Otto II of Lippe

Grave of Bishop Otto (II.) Von Lippe in the chancel of the cathedral in Münster / Westphalia, Germany

Otto II von Lippe († June 21, 1259 ) was the 28th Bishop of Münster from 1247 until his death . The most important achievement during his tenure was the win of Cloppenburg and Vechta and thus the establishment of the Niederstift Münster .

Life

He was the son of Hermann II von Lippe and Oda von Tecklenburg . He was among other things brother of Archbishop of Bremen Gerhard II. Zur Lippe and Bishop Otto II. Of Utrecht . Another brother was Bernhard III. to the lip .

Otto was canon at Bremen Cathedral . He owed this position to his uncle Archbishop Gerhard. It is possible that around 1231 he had the dignity of cathedral choirmaster. Most recently he was provost of the cathedral . As such, he first appeared in the sources in 1241.

He was elected Bishop of Munster in 1247. Only the cathedral chapter was involved in the election . He received papal confirmation a year later.

During his tenure, he particularly promoted the construction of the choir of St. Paulus Cathedral . In order to better equip the Dompropstei materially. He gave her the parish of Telgte . He promoted the monastery and monastery system in his diocese through donations.

In his time, the cities and the later estates stood out clearly than under his predecessors. Against the background of the feud between the Archbishop of Cologne and the Bishop of Paderborn , the cities of Münster , Dortmund , Soest and Lippstadt concluded a peace alliance in 1253. In 1257 the cathedral chapter and the city of Münster formed an alliance. Apparently the bishop alone was no longer trusted to keep the peace.

Its territorial acquisitions were of considerable importance for the history of the Münster bishopric. He acquired the Stromberg Gogericht . The county of Bocholt also came to the bishop as pledge. The purchase of the Vechta estate was of particular importance . These were old possessions of the Counts of Calvelage-Ravensberg . Associated with this were the count's rights to the middle Ems between Meppen and Leer . The trading center of Meppen was of economic importance. In the core area around Vechta, the bishop was largely able to enforce his rule. This was not the case in Emsgau. There he competed with the Counts of Tecklenburg. However , he managed to win most of the free courts in the area between Ems and Hunte . In 1252 he acquired the Gogericht Damme from the Diocese of Osnabrück by pledge . King Wilhelm of Holland enfeoffed the bishop in 1253 with Vechta and all goods in and outside of Friesland that Otto von Ravensberg had had as a fief. This acquisition marked the beginning of the development of the Niederstift Münster.

There was little connection between the bishop and the curia. In contrast, he was clearly on the side of King Wilhelm. He was present when it was elected in 1247. In 1254 he did not participate in the Rhenish League against the King initiated by the Archbishop of Cologne Konrad von Hochstaden . After Wilhelm's death he supported Richard of Cornwall and was in Aachen with him in 1257.

The relationship with Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden was good at first. In 1252, both concluded a settlement over the ownership of the city of Vreden . The relationship became more distanced due to the different attitudes towards King Wilhelm and the feud led by Otto's brother Simon von Paderborn against Cologne. However, this did not fundamentally change their relationship. Otto sealed the Essen (pre-) peace between Cologne and Paderborn of 1256 and later the final peace.

After his death Otto was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. Under Otto the secular expansion of rule was in the foreground. However, he has usually tried to achieve his goals in a peaceful way.

literature

• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.3. The diocese. Berlin, 2003 (Germania Sacra NF 37.3) pp. 313-323

predecessor	Office	successor
Ludolf von Holte	Bishop of Munster 1247–1259	Wilhelm I of Holte