Christian II ( – 21 November 1253), also called Christian von Weisenau and Christian von Bolanden, was the

archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

from 1249 to 1251. He belonged a respected local family of Weißenau, descended from the ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

'' of Bolanden and related to the

lords of Eppstein The Lords of Eppstein () were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages. From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their castle in Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany. History Between 1180 and 1 ...

. His parents' names are unknown, but his grandparents were Dudo and Gisela and his brothers were Dudo and Embricho. Christian first emerges as the provost of the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

of Saint Victor in Mainz, and then progressively as cantor, dean and provost of the cathedral chapter of Mainz. After the death of Archbishop Siegfried III (9 March 1249), the chapter elected

Konrad von Hochstaden Konrad von Hochstaden (or Conrad of Hochstadt) (1198/1205 – 18 September 1261) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1238 to 1261. Konrad was a son of Count Lothar of Hochstadt, canon of St. Maria ad Gradus and of the old Cologne Cathedral, and Mat ...

, already

archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

, to be their archbishop. Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

and King

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, however, refused to permit him to hold the two most powerful bishoprics in Germany simultaneously. Innocent suggested the chapter chose Heinrich von Leiningen, the bishop of Speyer, but he was refused. In June 1249, Christian, already advanced in age, was elected by the chapter as their second choice and was confirmed by the pope on 29 June. He was consecrated archbishop by Konrad von Hochstaden, acting as

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

, in July or August. Christian was unenthusiastic about prosecuting the war against the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

, whom the pope had declared deposed in Germany in favour of William. At a conference during Easter 1251, Pope Innocent, Heinrich von Leiningen and Arnold von Isenburg, the

archbishop of Trier The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Hugh of Saint-Cher Hugh of Saint-Cher, O.P. (; c. 1200 – 19 March 1263) was a French Dominican friar who became a cardinal and noted biblical commentator. Life Hugh was born at Saint-Cher, a suburb of Vienne, Dauphiné, around the beginning of the 13th cen ...

to Mainz to convince the archbishop to resign. Having received assurances of compensation, Christian resigned in June 1251. His downfall might have owed much to the machinations of his successor, Gerhard von Dhaun. Afterwards, he joined the

Knights of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

and moved to Paris, where he died. He authored a short

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

Notes

{{Authority control 1180s births 1253 deaths Archbishops of Mainz Year of birth uncertain