Maximus (Mainz)

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Maximus (* late 4th / early 5th century ; † in the 5th century) was possibly the last Roman bishop of Mainz ( Mogontiacum ).

A bishop Maximus is mentioned in the oldest Mainz bishop list as the second bishop of Mainz. This list comes from the Fulda death annals of the 10th century and was compiled between 919 and 923 under Archbishop Heriger . He is named there as the successor of Saint Aureus , who probably suffered martyrdom during the Huns campaign against the Burgundians in 436, which also affected Mogontiacum. According to this assumption, Maximus could have worked as his successor in Mainz from 436 onwards. Eugen foreversees Maximus as the last bishop of the Roman Mogontiacum. The Roman period of Mainz ended at the latest after 456 with the takeover of rule by the Franks . A sedis vacancy at the Mainz bishop's chair following Maximus is possible until Bishop Sidonius , a historically tangible person, continues the continuity of the Mainz bishops in Frankish times.

In later versions of the Mainz list of bishops, further bishops of Mainz, which are often not clearly identifiable from a historical point of view or only vaguely related to time, are named. Thus, Theonest is inserted in later lists as Bishop of Mainz after Aureus.

In the translation report of the monk Sigehard of St. Alban from 1298 ("Passio, inventio et translatio sanctorum Aurei et Justinae"), who names the pre-Bonifatian bishops of Mainz who were reburied by Archbishop Hildebert of St. Hilary in St. Alban, Maximus also becomes mentioned. According to the historically unreliable "Vita Maximi" of Johannes Trithemius from 1516, half of Maximus' bones were brought from St. Alban to Halle by Albrecht of Brandenburg , Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg , in 1515 .

In the diocese of Mainz Maximus is venerated as a saint on the public holiday on June 27th together with the bishops Creszenz, Aureus and Theonest .

literature

  • Eugen Ewig: The oldest Mainz bishops' graves, the list of bishops and the legend of Theonest. In: Eugen Ewig: Late Antique and Franconian Gaul. Collected Writings (1952–1973). Edited by Hartmut Atsma , Vol. 2, Artemis, Zurich, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7608-4653-X , pp. 171–181.
  • Eugen Ewig: The oldest Mainz patronage and the early history of the Mainz diocese. In: Eugen Ewig: Late Antique and Franconian Gaul. Collected Writings (1952–1973). Edited by Hartmut Atsma, Vol. 2, Artemis, Zurich, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7608-4653-X , pp. 154-170.
  • Friedhelm Jürgensmeier : The diocese of Mainz. From Roman times to the Second Vatican Council. 2nd Edition. Verlag Josef Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-7820-0570-8
  • Hans Werner Nopper: The pre-Bonifatian bishops of Mainz. A critical examination of the sources on the beginnings of the diocese of Mainz and the reliability of the lists of bishops. Self-published, Mülheim an der Ruhr (Books on Demand, Norderstedt) 2002, ISBN 3-8311-2429-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedhelm Jürgensmeier: The diocese of Mainz. From Roman times to the Second Vatican Council. P. 14; Hans Werner Nopper, The pre-Bonifatian Bishops of Mainz, p. 49.
  2. ↑ Eugen Ewig: The oldest Mainz patronage and the early history of the Mainz diocese. P. 160.
  3. ^ Acta Sanctorum June IV, 63, 8 F ( text ).
  4. ↑ Vita beati Maximi episcopi Moguntini in the Repertory of Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages .
  5. ^ Own celebrations in the diocese of Mainz .


predecessor Office successor
Theonest Bishop of Mainz
after 400 		Sidonius
personal data
SURNAME Maximus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Mainz
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century or 5th century
DATE OF DEATH 5th century