Meinwerk (c. 975 – 5 June 1036) was the

Bishop of Paderborn The Archdiocese of Paderborn is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn.Immedinger The Immedingians (German: ''Immedinger'') were a noble family of medieval Saxony, descended from the Saxon leader Widukind. The most notable member was Saint Matilda (d. 968), queen consort of King Henry I of Germany. History They were important ...

family and was granted his see on the understanding that his property would pass to the diocese on his death. He is known as "the Second Founder of Paderborn". In 1014 and 1015, Meinwerk had two meetings with the

Emperor Henry II Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

to urge the continued reform of

Corvey Abbey The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...

. In 1017, he won a dispute with the Ekkehardinger over the rights to

Helmarshausen Abbey Helmarshausen Abbey (german: Kloster Helmarshausen) was a Benedictine monastery situated in the small town of Helmarshausen, now part of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, Germany. History The abbey was founded here near the River Diemel in 997 by the n ...

. A gathering of nobles under the king declared in his favour, though the sources give differing reasons for this. The most likely explanation appears be that because Helmarshausen was too poor to provide the proper ''servitium regis'' to the king and because it lay within the diocese of Paderborn, which meant the bishop already had episcopal responsibility for it, it made sense to make a formal grant of it to the bishopric so that the bishop could more effectively protect it. Meinwerk was highly suspicious of Haimerad, a well-known wandering hermit of unfree origins, and had him arrested and beaten, and his prayer-book burnt. Meinwerk's competence in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

is questionable. He was the butt of a practical joke by Emperor Henry II, who altered the words ''famulis et famulabis'', meaning "male and female servants," to ''mulis et mulabis'', "male and female mules," in a liturgical manuscript, which the bishop nevertheless read out loud without noticing anything amiss. The ''Vita Meinwerci'' is a biography of him and his times. His liturgical commemoration is listed for June 5.

References

Sources

Reuter, Timothy Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical i ...

, 1991: ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman *Bernhardt, John W., 1993: ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press {{Authority control Roman Catholic bishops of Paderborn 1036 deaths Year of birth uncertain House of Immedinger