Potho from Pothenstein

First seal from the Schwerin period

Second seal from the Schwerin period

Potho von Pothenstein (also Pottenstein ) († 1390 ) was bishop of Münster from 1379 to 1382 . In 1381 he was officially appointed Bishop of Schwerin by papal commission as the successor to the late Bishop Melchior , without actually being able to exercise rule there.

Life

Potho came from the Czech-speaking Bohemian aristocratic family based in Pottenstein Castle ( Potštejn ), which may originally have been related to the family of the Bavarian Count Palatine. It is not known whether he spoke German himself.

Potho was a cleric of the Leitomischl diocese , beneficiary of the Passau diocese , papal chaplain , canon in Prague , also canon of the Olomouc cathedral chapter , by papal commission at the request of Emperor Charles IV. 1360 dean of the Olomouc cathedral chapter, from 1369 to 1378 also Prague archdeacon , then royal archdeacon Court chaplain.

Potho was originally close to the Pope in Avignon . On the recommendation of King Wenceslas , he became Bishop of Munster by papal commission in 1379. He took office on September 5, 1379, while the regalia had already been awarded to him on April 30, 1379 in Prague. The episcopal ordination had taken place at the papal court.

But the arrival of the new Prince-Bishop Johann II, as he was called in Münster, into his diocese was not a happy one. Before the diocese border, Potho was attacked by the Count of the Mark and armed men near Hamm and robbed with his entourage. He was only just about to be captured. King Wenceslaus campaigned in vain for the money stolen during the attack to be returned. Immediately after his arrival in Munster, he announced several indulgences, allegedly with papal approval . He urged the believers to acquire them. A diocesan synod probably did not take place at that time. Even if he was later accused of greed for money, various documents in favor of spiritual institutions suggest that he was thoroughly interested in spiritual life.

On the other hand, he had little interest in the state castles . For lack of money, he had to pledge Horstmar Castle to the Count of Hoya . It is unlikely that he signed an election surrender to the estates .

He did not emit any notable impetus for the secular government of the Hochstift Münster . An alliance of various bishops and lords against the Counts of Tecklenburg , which led to the siege of Rheda , had come about before his arrival. In his time the evocation of a peace falls . A peace treaty with the Tecklenburg people seems to have only lasted for a short time.

Because it soon turned out that he was not familiar with the conditions in his diocese, the cathedral chapter transferred the actual administrative work to the then cathedral provost and later successor Pothos Heidenreich Wolf von Lüdinghausen .

Whether the cathedral chapter also called for Potho's replacement cannot be clearly proven. He himself must have recognized that he was not able to do justice to his duties in Münster. He resigned on October 13th. He unsuccessfully recommended Ruprecht von Jülich-Berg as his successor. The reputation of the bishop in Munster was extremely negative. Greed and alcoholism are mentioned in various epigrams. The fact that he did not understand the Low German spoken in Münster also contributed to the bad reputation . His foreign origin and lack of language skills made the relationship with the members of the diocese difficult. A last document as Bishop of Münster has been preserved from April 28, 1381.

After resigning from office in Münster, Potho was transferred to the bishopric of Schwerin immediately after the death of Bishop Melchior became known . Bützow Castle was the residence of the bishops of Schwerin at that time . The cathedral chapter refused to recognize him and elected the canon and dean Johann IV. Junge from among its members as (counter) bishop. The Electus died in 1389 at the hand of his own servant Dietrich Ziegelke.

Potho could not run the de facto government. Between the Pope Urban VI. Provided Bishop Potho and the Electe Johann Junge is said to have played out a result reported by Mecklenburg writers of old times: On the occasion of the papal deed by Bishop Potho, Johann Junge locked the latter out of the residential palace in Bützow with a ruse and called out to him: Je welck hefft Bützow and Warin , de blifft wol Bicop tho Swerin . (Whoever has Bützow and Warin will probably remain Bishop of Schwerin). Bishop Potho withdrew to Stralsund in order to gradually assert his right as a diocesan bishop from abroad , also in the Mecklenburg diocesan area, by means of spiritual jurisdiction, such as the church ban. Potho lived in Stralsund until his death. In Stralsund it became effective in 1385 and 1390 through the documentary confirmation of vicarages . But also in his abbey capital Bützow he was active on July 13, 1389.

The date of Bishop Potho's death cannot be proven with absolute certainty. But it seems to be before August 11, 1390, because on this day the successor Rudolf III. was already mentioned as a postulate. The place of death and burial are unknown. What is certain is that Bishop Potho could not have died in Rome.

seal

Bishop Potho had two seals and three seals are known from his short term in office in Münster.

The first seal is round. In a pointed oval section that extends above and below the border, you can see the bust of the bishop, entwined with flowers on both sides, with the crook in his left hand, his right raised in blessing. Below two standing shields in two arches, the one on the right contains two bishop's staffs placed in the St. Andrew's cross, the one on the left has four diagonal bars. The inscription reads: + S 'POTHONIS: DE: POTENSTEIN: EPI: ZWERINENSIS +++

A second round seal shows a coat of arms . In the engraved shield in the first and fourth dotted field two crossed bishop's staffs, in the second and third three left diagonal bars. The inscription reads: + S 'POTHONIS: DE: POTENSTEIN: EPI: ZWERINENSIS

From the term of office in Münster .

First seal (Plate 46, No. 11.): Within an oval frame, the bishop in regalia, blessing with his right hand, holding the staff with his left hand (breast figure); under the arches of the parapet wall the shield of the diocese of Münster with the Pothenstein shield diagonally right next to each other. Inscription: Sigillum Pothonis dei gracia episcopi Monasteriensis maius.

Second seal (Plate 47 No. 1.): The bishop sitting in regalia (cope), blessing with his right hand, holding the staff with his left. To the right the Stifts-Münstersche shield is attached to the left, the Pothenstein shield. Transcription: (Se) cretum Pothonis dei gracia episcopus Monasteriensis.

Third seal (Plate 65 No. 2.): The seal has been destroyed except for two fragments. In the upper one you can still see the head of the apostle Paul and the point of his sword, in the lower one the Pothenstein shield. Only the ending (Monasteriensis) remains of the inscription.

Literature and Sources

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling: The German bishops until the end of the sixteenth century. Vol. 2, Leipzig, 1858 digitized
• Alfred Rische: Directory of the bishops and canons of Schwerin with biographical remarks. Ludwigslust 1900.
• Josef Traeger : The bishops of the medieval diocese of Schwerin. St. Benno Verlag Leipzig 1984, pp. 115-120.
• Josef Traeger: The Bishops of the Diocese of Schwerin . In: The Stiftsland of the Schwerin bishops around Bützow and Warin . St. Benno Verlag Leipzig 1984, pp. 94-95.
• Margit Kaluza-Baumruker: The Schwerin Cathedral Chapter (1171–1400). Cologne, Vienna 1987.
• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.3: The diocese. Berlin, 2003 Germania sacra New Series Vol. 37.3 ISBN 978-3-11-017592-9 Partially digitized
• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.1: The diocese. Berlin, 1999. Germania sacra New Series Bd.37,1 ISBN 978-3-11-016470-1 Teildigitalisat
• Grete Grewolls: Who was who in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. The dictionary of persons . Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2011, ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6 , p. 7743 .

Printed sources

• Mecklenburg record book (MUB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Konrad Eubel : Hierarchia catholica medii aevi . Volume I. 1913, Monasterii, p. 159.
2. ^ Gerhard Müller-Alpermann: Status and origin of the bishops of the Magdeburg and Hamburg church provinces in the Middle Ages . Prenzlau 1930, p. 91.
3. ^ Compilation by Prof. Schröder, Münster April 14, 1957.
4. ^ Heinrich August Ehrhard: History of Munster . Münster 1937, pp. 183-185.
5. ↑ Munster Chronicles 72.
6. ↑ August B. Michaelis, Julius Wilhelm Hamberger: Introduction to a complete history of the Chur and Princely Houses in Germany , Volume 2, Meyer, 1760, p. 408
7. ↑ MUB XXI. (1903) No. 12059.
8. ^ Julius Wiggers : Church history Mecklenburgs , Hinstorff, 1840, p. 48 f.
9. ^ Bernhard Hederich: Directory of the bishops of Schwerin . In: Gerdes useful collections . 1737, p. 445.
10. ↑ Died before August 11, 1390 (on this day his successor Rudolf von Scara as Bishop of Schwerin can be documented for the first time.)
11. ↑ MUB XXI. (1903) No. 12116.
12. ↑ Rostock Wine Book . Rostock 1908, 86 No. 2224.
13. ↑ MUB XXII. (1907) No. 12257.
14. ↑ MUB XX. (1900) No. 11651.
15. ↑ MUB XXIII. (1911) No. 12933.
16. ↑ The Westphalian Seal of the Middle Ages, II. Booklet, I. Dept .: The Seal of the Bishops . Munster 1885.

Web links

• Literature about Potho von Pothenstein in the state bibliography MV

predecessor	Office	successor
Florence from Wevelinghoven	Bishop of Münster 1379–1382	Heidenreich Wolf von Lüdinghausen
Melchior of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen	Bishop of Schwerin 1381-1390	Rudolf of Mecklenburg-Stargard