Rupert of Palatinate-Simmern (16 October 1461 – 19 April 1507) was a German nobleman and clergyman of the house of

Palatinate-Simmern The House of Palatinate-Simmern (german: Pfalz-Simmern) was a German- Bavarian cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. The house was one of the collateral lineages of the Palatinate. The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided ...

. From 1492 until his death he was the forty-fifth

bishop of Regensburg The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.

as Rupert II.

Life

He was the son of

Frederick I, Count Palatine of Simmern Frederick I, the Hunsrücker (German: Friedrich I.; 19 November 1417 – 29 November 1480) was the Count Palatine of Simmern from 1459 until 1480. Frederick was born in 1417 to Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken and his wife, Anna of ...

and Margaret of Guelders. He and his brothers Stephen and Frederick matriculated in the juristic faculty of the 'Universitas Studii Coloniensis' (the old

university of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

). He suffered from a severe illness known as the ''Franzosenkrankheit'' or the ''French Disease'', a term covering both

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

and

yaws Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones, and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium ''Treponema pallidum pertenue''. The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin, in diameter. The center may break open and form an ulc ...

- it prevented him from exercising his office and eventually proved fatal. His bishopric was devastated by the

War of the Succession of Landshut The War of the Succession of Landshut resulted from a dispute between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich (''Bayern-München'' in German) and Bavaria-Landshut (''Bayern-Landshut''). An earlier agreement between the different Wittelsbach lines, the Tr ...

and its territories were altered by the creation of the dukedom of

Palatinate-Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg (german: Herzogtum Pfalz-Neuburg) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of ...

. One of those to whom he delegated his authority was the inquisitor

Heinrich Kramer Heinrich Kramer ( 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1487), which describes witchcraft and endors ...

, to compensate for the lower clergy's lack of energy in prosecuting witches and wizards in

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of t ...

Bibliography

* Michael Buchberger (ed.): ''1200 Jahre Bistum Regensburg''. Regensburg 1939, S.44f. * Josef Staber: ''Kirchengeschichte des Bistums Regensburg''. Regensburg 1966, S. 94f.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palatinate-Simmern, Rupert of 1461 births 1507 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Regensburg 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria Sons of monarchs