Jean de Vienne (german: Johann; died 7 October 1382) was a Burgundian nobleman, prelate and

prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

. He served as the archbishop of Besançon from 1355 until his transfer to the

diocese of Metz The Diocese of Metz ( la, Dioecesis Metensis; french: Diocèse de Metz) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. In the Middle Ages it was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''de facto ...

in 1361. He was transferred to the

prince-bishopric of Basel The Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Hochstift Basel, Fürstbistum Basel, Bistum Basel) was an ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at ...

in 1365. In all three dioceses, he was unable to live peacefully with the townspeople, finally resulting in open warfare in Basel. In each of his bishoprics he was the third bishop of his name, Jean III."Vienne, Jean de"
, ''Saarländische Biografien''.Romain Jurot, "Vienne, Jean de ohann von, i
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(2013). Jean's father was Gauthier or Vauthier (died 1344), the lord of Mirebel. His mother was Achillande, the heiress of the lordship of . In 1337, Jean was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of the diocese of Chalon. In 1339, he was the treasurer of the cathedral of Saint-Jean in Besançon. Shortly after, he became the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Besançon's church of Sainte-Madeleine. On 8 June 1355, Jean was appointed to succeed his relative, either an uncle or a second cousin, Hugues de Vienne, as archbishop of Besançon. His archiepiscopate was not a success. In 1356, he served as a councilor to Philip,

count of Burgundy This is a list of the counts of Burgundy, i.e., of the region known as Franche-Comté, not to be confused with the Duchy of Burgundy, from 982 to 1678. House of Ivrea (982–1190) House of Hohenstaufen (1190–1231) House of Andechs ( ...

. He then got involved in a conflict with the citizens of Besançon, a free imperial city. As a result, he was transferred to the see of Metz on 15 November 1361 by Pope

Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI ( la, Innocentius VI; 1282 or 1295 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope a ...

. In Metz, another free imperial city, Jean encountered the same problem keeping peace with the citizens of the town. He moved the episcopal residence to

Vic-sur-Seille Vic-sur-Seille (, literally ''Vic on Seille''; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. People It was the birthplace of Georges de La Tour. Art museum The art museum of Vic-sur-Seille, in French ', was cr ...

, but on 13 August 1365 he was transferred to the diocese of Basel. There he encountered for the third time the same difficulty in getting along with the citizens of a free imperial city, owing to his vigorous assertion of the church's temporal rights. He also fell out with his own cathedral chapter. He went to war over

Nidau Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''. The remains of a number of ...

with the noble families of Kyburg and Thierstein. When the episcopal town of

Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...

made an alliance with

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

, it was burned to the ground by Jean. The Bernese responded by burning the episcopal property in the city. The bishop was finally defeated in battle at

Malleray Malleray is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Bévilard, Mallera ...

in 1367. The diocese of Basel was heavily in debt when Jean took it over. After years of war, he was forced to pledge his

minting rights From the Middle Ages to the Early modern period (or even later), to have minting rights was to have "the power to mint coins and to control currency within one's own dominion." History In the Middle Ages there were at times a large number of mi ...

and his control of customs and tolls in order to raise money. He resided primarily at

Delémont Delémont (; fc, D'lémont; german: Delsberg, ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura. The city has approximately 12,000 inhabitants . History The area of the municipality was already settled in the middle Bronze Age. Fifteen urn buria ...

. At the start of the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...

in 1378, Jean supported the Antipope

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

of Avignon, for which he was excommunicated 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 ...

of Rome. Jean died at

Porrentruy Porrentruy (, fc, Poérreintru , german: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura. Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie. History The first trace of human pre ...

and was buried there in the parish church of Saint-Pierre.

References

Further reading