Conrad II of Reifenberg (german: Konrad II.; late 12th century – 18 December 1249)Madey, cols. 392–393 was

Bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

from 1221 to 1246. During his tenure, the Bishopric of Hildesheim was raised to an Imperial State (''Hochstift''), when Conrad was vested with secular rights of a prince-bishop by Emperor Frederick II in 1235.

Life

Born into the noble family of Reifenberg or Reisenberg, he studied at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, and is said to have taught theology there as well, and to have preached against the

Albigenses Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...

. Back in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, Conrad was dean of the

Speyer Cathedral , native_name_lang = German , image = Speyer_dom_11.jpg , imagesize = 280px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , pushpin ma ...

from 1209 to 1216, and a scholastic at the

Mainz Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Mainzer Dom nw.jpg , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt = , pushpin mapsize = , relief = , map caption = , iso regi ...

from 1216 to 1221, during which time he oversaw the recruitment in Germany for the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...

.Pixton, pp. 203–204 He was appointed Bishop of Hildesheim in 1221, becoming part of a new wave of bishops with a reputation for scholarship, which was at the time not common in Germany. He was noted for both his ecclesiastical and temporal leadership of the bishopric.Pixton, p. 218 During his time as bishop, he engaged in a notable

disputation In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

with Heinrich Minneke, the provost of

Neuwerk Neuwerk (; (''Archaic English'': New Werk or Newark) is a tidal island in the Wadden Sea on the German North Sea coast, with a population of 32. Neuwerk is located northwest of Cuxhaven, between the Weser and Elbe estuaries. The distance to th ...

, and oversaw the canonization of the recently deceased

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

, which took place on 27 May 1235. In the same year Hildesheim's episcopal and capitular

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a ''Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

(the

Stift The term (; nl, sticht) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenan ...

) was imperially recognized as a state of

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...

, the

Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (german: Hochstift Hildesheim, Fürstbistum Hildesheim, Bistum Hildesheim) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bishopric must ...

. Conrad II died in 1249 in

Schönau Abbey Schönau Abbey (''Kloster Schönau'') in Schönau in the Odenwald, in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis in Baden-Württemberg, was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1142 from Eberbach Abbey. The present settlement of Schönau grew up round the monastery. ...

Notes

References

* * {{Authority control Conrad 02 Hildesheim Conrad 02 Conrad 02 University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Paris People from Hildesheim 12th-century births 1249 deaths Burials at Schönau Abbey German expatriates in France