Engelbert II of Berg

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Engelbert II of Berg bigraphy, stories - Archbishop of Cologne

Engelbert II of Berg : biography

– 7 November 1225

Count Engelbert II of Berg, also known as Saint Engelbert, Engelbert of Cologne, Engelbert I, Archbishop of Cologne or Engelbert I of Berg, Archbishop of Colognethe description "Engelbert I of Berg" can refer either to Count Engelbert I of Berg or to the subject of this article, his son, Count Engelbert II of Berg, if referred to by his ecclesiastical office, when the form "Engelbert I of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne" sometimes occurs besides the more usual "Engelbert I of Cologne". (1185 or 1186, Schloss Burg – 7 November 1225, Gevelsberg) was Archbishop of Cologne and a saint; he was the victim of a notorious murder by a member of his own family.

Early life

Engelbert was born in 1185 or 1186 in Schloss Burg (the present Burg an der Wupper), the younger son of Count Engelbert I of Berg (d. 1189) and his wife Margarete of Guelders. He was educated at the cathedral school in Cologne. From 1198 (at the age of twelve or thirteen) he held the office of Provost of St. George in Cologne and from 1199 to 1216 he also held the office of cathedral provost at Cologne Cathedral. He further acquired at various times a number of other provostships: in St. Severin in Cologne, Aachen, Deventer and Zutphen. Although in 1203 he was elected Bishop of Münster he declined, because of his age.

In 1206, on account of his support for his cousin Adolf I of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne, in the interests of Philip of Swabia against Otto of Brunswick, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III, but on his submission in 1208 he was pardoned. In 1212, as an act of penance for his earlier rebellion, he took part in the Albigensian Crusade. He gave his allegiance to the future Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor after the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

Death

Memorial to the assassinated Archbishop in [[Gevelsberg]]

Engelbert earned the respect and affection of his subjects through his devotion to justice and his energy in maintaining law, and took great pains to ensure the well-being of the religious within his authority. However, his effectiveness in achieving his goals by all means necessary, including military action, his allegiance to the pope and the emperor, and his uncompromising defence of the law and the rights of religious persons and bodies, brought him into conflict with the nobility, including his own family, and this led to his death.

His cousin Count Frederick of Isenbergalso sometimes referred to as of "Isenburg" was Vogt of Essen Abbey, and was abusing his position by defrauding the nuns. Engelbert was determined to protect their interests, and sought to bring Frederick to justice. On 7 November 1225 as they returned together from Soest, where they had attended a judicial hearing, to Cologne in a defile near the present-day Gevelsberg near Schwelm, he was killed, possibly murdered, by Frederick.

It seems probable that behind the attack, which may have been intended to take Engelbert captive rather than kill him, was a whole group of disaffected nobility, in whose view the archbishop represented a major threat to their interests.

Engelbert’s body was taken to Cologne on a dung-cart, and when examined, found to have forty-seven wounds.

Archbishop of Cologne and after

Engelbert was elected Archbishop of Cologne as Engelbert I on 29 February 1216 and was consecrated on 24 September 1217, in which office he remained until his violent death.

Engelbert came to enjoy the trust of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, becoming imperial administrator (Reichsprovisor) in 1220 and guardian of the Emperor’s son Henry (Henry (VII) of Germany), whom he crowned in Aachen in 1222 as King of the Romans at the age of twelve. The archbishop remained the king’s tutor and guardian until his death.

It is not clear to what extent Engelbert was personally involved with the important treaty Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis ("Treaty with the ecclesiastical princes"), which Frederick signed on 26 April 1220, although as Administrator of the German Kingdom (Gubernator Regni Teutonici) he must have had at least some input. Clearly, however, in the increased powers it gave to all ecclesiastical princes it was of benefit also to the archbishops of Cologne, and the establishment and development of the new powers was part of Engelbert’s archiepiscopal strategy.