Zbynko Zajíc from Hasenburg

Sbinko Hase von Hasenburg (also: Zbyněk Zajíc von Hasenburg ; Zbinko Hase von Hasenburg ; Latin : Sbinco Lepus de Hasenburg , Czech: Zbyněk Zajíc z Hazmburka ; * 1376 ; † September 28, 1411 in Pressburg ) was Archbishop of Prague .

origin

His parents were Wilhelm Hase von Hasenburg ( Vilém Zajíc z Hazmburka ) and Anna von Slawetin and Libochowitz ( Anna ze Slavětína a Libochovic ). His father, who was intended for a spiritual career, acquired several benefices with the help of Emperor Charles IV , which he renounced and married in 1358. Sbinko had five brothers and four sisters. The older brother Ulrich Hase von Hasenburg ( Oldřich Zajíc z Házmburka ) held the office of a royal council under Wenceslaus IV . In 1390 Sbinko became provost of Melnik and thus canon of Prague.

Archbishop of Prague

After the appointed Archbishop of Prague Nikolaus Puchnik von Tschernitz died before the episcopal ordination, Sbinko Hase von Hasenburg was to become his successor. At the instigation of King Wenceslas, the Pope therefore issued him an age dispensation for the episcopate on November 20, 1402, which was followed by episcopal ordination that same month. He received the pallium on December 1, 1402. The formal election by the cathedral chapter did not take place until September 1403.

After he was a member of the royal council as archbishop, the state government entrusted him with the leadership of the Landwehr for the duration of King Wenceslas' trip to Breslau in 1404. During this time he led a campaign to Bavaria.

Sbinko took his official duties as archbishop seriously and also ensured an orderly administration and good economic management of his diocese. At the beginning of his term of office there were disputes with the Leitomischler Bishop John IV of Bucca . 1404-1408 he had the clergy visit, in 1411 the monastery of the Augustinian hermits in Wittingau . He organized several diocesan synods and sought necessary church reforms.

In 1408 there was a break with some of the professors at Prague University who advised him, including Jan Hus, because of their attitude towards John Wyclif . From 1409 he took decisive action against his supporters. He remained loyal to the Roman pope and sent representatives to the council in Cividale in 1409. After this failed, he joined and his church province to the anti-pope Alexander V. on.

First, he stood at the side of Jan Hus , which concerned his criticism of abuses in the high clergy, and commissioned him to investigate the inadequacies and deviations from the applicable law. After the Kuttenberg decree , however, Sbinko distanced himself from Jan Hus' radicalism and forbade him to sermon in the Prague Bethlehem Chapel. He condemned Wyclif's writings, had them confiscated and burned on July 16, 1410 in the courtyard of the episcopal residence. There was a serious conflict with King Wenceslaus when he had the incomes of the Prague clergy confiscated. Wenceslaus, whose prospects for the imperial dignity had been dashed, tried all the more forcefully to secure his hereditary lands. This led him to give in to the national Czech position of Jan Hus, who saw the high spiritual offices only held by Germans, while the Czechs were only allowed to form the lower clergy. At the same time, Wenceslas wanted to take revenge on the Pope and his representative, the Archbishop of Prague, for refusing to support his ambitions to become emperor.

In the course of the conflict with Wenceslas and his interference in church affairs as well as the spread of Jan Hus's theses, Sbinko imposed the interdict on Prague. Finally, he submitted to an arbitration ruling by the royal council, which required him to revoke it. After a reconciliation with King Wenzel was not possible, he first went to Leitomischl for reasons of security and looked for an encounter with the Hungarian King Sigismund , from whom he hoped for protection and help. This did not happen because Sbinek fell ill on the way and died on September 28, 1411 in Pressburg . His body was buried in St. Vitus Cathedral in 1436 .

The Hasenburger Missal

The Hasenburg Missal , which was completed around 1409 and is now named after him, has been preserved from the Archbishop's possession , an outstanding work of Bohemian illumination in the Gothic style of its time.

literature

• Zdeňka Hledíková : Art. Zbynek Zajíc von Hasenburg (1376–1411). 1402–1411 Archbishop of Prague . In: Erwin Gatz (ed.), Clemens Brodkorb (collaborator): The bishops of the Holy Roman Empire 1198 to 1448. A biographical lexicon. Volume I, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-08422-5 , pp. 593-594.
• Heribert Sturm : Biographical Lexicon for the History of the Bohemian Countries , Volume I, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-486-49491-0 , p. 546.
• Anton Frind : The History of the Bishops and Archbishops of Prague , Calve University Bookstore, Prague 1873.
• Life pictures for the history of the Bohemian countries, Volume 3, 1978.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Regesten Kaiser Karls IV. (1346-1378) , regesta-imperii.de

predecessor	Office	successor
Wolfram von Skworetz	Archbishop of Prague 1403–1411	Siegmund Albich