Arnold I of Vaucourt (french: Arnaud, Arnaut de Vaucort, german: Arnold von Valcourt, Valancourt, Walecourt) (''circa'' 1120 – May 25, 1183 in

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 ...

), was the

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 archdi ...

from 1169 to 1183. He took a pro-

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

position in the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

of the twelfth century. As archbishop, Arnold was accounted a capable ruler, by turns thrifty and generous, with a genuine concern for his church and his domain.''ADB'', Vol. 1, p. 579. Born into the Rhenish nobility of the upper

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

(probably in Vaucourt, near

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lun ...

in the modern French ''département'' of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

(''Seigneur, Ritter'') Wirich of Vaucourt (the founder of a (no longer extant)

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

Freistroff Freistroff (german: Freisdorf, Lorraine Franconian: ''Freeschdroff'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Localities of the commune: ''Diding'' (German: Didingen), ''Guiching''. See also * Communes of t ...

and builder of the

Château Saint-Sixte The Château Saint-Sixte is a 12th-century castle in the '' commune'' of Freistroff in the Moselle ''département'' of France. The Château Saint-Sixte stands on a small plain between Freistroff and Rémelfang. It was built in the 12th century b ...

), and thus related to several celebrated personalities of the time (''e.g.''

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

, with whom Arnold corresponded). He was a ''capitular'' (member of the chapter) of the

cathedral of Trier The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier (german: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter zu Trier), or Trier Cathedral (german: Trierer Dom), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest church in Germany and the l ...

and Provost of St. Andrew's Church in Köln, later becoming a canon of the

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral (german: Aachener Dom) is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buri ...

as well. In 1169 he was elected as Archbishop of Trier at the wish of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

, to whom Arnold proved a clever counselor and a loyal and doughty partisan throughout his life, accompanying his master on several campaigns into

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. While on one of these Italian sojourns, Arnold took part in the

Third Lateran Council The Third Council of the Lateran met in Rome in March 1179. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended. The Catholic Church regards it as the eleventh ecumenical council. By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter ...

in 1179. He took a particular interest in building up the ecclesiastical structures of his bishopric. On June 1, 1178 he presided over the consecration of the Romanesque Abbey of Himmerod. In 1181 he documented that the Seligenstatt Monastery in

Seck Seck is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The community in the Westerwald between Siegen and Limburg an der Lahn. Seck belongs to the ...

had been donated to the Archmonastery of Trier. In 1180, Arnold granted permission to the

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

Merzig Merzig (, french: Mercy, ''Moselle Franconian:'' ''Meerzisch''/''Miërzësch'') is a town in Saarland, Germany. It is the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, with about 30,000 inhabitants in 17 municipalities on 108 km². It is situated ...

(as it happened, his cousin, Arnulf de Walecourt), to reconstruct the fortress on the Sciva ("Ship")

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

on the

Saar River The Saar (; french: Sarre ) is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It h ...

near

Mettlach Mettlach (Saarlandic dialect:Mettlich) is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany, situated on the river Saar, approximately northwest of Merzig, and south of Trier. The headquarters of Villeroy & Boch are in Mettlach ...

, calling the new castle '' Montclair''. (This stronghold had lain waste since the feud of his predecessor Poppo of Babenberg with the anti-archbishop Adalbero of Luxembourg.''ADB'', Vol. 1, pp. 52-52.) This unfortunately gave the first impulse to a struggle between Arnold's German kin, who claimed the castle as a family

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

, and the Archbishops of Trier, who claimed it as a dependency of the archbishopric; their strife lasted some two centuries, culminating in the devastation of Montclair under Archbishop

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 ...

. Upon Arnold's death in Trier in May 1183, the succession to the Archbishopric fell into dispute between

Folmar of Karden Folmar of Karden (''ca''. 1135 – 1189), also occurring in the variant forms ''Fulmar'', ''Vollmar'', ''Volcmar'', ''Formal'', or ''Formator'', was the Archbishop of Trier from 1183 and the last not also to be a prince elector. He opposed t ...

and

Rudolf of Wied Rudolf of Wied (died 9 July 1197) (also appearing in the forms ''"Rudolph," "Rodolf," Radulf," etc.'') was anti-Archbishop of Trier, Archbishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier, Trier from 1183–1189. He was a supporter of the Holy Roman Empi ...

References

Arnold I. von Valancourt in den Saarländischen Biografien
(in German) * (in German) * (in German) * (in German) * (in German) ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold of Vaucourt Archbishops of Trier 1120 births 1183 deaths 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Year of birth uncertain