Siegfried I (Brandenburg)

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Siegfried I , also Siegfried von Anhalt , (* around 1132; † October 24, 1184 ) was Roman Catholic Bishop of Brandenburg from 1173 to 1180 , then Archbishop of Bremen . He had aspired to this post since his youth. He was the third son of Albrechts the Bear and Sophie von Winzenburg . As an Ascanian he always represented their interests and supported his brothers as much as he could.

First certificates

Siegfried entered the monastery of Our Lady in Magdeburg as a secular clergyman, probably before 1147 . In this context, the paternal gifts probably are some possessions in 1151. Documented handed he first appears as a witness on September 19, 1154 in Halle , together with his father and several brothers, which is a confirmation of a gift to his grandmother Eilika in Paul Inzell by Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen left. In 1155 he attended the inauguration of the church in the Leitzkau monastery together with his parents and siblings . In the next few years he performed his service as a canon in Magdeburg.

Historical environment

Emperor Friedrich I, Barbarossa was one of those Hohenstaufen dignitaries who constantly had to assert themselves against their princes and the church. Mainly because he refused to receive the imperial dignity as a papal fiefdom , a conflict with the papacy arose.

Heinrich the Lion , Duke of Saxony, Duke of Bavaria , Westphalia and Engern , strove for territorial independence. He was a cousin of Frederick I, married to the daughter of the King of England, and had powerful allies with the Slavic princes Pribislaw in Mecklenburg and Casimir of Pomerania .

Albrecht the Bear and later his sons, the Ascanians , were rulers in the Mark Brandenburg and Anhalt . They too strove for territorial independence, but above all for an expansion of their sphere of influence. They were opponents of Heinrich, but in power alone could not hold a candle to him.

Both princes formed a defense against the Slavic East and extended the sphere of power of the Germans into these areas.

The roles of Albrecht's sons were as follows:

First fight for the archbishopric of Bremen

In 1168, after the death of Archbishop Hartwig I, there was an ambiguous election for the Archdiocese of Bremen. Heinrich the Lion's enemies chose Siegfried, the son of his old adversary. The other party elected Otbertus, a dean of the Bremen cathedral chapter. Heinrich's vassals intervened ruthlessly, which led to an uprising among the citizens. The ducal party won and Siegfried had to flee. In this dispute, Emperor Friedrich I decided in favor of the Duke of Saxony in order not to endanger his loyalty. In addition, Siegfried was to him as an opponent of Heinrich and a supporter of Pope Alexander III, who was persecuted by him . not acceptable. Both elect were deposed and Provost Baldwin , an old, indulgent man who gave the duke all fiefdoms of the Bremen church, especially the controversial county of Stade , was installed. As a result, the fighting between the Ascan and Saxon parties flared up again at the end of 1168.

After Albrecht's death in 1170, due to the inheritance claims asserted by his sons, which Friedrich I in turn decided in favor of Heinrich, serious disputes resulted, which almost resulted in a war between the emperor and the Ascanians. The dispute with the emperor could be settled, if only because they could only assert themselves against the superior power of the Guelph Duke with the help of the emperor. But in 1175 there were battles between individual princes and the Ascanians, in which Henry the Lion also intervened.

Siegfried as Bishop of Brandenburg

The seal of the Brandenburg bishop Siegfried I from the year 1173. Lettering: SIFRID [VS] BRANDABVRGENSIS EP [ISCOPV] S. The omissions are added in brackets.

In 1173, through the influence of his friend, the Archbishop of Magdeburg Wichmann , he was elected to succeed the Brandenburg Bishop Wilmar . Much is not known about his official activities in Brandenburg, but he was found several times in the vicinity of Wichmann and the Pope.

Another fight for the episcopal dignity of Bremen

In 1176 the emperor lost his Italian campaign at the Battle of Legnano and had to renounce his ruler's ideals in a humiliating peace and bow to the Pope. This damage brought him against Heinrich the Lion, who, occupied by the fighting against the Ascanians, refused him the necessary help.

Archbishop Wichmann went to see the emperor in Italy that same year. Due to his influence and possibly a direct complaint from the Bremen cathedral chapter , Siegfried's claim to the archbishopric of Bremen was discussed at the Peace of Venice. Not only his choice, but also all property alienations carried out by Baldwin, were declared invalid after an “examination of the circumstances”, in reality a first consequence of the reaction of the emperor against the rebellious Heinrich. The day Baldwin received the deposition decree, in 1178, he passed away. In 1179 Siegfried urged the Third Lateran Council in Rome that all illegally appointed bishops should be forced to resign from their posts. After Baldwin's death, however, another supporter of Heinrich, namely Berthold, was elected. Both the Pope and the Emperor were at first inclined to endorse the knowledgeable and capable man.

In the meantime, Heinrich's situation changed increasingly. Since it was not possible for individual princes to effectively fight Heinrich, there were trials against Heinrich from 1179 on, but he always stayed away. This finally resulted in the imperial military journey of the emperor against Heinrich in the years 1180–1181, which ended with Heinrich's banishment and the splitting up of his property. Thus, Siegfried's brother Bernhard became the new Duke of Saxony, albeit with a considerably lesser extent of power.

When Berthold wanted to obtain legal ordinations from the Pope in 1179, the latter declared the election invalid because of some irregularities. Siegfried attended this council and immediately pushed through his election.

Siegfried's work in Bremen

In 1180 Siegfried was finally confirmed by the emperor and the pope. Successor on the Brandenburg chair was the former provost Baldram .

Siegfried transferred the county of Dithmarschen , which was awarded to the Bremen monastery, but was taken over by Count Adolf von Holstein, an opponent of the Ascanians, to his brother Bernhard III. of Saxony . In this way he tried to get the disputed area into the possession of the Ascanians and to protect it from attacks. This did not work. Count Adolf was able to enforce his claim to ownership when he finally had to submit to Bernhard's suzerainty.

In 1181 he waived taxes that were levied by merchants for mooring ships. For this purpose, the certificate was issued to the universitas civitas , which shows that the archbishop already recognized the city of Bremen as an existing institution at that time, although he was still the sovereign.

Siegfried often worked near the emperor and some important political business was entrusted to him. So in 1182 he had the task of fetching the sister of the young King Knut of Denmark , who had been betrothed to the emperor's son Friedrich of Swabia during the siege of Lübeck in 1181 . The emperor's relationship with Denmark was already very tense at this time and Knut only gave his seven-year-old sister over to avoid breaking the father's oath, but provided her poorly.

1183 formed a conspiracy among some cathedral clergy, where they opposed the Pope Lucius III. complained that Siegfried was a secular clergyman. The scholastic Heinrich von Bremen countered the allegations and Siegfried remained in office. Through generosity and pious gifts, the relationship with most of the citizens and clergy improved. The bishops of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, however, had for the most part renounced him.

Siegfried died in 1184 and was buried in a Bremen church.

See also

Sources and literature

  • Heinrich Hahn : The Sons of Albert the Bear 1170-1184. In the annual report on the Louisenstädtische Realschule , Berlin 1869 - The events surrounding the struggle between the Ascanians, Heinrich the Lion and Emperor Friedrich I are presented here in great detail and with extensive references.
  • Otto Heinrich May : Regesten of the Archbishops of Bremen . Vol. I, self-published by the Historical Commission, Hanover 1937 - Here you can find comments on existing documents and their whereabouts in relation to the work of the archbishops.
predecessor Office successor
Berthold Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
1179–1184
Hartwig II.
Wilmar Bishop of Brandenburg
1173–1179
Valeram