Hartwig of Uthlede (died 3 November 1207) was - as Hartwig II - Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1185-1190 and de facto again 1192-1207) and one of the originators of the
Livonian CrusadeThe Livonian Crusade refers to the German and Danish conquest and colonization of medieval Livonia, the territory constituting modern Latvia and Estonia, during the Northern Crusades...
. Coming from a family of the Bremian
MinisterialisMinisterialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
at
UthledeUthlede is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany.Uthlede belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180 AD. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen, which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown -...
, he was a
canonA canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of
Bremen CathedralBremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
and a clerk of Duke
Henry the LionHenry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
of
SaxonyThe mediæval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
, House of Guelph, before becoming archbishop in 1185. When the Bremian
ChapterChapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches.The word is said to be derived from the chapter of the rule book: it is a custom under the Rule of Saint Benedict that monks gather daily for a meeting to discuss monastery...
elected him for Archbishop, due to the competitive politics within
GermanyThe Kingdom of Germany grew out of East Francia in the tenth century.The eastern partition of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 was never entirely Frankish and consisted also of large populations of Saxons, Bavarii, Thuringii, Alemanni and Frisii...
at the time, this was regarded a Guelphic triumph.
A canon named Meinhard, originally from the Augustinian monastery at
SegebergSegeberg is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, the city of Neumünster, the districts of Plön, Ostholstein and Stormarn, and the city state of Hamburg.- History :The history of the district is connected with...
(in Hartwig's diocese), was active at Üxküll among the pagan
LivonianLivonian can refer to one of the following.*Livonian people*Livonian language*Anything else pertaining to Livonia...
s, apparently attempting to gain converts through preaching.
Hartwig of Uthlede (died 3 November 1207) was - as Hartwig II - Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1185-1190 and de facto again 1192-1207) and one of the originators of the
Livonian CrusadeThe Livonian Crusade refers to the German and Danish conquest and colonization of medieval Livonia, the territory constituting modern Latvia and Estonia, during the Northern Crusades...
. Coming from a family of the Bremian
MinisterialisMinisterialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
at
UthledeUthlede is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany.Uthlede belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180 AD. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen, which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown -...
, he was a
canonA canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of
Bremen CathedralBremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
and a clerk of Duke
Henry the LionHenry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
of
SaxonyThe mediæval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
, House of Guelph, before becoming archbishop in 1185. When the Bremian
ChapterChapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches.The word is said to be derived from the chapter of the rule book: it is a custom under the Rule of Saint Benedict that monks gather daily for a meeting to discuss monastery...
elected him for Archbishop, due to the competitive politics within
GermanyThe Kingdom of Germany grew out of East Francia in the tenth century.The eastern partition of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 was never entirely Frankish and consisted also of large populations of Saxons, Bavarii, Thuringii, Alemanni and Frisii...
at the time, this was regarded a Guelphic triumph.
A canon named Meinhard, originally from the Augustinian monastery at
SegebergSegeberg is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, the city of Neumünster, the districts of Plön, Ostholstein and Stormarn, and the city state of Hamburg.- History :The history of the district is connected with...
(in Hartwig's diocese), was active at Üxküll among the pagan
LivonianLivonian can refer to one of the following.*Livonian people*Livonian language*Anything else pertaining to Livonia...
s, apparently attempting to gain converts through preaching. In 1186, one year into Hartwig's episcopate, the archbishop intervened and gave him the status of a bishop, in effect seizing control of missionary efforts there. The historian Eric Christiansen judged this to be part of Hartwig's attempt to resurrect his see's former glory, when it "had exercised authority over the entire Northern world". Papal records of 1188 indicate that the bishopric which had been established "in Russia" by Meinhard was recognised by the papacy as subordinate to the archbishopric of Bremen. In
LivoniaLivonia was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, despite a further decade of activity, Bishop Meinhard had made little progress and died in 1196.
In 1186 Hartwig and his bailiff in Bremen confirmed the Gelnhausen Privilege, by which
Frederick I BarbarossaFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
granted the city of
BremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A port city along the river Weser, about south from its mouth on the North Sea, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area...
considerable privileges. The city was recognised as political entity of its own law. Property within the municipal boundaries could not be subjected to feudal overlordship, this was true also for serfs acquiring property, if they managed to live in the city for a year and a day, after which they were to be regarded as free persons. Property was to be freely inherited without feudal claims to reversion. This privilege laid the foundation for Bremen's later status of imperial immediacy.
Hartwig prepared the subjection of the trans-Elbian free peasants republic of Ditmarsh, religiously belonging to the Archdiocese of Bremen but rejecting Bremian secular princely overlordship. He persuaded
Adolf III of SchauenburgAdolf III, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein , was the ruler of the Counties of Schauenburg and Holstein. He is particularly remembered for his establishment of a new settlement for traders on the banks of the Alster near the Neue Burg in Hamburg.- Descent :Adolf III was the only son of Count Adolf...
, Count of Holstein, to waive his claim to Ditmarsh in return for regular dues levied from the to be subjected Ditmarsians. In 1187 and 1188 Hartwig and his ally Maurice I, Count of Oldenburg heading their troops invaded Ditmarsh. The free peasants promised to pay him dues, only to mock about him, once he and his soldiers had left. The Ditmarsians gained support by
ValdemarValdemar Knudsen was a prince of Denmark. His mother gave birth to him as the posthumous illigitimate son of Canute V of Denmark...
, steward of the Duchy of Schleswig and Bishop of Schleswig. Hartwig, owing dues to Adolf III and the soldiers' pay to Maurice I, was trapped. He had to cede the dues of three years, levied from Bremian
MinisterialisMinisterialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
families, to Maurice I and Adolf III. Hartwig now tried to impose an extra tax of 200 Bremian Marks onto the
burgherBurgher may refer to:* A formally defined class in medieval German cities, usually the only group from which city officials could be drawn. The equivalent in German of burgess or bourgeoisie.* More loosely, a member of the urban middle class, or...
s of the city of
BremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A port city along the river Weser, about south from its mouth on the North Sea, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area...
, but the city refused and gained support by Frederick I
Barbarossa, whom the city helped with fully equipped
cogsA cog is a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were generally built of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia. This vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigged single sail...
and remittances of funds in the
Third CrusadeThe Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin ....
to the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
. Between April and June 1189 the dispute between the city and the prince-Archbishop escalated to uproar so that Hartwig had to leave the city.
While Frederick I together with King
Richard Plantagenêt the LionheartRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199.He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
and - among others - Adolf III left for the Third Crusade, Frederick's defeated rival, Henry
the Lion, Richard's brother-in-law, promised to stay calm in English exile. But instead Henry returned in September 1189 and Hartwig warmly welcomed him in
StadeStade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
and ceded him the Bremian County of Stade with the pertaining revenues. Henry
the Lion invaded the County of Holstein, whose absent ruler Adolf III, a former vassal of Henry, he blamed for
felonyA felony is a serious crime in the United States and previously other common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
. Meanwile Frederick I's son
Henry VIHenry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
, holding the imperial stake, and his troops seized most of Henry
the Lion's allodially owned Guelphic possessions around the city of
Brunswick-Australia:* Brunswick, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne* Brunswick Junction, Western Australia, a town near Bunbury often referred to simply as "Brunswick"* Brunswick Heads, a town on the North Coast of New South Wales...
, but not the city itself. Arriving at Bremen in 1190, Henry VI withdrew Hartwig's princely competences (
regaliaRegalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'.- Regalia in the Abstract:...
) and forced him to England and then
LüneburgLüneburg, also known as Lueneburg and Lunenburg in English, is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about 45 km — a thirty-minute train ride — southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner...
in exile, returning after a few years. Henry VI and Henry
the Lion reached a peace settlement. Adolf III regained Holstein, an imperial fief, and took the County of Stade, a Bremian fief. Henry VI granted the city of Bremen all prince-episcopal revenues levied in the city, such as fines payable to the prince-archiepiscopal bailiff in Bremen, tolls and the
seigniorageSeigniorage , also spelled seignorage or seigneurage, is the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency.-Overview:Seigniorage derived from specie - metal coins - arises from the difference between the face value of a coin and the cost of producing, distributing and retiring it from...
s of the mint.
In 1192 the Bremian Chapter didn't wait any longer for a papal dismissal of Hartwig and unauthorisedly elected Bishop Valdemar as its new Prince-Archbishop - encouraged by Henry VI. Valdemar welcomed his election, hoping his new position could be helpful in his dispute with
Duke Valdemar of SchleswigValdemar II , called Valdemar the Conqueror or Valdemar the Victorious , was the King of Denmark from November 12, 1202 until his death in 1241...
and his elder brother
Canute VI of DenmarkCanute VI was King of Denmark . Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk.-Life:...
. Before entering the Prince-Archbishopric he won the support of Ditmarsh. Duke Valdemar and Canute VI realised the threat Prince-Archbishop Valdemar presented and caught him in 1193, keeping him in captivity until 1206.
In 1193 Henry
the Lion's son
Henry the YoungerHenry was count palatine of the Rhine from 6 August 1195 to 1213.Henry was the eldest son of Duke Henry the Lion, from his marriage to Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony. He grew up in England and became count palatine of the Rhine through his 1193 marriage to Agnes, heir to the Staufen count...
married a cousin of Henry VI and in March 1194 the two Henrys reconciled. Thus Hartwig could consider to regain the Bremian see. In July 1194 Ulrich,
Prince-Bishop of MindenThe Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden.The diocese was founded by Charlemagne in 803, after he had conquered the Saxons. It was subordinate to the Archbishopric of Cologne. It became the Prince-Bishopric of Minden in 1180,...
, and Rudolf I, Prince-Bishop of Verden negotiated with the Bremian Chapter an agreement under which conditions Hartwig could return to the see. Hartwig obliged himself not to pledge or enfeoff the revenues from his prince-archiepiscopal
estatesAn estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
, any reverted Bremian vassal fief (like Ditmarsh or the County of Stade) or the tax revenues levied in the cities of Bremen and Stade without the consent of the Chapter.
The
burgherBurgher may refer to:* A formally defined class in medieval German cities, usually the only group from which city officials could be drawn. The equivalent in German of burgess or bourgeoisie.* More loosely, a member of the urban middle class, or...
s of Bremen refused to pay Hartwig the prince-archiepiscopal revenues, arguing Henry VI would first have to re-enfeoff Hartwig with his princely power. Also Adolf III refused to provide dues from the Bremian County of Stade. Hartwig therefore excommunicated Adolf III and imposed the
interdictIn the Roman Catholic Church, the word interdict usually refers to an ecclesiastical penalty. Interdicts may be real, local or personal. A personal interdict pertains to one or more persons. A real or local interdict, which is no longer a part of canon law, suspends all public worship and...
upon the city of Bremen and the entire Bremian diocese.
In October 1195 at the
DietThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
in
GelnhausenGelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig...
Adolf III and Hartwig reached an agreement, which Henry VI confirmed. Adolf III would further administer the County of Stade and keep a third of all its revenues for himself. In the same year Hartwig had convinced
Pope Celestine IIIPope Celestine III , born Giacinto Bobone, was elected Pope on March 21, 1191, and reigned until his death. He was born into the noble Orsini family, though he was only a deacon before becoming Pope...
to confer the same spiritual benefits gained by
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
ine crusaders also to Catholics visiting the valley of the Western Dvina.
In 1196 Hartwig appointed the Cistercian Berthold, abbot of Loccum, to fill the vacancy at Üxküll. In 1197 Hartwig - together with Henry VI, Adolf III and many others - headed for the Crusade to the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
, which ended prematurely when Henry VI died of malaria. In 1198,
Pope Innocent IIIPope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. He was born with the name Lotario de Conti.-Early life and election to the Papacy:Lotario de' Conti was born Gavignano, near Anagni...
repeated Celestine's privileges, while an expedition to Livonia was being prepared. Prince-Archbishop Hartwig recruited an army of
SaxonThe Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory settled by the original Saxons firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An...
crusaders which were sent to Livonia under Bishop
Berthold of HanoverBerthold of Hanover was a German Cistercian and Bishop of Livonia, who met his death in a crusade against the pagan Livonians.-Life:...
in 1198. Unfortunately for the Saxons, however, their army was defeated and the bishop martyred in the same year.
Not being discouraged, Hartwig appointed another canon of Bremen, his nephew Albert von Buxhövden, as the new Bishop of Üxküll. Together they recruited another large army of Saxon knights, eventually sending an expedition of 500 armed "pilgrims" in 13 naval vessels. Bishop Albert's campaigns were more successful, removing his see to a new site at
RigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava...
and founding a viable crusader state. Prince-Archbishop Hartwig died on November 3, 1207, while this was ongoing. Hartwig was buried in the old St. Angar's church in Bremen.