Werner von Falkenstein ( 1355 – October 4, 1418), was a German
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
and
Elector of Trier. He served as Archbishop from 1388 to 1418 as Werner III; he was the great-nephew of his predecessor
Kuno II von Falkenstein (1362-1388) and a member of the House of
Falkenstein.
Life
Falkenstein was born around 1355 probably at
Falkenstein Castle in what is now the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. He was the eldest son of Philip VI von Falkenstein (before 1332–1374) and his second wife Agnes von Falkenstein-Münzenberg ( 1337–1383). He initially served as
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...
of
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
and was appointed
provost of St. Florin at Koblenz on June 16, 1384, and later provost of the
Basilica of St. Paulinus, Trier. After the resignation of his great-uncle, Archbishop Kuno, on January 6, 1388, he became
coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence.
These include:
* Coadj ...
and, on April 3, was appointed archbishop by
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...
. On the September 21, 1388 he was consecrated as both priest and bishop.
On becoming bishop, Falkenstein successfully rejected his relatives claims to the money Kuno had accumulated in Trier, and used it to finance his numerous feuds, which he had with the Lords of
Schleiden
Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to Kall, on the Eifel Railway between ...
, Waldeck, Ehrenberg, the Counts
Katzenelnbogen
Katzenelnbogen () is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the '' Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich.
History
Katzenelnbo ...
at
Rheinfels Castle, and the cities of
Oberwesel
Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.
Geography
Location
Oberwesel li ...
and
St. Goar
Sankt Goar is a town on the west bank of the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.
Sankt Goar is wel ...
. The war with Oberwesel, the Weseler War or Weseler Feud, resulted from the king,
Henry VII, pledging that imperial city, which was endowed with numerous rights and privileges, to his brother,
Baldwin of Luxembourg
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 1 ...
, Archbishop of Trier, in 1309 and finally in 1312. In 1389 von Falkenstein, as sovereign and local ruler, began a year-long siege of the city, in which cannon was also used. Because the Lords of the
Schönburg switched over to his side,
Wesel
Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.
Geography
Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine.
Division of the city
Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrigho ...
stood alone in the fight to preserve its rights. A mutual arrangement ended the war, but the status of Wesel as a Free imperial city (''Reichsstadt'') was not restored.
The country was devastated by the feuds, the state went bankrupt, and Werner III was confronted with a strong opposition in the
cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. ...
of Trier, which, in 1399, requested that
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Rich ...
appoint a coadjutor at the side of the ailing archbishop, but this did not happen.
In 1402 von Falkenstein had the
Wernerseck Castle
Wernerseck Castle (german: Burg Wernerseck), also called the ''Kelterhausburg'', is a late medieval hill castle in the municipality of Ochtendung in the county of Mayen-Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It owes its name to its f ...
, named after him, built in
Pellenz as a border fortress against the Archbishop of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. In
Mayen
Mayen is a town in the Mayen-Koblenz District of the Rhineland-Palatinate Federal State of Germany, in the eastern part of the Volcanic Eifel Region. As well as the main town, additional settlements include Alzheim, Kürrenberg, Hausen-Betzing, ...
, on 24 July 1405, he move the three annual markets, previously held on feasts of the Virgin Mary, to other dates, and with them the traditional Lukasmarkt to the Sunday after the Feast of Saint Luke, on October 18.
Archbishop Werner played no decisive part in the councils of
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...
(1409) and
Constance. He left the burden of these tasks to his future successor as archbishop, the provost
Otto von Ziegenhain. He died on October 4, 1418 at
Peterseck Castle during an attack on St. Goar and was buried in the choir of the Basilica of St. Castor in Koblenz.
References
Archbishop-Electors of Trier
1350s births
1418 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
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