Simon von Sternberg

Simon von Sternberg (also Simon comes de Sterneberg , also Symon de Sterenberch ; † January 25, 1389 in Waldeck ) served as Simon II. Prince-Bishop of Paderborn from 1380 to 1389. He comes from the family of the Counts of Sternberg , who are a branch of the noble family Schwalenberg represented.

Life

As the son of Count Heinrich IV. Von Sternberg and his first wife Heilwig von Diepholz , Simon was probably born in what is now the desert ancestral castle of his house near today's Sternberg Castle . In accordance with the interweaving of the regional nobility with the offices of the spiritual and secular territories, the Simons family was present in various offices.

Through the maternal line he was related to the former Bishop Balduin von Steinfurt . His father's second wife, Heilwig zur Lippe , had family ties to the Paderborn bishops from the Lippe family (so Bernhard V ). His aunt Agnes was an abbess at Möllenbeck Abbey . His sister Adeleheid had headed the convent for unmarried daughters in Fischbeck since 1373 .

From the beginning, Simon's life was geared towards a career in the Church. First he received a canon praise in Bremen , then he became cathedral dean in Paderborn around 1370 . After the death of Bishop Heinrich III. In 1380, Simon took the initiative and moved without a resolution by the cathedral chapter, but with a letter of recommendation from the Archbishop of Cologne, Friedrich III. (1370–1414), to Rome . Pope Urban VI spoke, probably with the help of the Paderborn Roman cleric Dietrich von Nieheim . (1378–1389) Simon to the Paderborn prince diocese. Dietrich von Nieheim was responsible for reorganizing the chancellery at the papal court . At the beginning of the Great Western Schism , Simon clearly took the anti-Avignon side in Rome . He swore on the new Roman formula and was ordained bishop of Paderborn in Rome on the first Sunday after Trinity (May 27th) 1380. On July 15, it was introduced to Paderborn Cathedral by the Archbishop of Cologne and received homage from the Paderborn estates .

Simon II also obtained the office of Marshal of the Duchy of Westphalia on July 16, 1381 . In the territory of Cologne, the marshal was the representative of the Archbishop of Cologne. Simon deposited a pledge of 6000 Florens, which he got back on November 16, 1382 after giving up the office.

Like his predecessor, Bishop Simon II was primarily a sovereign of the small Westphalian territory. Very few masses are reported. Auxiliary Bishop Wilhelm took over the sacred duties of his office on a representative basis.

Politically, Simon II could not share in the successes of Bishop Heinrich III. connect. His alliance policy was probably not successful because of the diocese's over-indebtedness. The bishop was also considered to be extremely unscrupulous. When the rector of the priestly community in the crypt of Paderborn Cathedral, Ludwig von Büren, was appointed Gaukirchpropst, Simon had him incarcerated in Dringenberg Castle , where he starved to death in a block of wood.

During the last years of his life, Simon had to take massive action against robber barons under the leadership of Herbold von Brobeck . During the siege of Brobeck Castle , he was hit in the abdomen by an arrow. He died of the consequences of the injury on January 25, 1389 in Waldeck . His grave is believed to be in Paderborn Cathedral.

literature

• Hans J. Brandt, Karl Hengst: The bishops and archbishops of Paderborn. Paderborn 1984, ISBN 3-87088-381-2 , pp. 154-155.

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry III. from Spiegel to Desenberg	Prince-Bishop of Paderborn 1380–1389	Ruprecht von Berg