Godfrey of Spitzenberg (1132 – July 8, 1190 in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

) was a close confidant of Emperor

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

and bishop of

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. Godfrey was the son of Rudolf I of Sigmaringen and his wife Adelheid. He belonged to the Sigmaringen-Spitzenberg family which was formed by the marriage of Richinza, daughter of

Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia (c. 1000 – 6 November 1078), also known as Berthold I of Zähringen, was a progenitor of the Swabian House of Zähringen. From 1061 until 1077, he was the Duchy of Carinthia, Duke of Carinthia and March of Verona, ...

, and Louis of

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen ...

, progenitor of the

House of Helfenstein The House of Helfenstein was a German noble family during the High and Late Middle Ages. The family was named after the family castle, Castle Helfenstein, located above Geislingen an der Steige in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, ...

. He studied law in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

and theology in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1172, he became capitular in Würzburg and imperial court chancellor for Frederick I. In the following years, he took part in the Italian campaigns against the Lombard League, and was instrumental in the conclusion of the

Treaty of Venice The Treaty or Peace of Venice, 1177, was a peace treaty between the papacy and its allies, the north Italian city-states of the Lombard League, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily also took part in negotiations and ...

in 1177. In 1184–85, Godfrey held the office of general legate in Italy in addition to the office of chancellor. On June 18, 1185, he was elected bishop of Regensburg. In 1186, Bishop Reginhard von Abenberg died in Würzburg, and Godfrey was elected successor and thus retired from the imperial service. In 1187, the Muslim Sultan

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

succeeded in defeating the Christian army of the

crusader states The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...

in the Battle of Hattin. At the Diet in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, papal envoys reported on the loss of Jerusalem, and demanded that the Holy Places be recaptured. On 27 March 1188, at the Diet of Mainz, Godfrey preached a crusade sermon and Frederick asked the assembly whether he should take the cross. It was decided to gather a crusade army in

the following year in order to reconquer the Holy Land. The army, which Godfrey also joined, had marched across the Balkans and crossed

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

against fierce resistance, until Emperor Frederick I drowned in the Saleph River in 1190. Subsequently, in

, many of the crusaders contracted disease; Godfrey also died from it on July 8, 1190. Before his death, Godfrey had determined that his right hand should be brought to Würzburg. The hand was severed from the corpse and sent on a journey to Würzburg. The messengers were probably attacked by robbers who suspected valuable items in the cassette they were carrying. In any case, the hand got lost on the way and so today only the grave slab of Bishop Godfrey is in the

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Würzb ...

. Godfrey may have been the author of the anonymous ''

Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick The ''Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick'' ( la, Epistola de morte Friderici imperatoris) is an anonymous Latin newsletter about the sudden death of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on 10 June 1190 during the Third Crusade. The letter wa ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey of Spitzenberg 1132 births 1190 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Regensburg Roman Catholic bishops of Würzburg 12th-century German Roman Catholic bishops Christians of the Third Crusade