Günther I of Schwalenberg was a German nobleman. He was elected

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

in 1277, but had to step down in 1278. He 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 ...

of the

Bishopric of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

from 1307 to 15 May 1310.

Background

Günther relatives were the Counts of Schwalenberg. They were of the

and founders of the abbey in

Marienmünster Marienmünster is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location Marienmünster is North Rhine-Westphalia's smallest municipality by land area. It lies in the Weserbergland, in the state's easternmost dis ...

. They had a lot of influence on the clerical positions in Westphalia. Günther was a son of Count Volkwin IV and his wife Ermengard of Schwarzburg. His parents had eleven children. His brother Volkwin V was Bishop of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

. His cousin Widukind of Waldeck was Bishop of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

from 1265 to 1269, and his nephew Conrad II of Sternberg was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1266 to 1277. Three of Günter's sisters were

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

es: Kunigunde in Falkenhagen Abbey in

Lügde Lügde is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with c. 9,800 inhabitants (2013). The first written issue of Lügde appears in 784, in the annals of the Frankish Empire, when Charlemagne visited the village during the S ...

, Ermengard in Neuenheerse, and Mathilda in Möllenbeck Abbey, near

Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In rela ...

Life

In 1268, Günther became provost in the Dionysius monastery in

Enger Enger () is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, approx. 6 km west of the town of Herford, the capital of the district. Neighbouri ...

, and also

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

in Magdeburg where his nephew Conrad was archbishop. In 1272, he became thesaurer in Minden and cathedral custodian in Magdeburg. He was also dean in

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

. In 1273, he became vice-dominus in Magdeburg, later provost. Conrad died in 1277 and Günther succeeded him, after a disputed election, in which he defeated

Bernard III of Wölpe Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brave ...

, the cathedral cellarer. An important condition for his election was that the finances of the cathedral, for which he had been responsible as thesaurer, should be in order. Around that time, a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

broke out, because Margrave

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

of Brandenburg wanted his younger brother

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

elected as Archbishop, and had made an alliance with the Duke of Saxony against Günther. Otto's troops raided the archbishopric, and the monastery and surrounding areas suffered badly. Günther, supported by a strong force from the City of Magdeburg, defeated Otto in battles at

Aken Aken may refer to: *Aken (god), in Ancient Egyptian religion *Aken (Elbe), a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany *Aachen, a city in Germany *Aken (novel), a 1996 novel by Madis Kõiv {{disambiguation ...

and Frohse (10 January 1278). However, Günther grew tired of fighting Otto and in March 1278, he abdicated, even before he had been confirmed and consecrated. He was succeeded by his former opponent Bernard III of Wölpe. However,

Pope Martin IV Pope Martin IV ( la, Martinus IV; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), born Simon de Brion, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 to his death on 28 March 1285. He was the last French pope to have ...

appointed Eric as Archbishop of Magdeburg. In 1282, Bernard abdicated and Eric was consecrated as his successor. In 1307, Günther was elected Bishop of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

. His election was confirmed by the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

and Emperor Henry VII transferred the

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...

of Paderborn to him. However, he turned out to be a weak ruler. His provost,

Bernard V of Lippe Bernhard of Lippe (1277-1341) was a German nobleman. He was Prince-Bishop of Paderborn as Bernard V. He is considered the founder of the medieval Prince-bishopric. His territoriality focused policies are characterized by the fact that he was t ...

''de facto'' administered the bishopric. In 1308, Bernard vouched for Günther and in 1309, he chaired the Permanent Council as "Defender and Tutor of the safety of the Bishop". Günther abdicated in 1310 and was succeeded by his cousin Dietrich II of Itter. He probably retired to the abbey in

. He probably died shortly after his abdication, but the exact date is unknown. He was probably buried in the church of Marienmünster abbey.

References

* Hans Jürgen Brandt and Karl Hengst: ''Die Bischöfe und Erzbischöfe von Paderborn'', Verlag Bonifatius-Druckerei, Paderborn, 1984, , p. 135–136

External links

* http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/alexis/woldemar/wold112.htm * http://www.histsem.uni-freiburg.de/mertens/graf/riten.htm * http://www.von-alemann.de/magdeburg/stadtherren/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther 01 Schwalenberg 13th-century German Roman Catholic bishops 14th-century German Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Paderborn Archbishops of Magdeburg 13th-century births 14th-century deaths House of Waldeck Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Westphalian nobility