer, Canon in Strasbourg
DATE OF BIRTH around 1185
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Alt-Eberstein
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1245
Place of death Speyer