Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz

Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz (also: Wenzel Králík von Buřenice ; Czech: Václav Králík z Buřenic ; * in Ledeč nad Sázavou ; † September 12, 1416 probably in Zwittau ) was Patriarch of Antioch and administrator of Olomouc .

Life

Wenzel Gerard came from the Bohemian noble family Vrabický von Buřenice and was chaplain at the Roman basilica Santa Prassede since 1370 . In 1380 he received a canon of the Vyšehrad collegiate monastery , where he was dean in 1390 and provost in 1397 .

In addition, since 1394 he was royal councilor and chaplain as well as Chancellor Wenceslas IV , whom he served so faithfully that he was also called "Králík" (= little king ). After the king intended in 1393 to establish another suffragan diocese of Prague in western Bohemia, which the Benedictine monastery in Kladrau should serve as a donation , he envisaged Wenceslaus Gerard von Burenitz as its first bishop . This plan led to a serious dispute with the Prague Archbishop Johann von Jenstein , who opposed a downsizing of his diocese and the associated reduction in diocesan income. The Prague vicar general Johannes von Nepomuk fell victim to the conflict between the king and Johannes von Jenstein .

At the request of King Wenceslas, Pope Boniface IX appointed. on April 11, 1397 Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz as Patriarch of Antioch and administrator of the Kladrau monastery. In addition, he became canon of Prague in 1399 and canon of St. George on the Hradschin in 1401 and archdeacon of Prerau . After he had become chief scribe in 1400, he took part as the king's diplomat at the Pisan Council , from which he was sent to Venice, where he stood up against the deposed Pope Gregory XII. turned. He was also used as a mediator in a dispute between the king and Bohemian nobles and the Prague Archbishop Zbynko Zajíc von Hasenburg .

When the Archbishop of Prague Sigismund Albík von Uničov resigned his office in 1412 , Wenceslaus Gerard von Burenitz gave him the Vyšehrad provost and became himself “commendatarius perpetuus ecclesiae Olomucensis”. Shortly afterwards he took the oath of his feudal people in Kremsier . After the Olomouc Bishop Konrad von Vechta became Archbishop of Prague, Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz became administrator in Olomouc.

In Olomouc, where he was not popular, there was a dispute with the cathedral chapter and the cathedral dean Wilhelm Kortelangen, who accused their administrator of, among other things, squandering the church's assets, but this could not be proven. However, Wenceslaus Gerard sold the episcopal estates Melice ( Meilitz ) and Modřice ( Mödritz ) and used a loan taken up by the cathedral chapter for the trip to the council for the purpose of the debts taken over by his predecessors with the Roman curia .

He did not decisively oppose the spreading Hussitism in his diocese , which was also supported by the Moravian nobility. At the diocesan synod in Wischau in 1413 , John Wyclif's views on the sacraments were nevertheless rejected and excommunication threatened for their dissemination . The diocesan statutes passed at the same time were based on the statutes of the former Prague Archbishop Ernst von Pardubitz and the Olomouc Bishop Johannes XI. Mráz aligned. Among other things, they were supposed to regulate the life of the priests and thereby counter Jan Hus's criticism .

Antipope John XXIII. 1414 called on the Leitomischler Bishop Johann Bucka the Iron to take action against Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz and other supporters of Hus. However, Wenzel Gerard did not respond to the admonitions. Ernst, after he was threatened with charges at the council court in 1416 for supporting the heretics, he signed, presumably under pressure from his cathedral chapter, with John the Iron an agreement on the persecution of the Hussites and the defense of the diocesan priests. The contract had no effect, as Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz died shortly afterwards. His body was buried in the Olomouc Cathedral.

literature

• Šťepán Kohout: Wenzel Gerard von Burenitz (Králik) († 1416) . In: Erwin Gatz , The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1448 , ISBN 3-428-10303-3 , pp. 517-518

predecessor	Office	successor
Konrad II of Vechta	Administrator of Olomouc 1413-1416	John XII. from Bucca