Nikolaus von Nauen

Nikolaus von Nauen († end of 1253 presumably Riga ) was a Premonstratensian and fourth bishop of Riga .

Life

He was probably a son of the Magdeburg mayor Heinrich von Nauen. Around 1225 he was in the Premonstratensian monastery "Our Dear Women" in Magdeburg . The cathedral chapter of Riga, which belonged to the same order, elected him bishop around 1229 . 1231 confirmed Pope Gregory IX. the election of Nikolaus after Albert Suerbeer had also claimed the episcopal dignity.

He renewed the war against the cures and Semgaler and enlarged the area of Riga. After the defeat of the Brothers of the Sword at the Battle of Schaulen in 1236, he supported the petition for unification with the Teutonic Order . With his help he consolidated his position of power. In 1248 Nicholas baptized the Lithuanian prince Tautwil von Polotsk, who rebelled against his overlord Mindaugas . In 1251 the diocese of Zemgale was annexed to the Archdiocese of Riga .

During the reign of Nikolaus von Nauen, Dominican and Franciscan mendicant monks came to Riga as missionaries.

Nikolaus von Nauen died in 1253. Albert Suerbeer had already been appointed as his successor in 1245.

predecessor	Office	successor
Albrecht I.	Bishop of Riga 1229–1253	Albrecht II.

literature

• Chronica der Prouintz Lyfflandt (1578; 1584) = Henricus Lettus: Chronicon Livoniae. Livonian Chronicle (Latin / German). Edit v. Leonid Arbusow et al. Albert Bauer. Hahn, Hannover 1955 (2nd edition), Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1959 (reprint).
• Bernhart Jähnig :  Nikolaus. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 269 ( digitized version ).