Principius (Speyer)

Principius was Bishop of Speyer in the middle of the 7th century and is ranked No. 4 in the official census. It is generally assumed that the reign was from around 650–659.

Principius is only listed as the 5th bishop in the oldest Speyer bishops list, which was created between 1078 and 1088 in the Schäftlarn Abbey . However, the group of the first 8 bishops there is incomplete and in disorder.

The bishop ruled the church of Speyer from around 650. King Sigibert III. († 656) confirms and confirms in a document the donation of the tithe already made by his ancestors in Speyergau to the "Nemeterkirche (Speyer was also called Noviomagus Nemetum), where the apostolic man Principius acts as bishop " . In the deed of donation he also names Bishop Principius his “father and lord” and adds the admonition that if divine punishment and royal injustice are avoided, no one should undertake to use the foundation in any other way than “for the entertainment of the clergy and for food of the poor " .

A closer relationship between the bishop and the king can be inferred from the high degree of favor in general and from the designation "Father and Lord" ; possibly he was his teacher or educator before.

The donation of the tithe in the entire surrounding area laid the foundation for the financial security of the diocese for more than 1000 years, up to secularization.

literature

• Sigmund Joseph Zimmer : Article Speyer ; in: Wetzer and Welte's Church Lexicon or Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology and its auxiliary sciences , Volume 11; Freiburg: Herder'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1882–1903;
• Jakob Baumann: History of the Bishops of Speyer, " The Pilger ", born in 1906
• Ludwig Stamer : Church history of the Palatinate , Volume 1, Speyer, 1936
• Hans Ammerich : The Diocese of Speyer and its history , Volume 1: From the beginnings to the end of the Salier period (1125) ; Kehl am Rhein 1998; ISBN 3-927095-36-2 . P. 20.
• Thieme / Sommer / Wolfe: "The big book of styles", Volume 5, "Die Romanik", Reinhard Welz, Vermittler Verlag eK Mannheim, 2005, ISBN 3-938622-53-9 , scan of the chapter on early Christianity in Speyer

predecessor	Office	successor
Athanasius	Bishop of Speyer approx. 650–659	Dragobodo