Razo (Worms)

Razo , also Raco († October or November 999 in Chur , Switzerland) was 999, for a short time, appointed Bishop of Worms .

Life

Razo came from a noble family in the Bremen area , which is why he is often called Razo von Bremen .

He belonged to the Bremen cathedral chapter , as well as the imperial court chapel and held the office of court chaplain to Emperor Otto III. The writer Caspar Schneider called him in 1685 in his description of the entire Rhine river an "aristocratic and virtuous gentleman" .

On September 4, 999, Bishop Franko of Worms , a close friend of the emperor, died in Rome . Thereupon he appointed the court chaplain Erpo as his successor on October 1 of that year , but he died three days later.

Razo von Bremen, who was staying in Italy in the vicinity of the ruler, asked him for the Worms bishop's seat and received it. By order of the emperor, he had previously transferred the bones of Pope Benedict V , who was condemned to exile at a Roman synod in 964 and died some time later in Hamburg , for burial in Rome.

Immediately after his appointment, Razo left Rome and wanted to go to his new diocese. He only got as far as Chur, where he unexpectedly fell ill, died and was also buried. The Worms chronicler Friedrich Zorn (1538–1610) handed down the grave inscription. The exact date of his death is not known, including the date of his appointment. However, it is said that he passed away 14 days after his appointment. Since the date of his predecessor's death is October 4, 999, Razo's time of death is likely to be October or November 999. As a bishop he was never in Worms.

In the vita of his successor Burchard von Worms , written by an unnamed chronicler around 1030 , it says:

“ After his (Erpos) death there were again a number of those who were incessantly in the ears of the emperor with all sorts of requests and promises of money because of the bishopric. One of them, named Razo, who worked hardest and had promised quite a bit, received the shepherd's crook. He happily hurried back from Italy to Germany, but only got as far as the place called Chur and there he ended his life. But messengers returned to the emperor, brought him the bishop's staff again and reported Razo's death. "

- Vita of Bischofs Burchard , around 1030, in: Wormatia Sacra (commemorative publication on the 900th anniversary of Bishop Burchard's death), Dompfarrei Worms, 1925, p. 16

literature

• Josef Fleckenstein : The court chapel of the German kings. Volume 2: The court chapel as part of the Ottonian-Salian imperial church (= writings of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. 16, 2). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1966, p. 115, (detail scan) .
• Michael de Ferdinandy : The holy emperor. Otto III. and his ancestors. Wunderlich, Tübingen 1969, p. 437.
• Friedhelm Jürgensmeier : The diocese of Worms. From Roman times to its dissolution in 1801 (= contributions to the history of the Mainz church. Vol. 5). Echter, Würzburg 1997, ISBN 3-429-01876-5 , p. 24.
• Johann M. Lappenberg (ed.): Historical sources of the archbishopric and the city of Bremen. Heyse, Bremen 1841, p. 195 .
• Caspar Schneider: Detailed and absolutely correct description of the entire Rhine river. Knorz widow for Riegel, Nuremberg 1685, p. 459 .
• Friedrich Zorn: Worms Chronicle (= library of the literary association in Stuttgart. 43). With the additions of Franz Berthold von Flersheim, edited by Wilhelm Arnold . Litterarischer Verein, Stuttgart 1857, p. 37 , (digital scan with grave inscription).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wilhelm Schlaug: The old Saxon personal names before the year 1000 (= Lunder Germanic research. 34). Gleerup et al., Lund et al. 1962, p. 143, (detail scan) .
2. ^ Website from Regesta Imperii, with comments on the transfer of the papal bones by Razo
3. ^ Wolfgang Huschner : Transalpine communication in the Middle Ages. Diplomatic, cultural and political interactions between Italy and the northern Alpine empire (9th - 11th centuries) (= writings of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. 52, 1). Volume 1. Hahn, Hannover 2003, p. 261, ISBN 3-7752-5752-7 , (detail scan) .
4. ^ Henry Benrath : The Emperor Otto III. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1951, p. 209, (detail scan) .

predecessor	Office	successor
Erpo	Bishop of Worms 999	Burchard