Sigismund of Saxony
Sigismund von Sachsen (born March 3, 1416 in Meißen ; † December 24, 1471 in Rochlitz ) was Bishop of Würzburg from 1440 to 1443.
Sigismund in the family context
Sigismund, also Sigmund , was the son of Elector Friedrich I of Saxony, the younger brother of Elector Friedrich II of Saxony and the older brother of Duke Wilhelm III.
Division of the hereditary lands in 1436
When Frederick I died on January 1, 1428, the three brothers initially peacefully shared the inherited land among themselves. Sigismund was awarded Weißenfels , Freiburg an der Unstrut , Jena , Weida , Orlamünde , Saalfeld , Coburg with the Franconian possessions and other areas in 1436 . However, in March 1437 he renounced the rule, entered the clergy and reserved only Weida as his place of residence. In a dispute between the Meissen burgrave Heinrich von Plauen and his brother Friedrich II, he appeared as an ally against his family. Thereupon his brothers attacked him in Weida and took him as a prisoner to Freyburg an der Unstrut .
Since Sigismund had opposed his family, u. a. Saxon historians of past centuries presented Sigismund extremely unfavorably. According to one source, the events unfolded as follows: Sigismund became a clergyman in 1437. However, this should not have been done out of conviction, but only in order to be able to permanently approach a passionately desired nun. His brother, Elector Friedrich, had him taken to Freyburg for custody because of this public nuisance . Because of his extravagance and his dubious lifestyle, he was deposed as Bishop of Würzburg in 1443.
Sigismund as Bishop of Würzburg
Despite the differences with his brothers, the turmoil of the government of Würzburg bishop Johann II. Von Brunn was seen as an opportunity for Sigismund to improve the political balance of power for the dukes of Saxony after Johann II was deposed with the Würzburg bishopric. He initially received a canon position in Würzburg . Further efforts concentrated on placing him as coadjutor at the side of the incumbent bishop and thus securing him a claim to the successor. When Johann II died unexpectedly on January 9, 1440, Sigismund was immediately elected bishop on January 10, 1440.
As an Elect , he now tried to gain real princely official authority and connected himself on the one hand with the Margrave Albrecht I Achilles , again to the displeasure of his family, and on the other hand with the antipope Felix V , which upset the majority of the cathedral chapter against him . Troops from Saxony requested by the cathedral chapter were repulsed by the margrave. In 1441 the margrave failed in the attack on Ochsenfurt , which was in the possession of the chapter. Sigismund succeeded in setting up his seat in front of Würzburg and exercising episcopal and princely rights, while the fortress Marienberg was still owned by the chapter. However, Sigismund gradually lost the support of the margrave and in Würzburg and other cities in popularity. With the help of King Friedrich III. a compromise was reached in August 1442 and Gottfried IV. Schenk von Limpurg Sigismund was appointed a monastery curator. In order to make it possible to renounce the bishop's chair, the Pope intervened and offered Sigismund the office of Patriarch of Alexandria in 1443 , combined with an annual pension, the irregular payments of which can still be proven in 1452 through the arbitrary intervention of Pope Nicholas V. The people mocked Sigismund as Niclaus Bishop when he moved through the country within the diocese without a permanent seat in 1443.
Exile at Rochlitz Castle
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Sigismund returned to Electoral Saxony , where he organized a conspiracy against his two ruling brothers. When the plans were uncovered, his siblings had him captured in 1444 and taken to Rochlitz Castle, where he had lived for some time in 1436. Here Sigismund had to stay in a lifelong banishment befitting his status.
He died after 27 years of exile at Rochlitz Castle and was buried in the Princely Crypt in Meissen Cathedral . A brass grave plate, which the artist Hermann Vischer d. Ä. shows Sigismund in episcopal robe with miter and crook, holding a gospel in his right hand. The Saxon coat of arms and the flag of Würzburg are shown. The metal plate was placed on a sandstone plate.
literature
- Matthias Donath: The grave monuments in Meißen Cathedral. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-937209-45-6 , pp. 341-344.
- Thank God Benedikt Schirach: Life of Sigmund, Bishop of Würzburg . In: Biographies of the Germans . Part 3, Hall 1771, pp. 295–336 ( digitized version )
- Gerhard Streich: Sigmund. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 365 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Franz Xaver von Wegele : Sigismund . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, pp. 297-300. (different year of birth and death)
- Alfred Wendehorst : The Diocese of Würzburg Part 2 - The series of bishops from 1254 to 1455 . In: Max Planck Institute for History (ed.): Germania Sacra - New Part 4 - The Dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Mainz . Berlin 1969. ISBN 978-3-11-001291-0 . Pp. 164-173.
Web links
- Sigismund von Sachsen in the personal register of the Germania Sacra online
Individual evidence
- ↑ see e.g. B. Wendehorst p. 167: Saxon chroniclers portray the attack on Sigismund by his brothers in 1440 as if they had rushed to his aid
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Johann II of Brunn |
Bishop of Würzburg 1440 - 1443 |
Gottfried IV Schenk of Limpurg |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sigismund of Saxony |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Würzburg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 3, 1416 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Meissen |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 1471 |
| Place of death | Rochlitz |