Unni

Unni († September 17, 936 in Birka ) was Archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg from 916 to 936 .

Nothing is known about its origin. Gerd Althoff counts him among the Billungers . When Unni accompanied Leidrad, elected by the people and cathedral chapter, to his appointment as archbishop to King Konrad I in 916, the king presented him with the shepherd's crook instead of Leidrich .

Unni continued the Nordic mission neglected under Hoger and Reginwart . This had meanwhile suffered serious setbacks. In Denmark, Gorm the Elder persecuted the Christians prosecuted by Ansgar and Rimbert . Only when Heinrich I was able to penetrate across the Schlei into Denmark did Gorm have to grant the priests access to his land and place them under his protection. Unni found a willing supporter in Gorm's son Harald Blaatand . Following his first predecessor Ansgar, he personally took over the mission on the Danish islands and traveled to Sweden. There, in Birka , he fell ill shortly before he wanted to return home and died on September 17, 936. His head was brought back to Bremen and buried in front of the main altar of Bremen Cathedral . The burial mound in Birka, under which his body rested, was long considered a sacred site.

Unni neglected the mission of the Wende with only the Nordic mission in mind . He was later reproached for this because, unlike the Danes and Swedes, the Wends belonged to the empire .

swell

Adam of Bremen : Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum , first book .

literature

Wilhelm Sillem: Unni . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, p. 734 f.
Ekkart Sauser : Unni. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 1443. ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )

Remarks

^ Gerd Althoff: Noble and royal families in the mirror of their memorial tradition. Studies on the commemoration of the dead of the Billunger and Ottonians. Munich 1984, B 124, p. 323 ( digitized version ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Reginward	Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen 916–936	Adaldag

personal data
SURNAME	Unni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen (916–936)
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century
DATE OF DEATH	17th September 936
Place of death	Birka

[1] Gerd Althoff: Noble and royal families in the mirror of their memorial tradition. Studies on the commemoration of the dead of the Billunger and Ottonians. Munich 1984, B 124, p. 323 ( digitized version ).