Dirk I (bishop)

Dirk van Holland (died at

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, 28 August 1197) was

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

in 1197. Dirk van Holland was the son of Count Dirk VI of Holland and Sophia van Rheineck. This made him brother to Count

Floris III of Holland Floris III (1141 – August 1, 1190) was the count of Holland from 1157 to 1190. He was a son of Dirk VI, Count of Holland, Dirk VI and Sophia of Rheineck, heiress of County of Bentheim (district), Bentheim. Career Floris III was a loyal vassal ...

and Bishop Baldwin of Utrecht. After Baldwin's death, Dirk was put forward by their nephew Count

Dirk VII of Holland Dirk VII (died 4 November 1203, in Dordrecht) was the count of Holland from 1190 to 1203. He was the elder son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon. Life Due to a civil war in the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Henry VI had to find ways to make fri ...

as candidate for the vacant seat at Utrecht. He was supported by

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

. However, the count of Guelders nominated

Arnold I van Isenburg Arnold (or Arnoud) van Isenburg (died in April or June 1197) was Bishop of Utrecht from 1196 to 1197. Arnold descended from the German House of Isenburg and had been provost in Deventer since 1176. After Bishop Baldwin II van Holland died Arno ...

for the seat, and Arnold was supported by the archbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and the pope. The impasse resulted in Dirk being recognised in the

Nedersticht The Bishopric of Utrecht ( nl, Sticht Utrecht) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in the present-day Netherlands. From 1024 to 1528, as one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, it w ...

while Arnold was recognised in the

Oversticht Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of Utr ...

. Both candidates travelled to Rome, where Arnold was consecrated as bishop by

Pope Celestine III Pope Celestine III ( la, Caelestinus III; c. 1106 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, ...

in 1196. Arnold died in the same year however, which allowed Dirk to be consecrated after all. Dirk died while on his way back to Utrecht, in

. 1197 deaths 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Prince-Bishops of Utrecht Year of birth unknown {{bishop-stub