Hermann of Schleswig (died 16 January 1151), also known as Hermann of Klosterrath, was a titular

bishop of Schleswig The List of the Bishops of Schleswig contains the names of the bishops of the see in Schleswig ( da, Slesvig, en, italic=yes, Sleswick) in chronological order. Also Lutheran bishops, who officiated after 1542, superintendents and general superin ...

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 possibly also scribe at

Lund Cathedral Lund Cathedral ( sv, Lunds domkyrka) is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the Bishop of Lund and the main church of the Diocese of Lund. It was built as the Catholic cathedral of the archiepi ...

. He entered the monastery of

Rolduc Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a '' rijksmonument'' (Dutch n ...

at an early age, and after failing to become

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of the monastery eventually left for Lund (then part of Denmark, today in Sweden). He provided several services to the bishops of Lund and was appointed to become

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Schleswig, but the local clergy had elected

Occo of Schleswig Occo of Schleswig (also Aage, Aagge, Ogge) was the bishop of the Diocese of Schleswig between 1141 and 1145 and again from 1161 to 1167. The chapter of Schleswig Cathedral elected Occo bishop in 1138, after Bishop Rike had been elected the new ...

in 1137 as their bishop and refused to accept Hermann. He therefore remained in Lund, where he is buried in the crypt of Lund Cathedral.

Monastic career

Hermann was the son of the duke of , Emmerik or Embrico, and his wife Adeleida. Hermann's date and place of birth are unknown, but as a young man ( 1107) he entered the monastery of

(today in the south-eastern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

), also known in German as Klosterrath. He later tried but failed to get elected as

of the monastery on two occasions (1124 and 1128) despite having the support of the younger monks, and soon thereafter left Rolduc. Supported by Archbishop Frederick of Cologne, he obtained the leadership of a community of canons at Dünewald in the vicinity 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 ...

, but wasn't welcomed by the community and soon left again. He then moved to Lund in Denmark. He probably arrived in Denmark around 1130, and entered the service of Archbishop Asser of Lund. Upon his arrival in Denmark, Hermann probably introduced the cathedral chapter to the customary rules (statutes for the community of canons) recently formulated at and subsequently adopted by the chapter of

. In 1133, Asser (or Ascer) received a letter from the pope asking him to submit himself to the authority of the

archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic ...

. Hermann was entrusted with the task of traveling to Rome to convince the pope to change his mind, which he succeeded in doing; the

Diocese of Lund The Diocese of Lund ( sv, Lunds stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Chu ...

was confirmed as an archdiocese for the Nordic countries. It is also possible that Hermann worked as a scribe at the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

of Lund Cathedral in the 1130s, penning parts of the illuminated manuscript '' Necrologium Lundense'' as well as other liturgical texts. Hermann also had close ties to Eskil, the nephew of Asser, and probably served as his chaplain during Eskil's time as bishop of Roskilde. On the death of Asser, Eskil succeeded him as archbishop in 1137, and Hermann was instrumental in obtaining a

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

for him in connection with the appointment. Hermann is also mentioned as serving as chaplain for King

Eric III of Denmark Eric III Lamb ( da, Erik III Lam, – 27 August 1146) was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, whom he succeeded on the throne. He abdicated in 1146, as t ...

Schleswig dispute

Following Eskil's appointment as archbishop, subsequent changes among the heads of the Danish dioceses meant that the position of

also became vacant. Perhaps as a reward for his services to the archdiocese of Lund, Hermann was appointed. The local clergy of Schleswig had however in 1137 independently elected

as their bishop and refused to accept Hermann. Despite having the support of the king, Hermann had no choice but to return to Lund and would remain there for the rest of his life, serving as a canon at the cathedral. In 1139 he participated in a synod in Lund as titular bishop of Schleswig but by 1145 he had resigned his claims to the diocese. His tombstone in the crypt of Lund Cathedral nevertheless depicts him in the full dress of a bishop, with alb,

dalmatic The dalmatic is a long, wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, and some other churches. When used, it is the proper vestment of a deacon at Mass, Holy Communion or other ...

and

chasuble The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...

. An inscription around the edge of the stone identifies him as bishop of Schleswig.

References

Works cited

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann of Schleswig Bishops of Schleswig 12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Denmark 1151 deaths Year of birth unknown Medieval European scribes Canons (priests) 12th-century Danish clergy