Kuno from Michelbach

Kuno Michelbach (* in Michelbach-Gaggenau ; † 14. April 1128 in Strasbourg ) was a set up by the Emperor Prince Bishop of Strasbourg 1100 to 1123 during the pontificate of Paschal II. , Gelasius II. , Callistus II. And Honorius II. The The ruling emperors were Henry IV and Henry V. He received his investiture with staff and ring from Henry IV, but never received episcopal ordination by the Pope or the Metropolitan.

Origin and family

Michelbach coat of arms

He was born in Gaggenau-Michelbach from the local nobility, and died in 1128. He was the uncle of the later Bishop of Strasbourg Burchard von Michelbach (effective dates: 1141–1162).

In the 11th century a nobleman named Werinhardus from Ufgau illegally built a castle called "Michilenbach" on the Michelbacher Schlossberg. After the death of Emperor Heinrich III. , who legitimately denied the construction of Michilenbach Castle and had it demolished, his sons, Eberhardus and Kuno, were able to rebuild the castle. Finally, Emperor Heinrich IV bought the property and donated it to the cathedral chapter in Speyer. This Kuno was the future bishop of Strasbourg.

Live and act

Kuno, or Konrad also called Cono, was canon of Strasbourg and Speyer . He also held the post of Provost of Goslar . So he became Bishop of Strasbourg not by the grace of God, but by the grace of the emperor.

Kuno tried in vain confirming his investiture get II. To the episcopate by Pope Paschal. But the Pope had renewed the excommunication against Henry IV in the Council of Lateran on April 3, 1102 and logically did not want to come into contact with any loyal follower of the exiled ruler. Kuno resigned himself to this and acted as if he were a legitimate bishop, which was not uncommon for the time, as the investiture question had not yet been resolved in the long term. At the time of the Merovingians and Carolingians , it was actually common for lay rulers to appoint bishops with scepter, staff and scepter.

But Kuno again made the bad choice when he voted in Mainz in 1106 for the deposition of Emperor Heinrich IV organized by his own son Heinrich V. Kuno might think that the latter had become stronger between father and son, although he owed his place on Saint Arbogast's chair to his father.

Travel companion of Emperor Heinrich V.

Heinrich V accompanied Kuno to Alsace and chose Rouffach as his residence, so that the imperial insignia stayed in this city for a while. Because of them, the town of Rouffach was besieged and destroyed because its inhabitants accused the emperor of his immoral behavior and forced him to flee. He had forgotten the imperial insignia and took them back by force.

In August 1110, Kuno accompanied the Emperor Heinrich V to Rome so that the Roman-German king could be crowned as emperor. The Pope was willing to do so on condition that the Emperor renounced investitures with staff and ring. Since the bishops and celebrities loyal to the emperor who had traveled with them spoke out in favor of an immediate coronation without any condition from the pontiff, the Pope again refused. The emperor managed to flee the city through cunning and combat, thereby taking the Pope prisoner. While in captivity he was able to blackmail the Holy Father into agreeing to the investiture with staff and ring and to put the imperial crown on himself. The Pope affirmed everything on the condition that the investiture with staff and ring would appoint the bishops exclusively in their secular office and in no case in the spiritual one. Paschal II signed the treaty with 16 cardinals and crowned Henry V on April 13, 1111.

After he buried his father five years after his death in Speyer on August 13, 1111, Heinrich V came to Strasbourg in September and stayed there until a synod. Out of gratitude for the travel companion, Kuno received several privileges from the emperor.

At the Council of Lateran on March 28, 1112, Pope Paschal II, as expected, declared the contract forced by force to be null and void. Most of the Strasbourg chapter and of course Bishop Kuno stood by the emperor. The clergy, on the other hand, sided with the Pope and wrote him a letter in 1116 to complain about the oppression they had suffered for years under the imperial bishops Otto , Balduin and Kuno. In this letter they regretted that " noster episcopus nomen quidem dignitatis habet, sed officium minime ": so he did not fulfill his episcopal functions, especially since, as further said in the letter, he led a troubled life and got his bishopric through simony . Paschal II replied to them that they should stand firm and persevere in the good of the bishop.

Kuno turns his back on the emperor

The election of the next Pope, Gelasius II , did not bring peace. The emperor again initiated the election of some antipopes; this led to his excommunication, pronounced by the legate of Germania , Cardinal Kuno von Praeneste . The bishops and princes of the empire invited Heinrich V to a diet in Würzburg to urgently recommend that he obey the will of the pope. Otherwise, they would drop him off. The emperor feared dethronement and therefore went to Tribur to recognize the new pontiff Calixtus II. Then he traveled to Reims to settle the investiture dispute with a solemn act. Before that, the emperor had received a visit from a French delegation in Strasbourg: among others were Wilhelm von Champeaux , Bishop of Chalons , and Pons de Melgueil , Abbot of Cluny . They convinced the emperor that his crown would not be threatened if he renounced the investiture with staff and ring. Heinrich V consented to this and went to Reims with a clear conscience. On the way between Metz and Verdun , the Emperor met another delegation of two cardinals who assured him that if he kept his promise of Strasbourg the Pope would lift his excommunication.

Calixtus was expecting the emperor in Mouzon on October 23, 1119. He never came. He is said to have changed his mind in Troyes and returned. As a result, on October 30, 1119, the Pope declared the emperor's excommunication in front of all 427 fathers who had gathered in the Council of Reims .

This time, Bishop Kuno submitted to the council, which could indicate that he was always looking to his advantage. Kuno, cardinal and bishop of Palestrina, completed it, although his chapter remained in a schism.

Imperial document of the Worms Concordat (Città del Vaticano, Archivio Segreto Vaticano)

When Heinrich V realized that his loyal followers were leaving him one after the other, he called a Diet in Worms on September 23, 1122. It was to end with the Worms Concordat , which had become historic . According to this, the emperor would only transfer the enfeoffment of the secular power of the bishops with scepter.

The undignified departure

Kuno found himself in a delicate position: the Pope accused him of having bought his bishopric through simony; the emperor hated him for his betrayal; and finally, his chapter leaned against him because he wanted to sell the bishopric to cover his debts.

When Duke Berthold II. Von Zähringen was murdered in 1123 , Kuno was accused of this crime, probably a very good one in the context, and shortly afterwards he was deposed. He fled to the episcopal castle of Epfig , where he succumbed to an infectious disease on April 14, 1128.

Before his death in 1125 he founded the Baumgarten Abbey (pomarium) on a bongert (orchard) at the foot of the Ungersberg. The Baumgarten monastery was settled by Beaupré in Lorraine in 1148, but subordinated to the Neubourg monastery , which is derived from the primary abbey of Morimond via the Bellevaux and Lucelle monasteries . The monastery never gained greater importance.

Kuno von Michelbach also voluntarily donated a large part of the episcopal courtyard to the hospital at the request of the citizens of Strasbourg. Bishop Burkhard von Michelbach will inaugurate the new hospital church a few years later. As was often the case with rulers, secular or spiritual, Kuno tried in his exile palace before his death to obtain the forgiveness of God and the reparation of his angry deeds.

literature

• Ludwig Gabriel Glöckler: History of the diocese of Strasbourg. Printed by Le Roux, Strasbourg 1879.
• Francis Rapp: Le Diocèse de Strasbourg. (= Histoire des diocèses de France. Number 14). Editions Beauchesne, 1982, ISBN 2-7010-1037-3 .
• Base numérique du patrimoine d'Alsace (BNPA), Histoire de Strasbourg, Center régional et départemental de pédagogie (CRDP), Article: Werner von Achalm, read online [1] , accessed on July 27, 2014
• Strasbourg: la ville au Moyen Age (Alsace). Chapter 2: Le Moyen Age: la ville épiscopale 1002–1334. Cape. 2.1: La ville sous l'épiscopat de Wernher. Cape. 2.2: Strasbourg et la querelle des investitures. (online at: encyclopedie.bseditions.fr , accessed July 28, 2014)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Quote from Ludwig Gabriel Glöckler, see literature below, p. 178.
2. ↑ See web link

Web links

• City wiki Michelbach
• City wiki Karlsruhe Kuno
• Letter of complaint from the clergy of Strasbourg and Pope Paschal's answer that they should courageously oppose the forced bishop (Latin)