Reinhard of Blankenburg (11th century – 1123) 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
Halberstadt
Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...
from 1107 to 1123.
He was related to the later comital family. Reinhard may have not have been native in Saxony, but had Saxon relations.
As a young man, he went to
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 ...
to study
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
at the school established under the noted theologian,
William of Champeaux
Guillaume de Champeaux (18 January 1121 in Châlons-en-Champagne), known in English as William of Champeaux and Latinised to Gulielmus de Campellis, was a French philosopher and theologian.
Biography
William was born at Champeaux near Melun. ...
, at the newly founded
Abbey of St. Victor, which William had established.
His nephew, Count
Poppo I of Blankenburg
Poppo I of Blankenburg (c. 1095–1161 or 1164) probably came from the House of Reginbodonen and was Count of Regenstein-Blankenburg in the Harz in central Germany.
His father was Conrad, Count of Blankenburg. His uncle, Reinhard of Blankenburg ...
, the son of Count Conrad of Blankenburg, seems not to have been from Saxony, but Reinhard assisted him by granting him an estate. Another nephew by his brother, later known as
Hugh of St. Victor
Hugh of Saint Victor ( 1096 – 11 February 1141), was a Saxon canon regular and a leading theologian and writer on mystical theology.
Life
As with many medieval figures, little is known about Hugh's early life. He was probably born in the 1090s ...
, entered a local
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
of
canons regular
Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...
, but civil unrest in the region led the bishop to advise his nephew to transfer to the abbey where he himself had studied, which Hugh did, and where he gained a reputation as a teacher and
mystic.
[''CE'']
Reinhard died on 2 March 1123.
References
External links
Medieval genealogy
12th-century German Roman Catholic bishops
11th-century births
1123 deaths
Roman Catholic bishops of Halberstadt
Saxon nobility
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