Lupold of Bebenburg (german: Lupold von Bebenburg; born 1297, died 28 October 1363) was the Bishop of Bamberg from 1353 (as Leopold III). He is best known for his political writings. Lupold was born at around 1297 to of a Franconian family of '' ministeriales''. With the financial support of a canonry at Würzburg Cathedral, he studied canon law at Bologna under

Johannes Andreae Giovanni d'Andrea or Johannes Andreæ (1270 1275 – 1348) was an Italian expert in canon law, the most renowned and successful canonist of the later Middle Ages. His contemporaries referred to him as ''iuris canonici fons et ...

. He graduated ''doctor decretorum'' in 1316. After returning to Germany, he became provost of the church of St Severus in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

in 1326, a canon of Mainz Cathedral in 1327, then archdeacon at Würzburg and a canon at Bamberg Cathedral in 1329. From 1328 he was intermittently an episcopal official at Würzburg. This important position allowed him to play a part in episcopal elections and political decision-making. He was an influential figure in the

diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

.Jürgen Miethke, "Practical Intentions of Scholasticism: The Example of Political Theory", in William James Courtenay and Jürgen Miethke, eds., ''Universities and Schooling in Medieval Society'' (Leiden: Brill, 2000), pp. 225–26. In 1338 Lupold was excommunicated by the pope for having taken the side of the Emperor Louis IV. He was not absolved until 1351. On 12 January 1353 he was elected bishop of Bamberg, his native diocese, and remained there until his death on 28 October 1363. In the struggle between Louis IV and Popes John XXII,

Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful p ...

, and

Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bla ...

, Lupold was among the jurists who took the emperor's side. His treatise ''De juribus regni et imperii Romanorum'', dedicated to Louis' supporter, the elector

Baldwin of Trier Baldwin of Luxembourg (c. 1285 – 21 January 1354) was the Archbishop- Elector of Trier and Archchancellor of Burgundy from 1307 to his death. From 1328 to 1336, he was the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Mainz and from 1331 to 13 ...

, deals less with abstract ideas and Aristotelian politics than with historical considerations. Two minor works of Lupold's have also been preserved, one in praise of the devotion of the old German princes to the Church,In Schard, ut sup. the other a lament over the condition of the Holy Roman Empire.

Works

* ''Liber de juribus Regni et Imperii Romanorum'' (written about 1338-1340), Strasbourg, 1504. ** * ''De zelo veterorum Regum Galliae et Germaniae Principum'' (1341-1342). * ''Ritmaticum querolosum et lamentosum dictamen de modernis cursibus et defectibus regni ac imperii Romanorum'' * ''Libellus de zelo christiane religionis veterum principum Germanorum'' * ''Liber privilegiorum'', 1346 * ''Liber de ortu, cursu et occasu Karoli Magni et suorum successorum imperatorum et regum Romanorum'' (1325-1363), 1349

References

External links

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Online texts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lupold of Bebenburg 1290s births 1363 deaths Year of birth uncertain Prince-Bishops of Bamberg 14th-century German Roman Catholic bishops 14th-century German writers 14th-century Latin writers