Gunther or Gunthar (german: Günther; died 8 July 873) was
Archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palat ...
in Germany from 850 until he was excommunicated and deposed in 863.
Life
Gunther belonged to a noble Frankish family and the maternal uncle of
Radboud of Utrecht
Saint Radbod (or Radboud) (before 850 – 917) was bishop of Utrecht from 899 to 917.
Life
Radboud was born around the middle of the 9th century from a noble Frankish family near Namur. His mother was of Frisian origin and a descendant of the ...
. According to the poet Sedulius Scottus, Gunther was a man of great ability. He was consecrated Archbishop of Cologne on 22 April 850. For a long time he refused to cede his
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
Diocese of Bremen
The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic ...
to
St. Ansgar
Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" b ...
who, in order to facilitate his missionary labours, desired to unite it with his
Archdiocese of Hamburg
The Archdiocese of Hamburg (Lat. ''Archidioecesis Hamburgensis''; Ger. Erzbistum Hamburg) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the north of Germany and covers the Federal States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein as well as ...
. The affair was finally settled (c. 860) by
Pope Nicholas I
Pope Nicholas I ( la, Nicolaus I; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting d ...
Boso the Elder Boso (or Boson) "the Elder" ( 800 – 855) was a Frankish Count of Turin and Count of Valois of the Bosonid dynasty.
Family and issue
He was married to Engeltrude. They had the following issue:
* Boso, Count of Valois (d. 874)
* Teutberga (d. b ...
, had left her husband for one of his vassals. Henry Hart Milman says that the Count abandoned his wife. Nicholas commanded the bishops in the dominions of
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a se ...
to excommunicate her unless she returned to her husband. As she paid no attention to the summons to appear before the
Synod of Milan The Synod of Milan or Council of Milan may refer to any of several synods which occurred in late Roman Mediolanum or medieval Milan in northern Italy's Po valley:
Synod of 345
In 353 or 354, Pope Liberius wrote thus: ''"Eight years ago the Euseb ...
Teutberga
Teutberga (died 11 November 875) was a queen of Lotharingia by marriage to Lothair II. She was a daughter of Bosonid Boso the Elder and sister of Hucbert, the lay-abbot of St. Maurice's Abbey.
Life
For political reasons, to forge ties of kinship ...
; she married
Lothair II
Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder.
Reign
For politic ...
in 855.''Monumenta Germanica Historica, tomus I: Annales Lobienses, anno 855'', p. 232
It is very likely that at the time of his marriage, Lothar II already had a mistress named Waldrada. According to historian Baron Ernouf, Gunther was Waldrada's uncle and
Thietgaud Theotgaud (german: Dietgold; died 868) was the archbishop of Trier from 850 until his deposition in 867. He was the abbot of Mettlach prior to his election in 847 to succeed his uncle, Hetto, as archbishop.
Life
He took up his post three years lat ...
,
Archbishop of Trier
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Baron Ernouf (1858) ''Histoire de Waldrade, de Lother II et de leurs descendants'', p. 5 /ref> According to the ''Annales Novienses'', Waldrada was Gunther's sister.''Veterum Scriptorum: Annales Novienses'', colonna 537. The ''Vita Sancti Deicoli'' says that Waldrada was related to Eberhard II, Count of Nordgau (included
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 ...
) family of
Etichonids
The Etichonids were an important noble family, probably of Frankish, Burgundian or Visigothic origin, who ruled the Duchy of Alsace in the Early Middle Ages (7th–10th centuries). The dynasty is named for Eticho (also known as Aldarich), who r ...
.''Monumenta Germanica Historica, tomus XV.2, Vita Sancti Deicoli'', p. 679.
Gunther had become archchaplain of King
Lothair II
Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder.
Reign
For politic ...
, who wished to divorce of his lawful wife
Teutberga
Teutberga (died 11 November 875) was a queen of Lotharingia by marriage to Lothair II. She was a daughter of Bosonid Boso the Elder and sister of Hucbert, the lay-abbot of St. Maurice's Abbey.
Life
For political reasons, to forge ties of kinship ...
. At a synod held at Aachen in January, and another in February, 860, a few bishops and abbots, under the leadership of Gunther, compelled Teutberga to declare that before her marriage with the king she had been violated by her brother. Upon her compulsory confession the king was allowed to discard her and she was condemned to a convent. At a third synod held at Aachen in April, 862, Gunther and a few other Lorraine bishops allowed the king to marry his concubine Waldrada. Nicholas I sent two
legate
Legate may refer to:
* Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class
:*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period
*A member of a legation
*A representative, ...
s to investigate the case, but the king bribed them, and at a synod which they held in Metz, in June, 863, the divorce was approved.
Gunther and his tool Thietgaud, were bold enough to bring the acts of the synod to the pope and ask for his approval. The pope convened a synod in the
Lateran
250px, Basilica and Palace - side view
Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several buildings in Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the Roman Empire. The Laterani lost their properties to Emperor Constantin ...
in October, 863, at which the decision of the Synod of Metz was rejected, and Gunther and Thietgaud, who refused to submit, were
excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
and deposed. The two archbishops drew up a calumnious document of seven chapters (reprinted in P. L., CXXI, 377-380) in which they accused the pope of having unjustly excommunicated them. They sent copies of the document to the pope, the rebellious
Photius
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
, patriarch of Constantinople, and to the bishops of Lorraine. The pope, however, did not waver even when
Emperor Louis II
Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.
Louis's usual title was ''imper ...
appeared before Rome with an army for the purpose of forcing him to withdraw the ban of excommunication from the archbishops.
Though excommunicated and deposed, Gunther returned to Cologne and performed ecclesiastical functions on Maundy Thursday, 864. When, however, the other bishops of Lorraine and King Lothair submitted to the pope, Gunther and Thietgaud appeared before the synod which the pope convened at Rome in November, 864, asking to be released from excommunication and restored to their sees, but they were unsuccessful.
After the accession of pope Adrian II, Gunther and Thietgaud returned to Rome in 867. Thietgaud was now freed from the ban, but Gunther remained excommunicated until the summer of 869, when, after a public retraction (P. L., CXXI, 381), he was admitted by the pope to lay communion at
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...
abbey.
The See of Cologne had in 864 been given by Lothair to the subdeacon Hugh, a nephew of
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a se ...
. He was deposed in 866 and Gunther regained his see. Being under the ban, Gunther engaged his brother Hilduin of Cambrai to perform ecclesiastical functions in his place. After the death of Gunther's protector, Lothair II, Wilbert was elected Archbishop of Cologne (7 January, 870). Seeing that all efforts to regain his see would be useless, Gunther acknowledged the new archbishop and left Cologne for good.
He died in 873.