Nicolaus von Tüngen ( Polish ''Mikołaj Tungen''; ; died 14 February 1489 in Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński)) was bishop of Warmia from 1467 until 1489.

Life

Nicolaus von Tüngen came from a Teutonic Prussian burgher family in Tüngen (Bogatyńskie) near Wormditt (Orneta) in Ermland (Warmia). He worked in the

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for many years as a secretary, and accumulated many church offices, including in 1459 becoming Canon of Breslau (Wrocław) and Canon of Warmia. After the death of Warmia's Bishop Paul von Legendorf, Tüngen was chosen as his successor by the Warmia

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chapter on 10 August 1467. Tüngen received the pope's agreement for his nomination on 4 November 1468 and obtained the bishop's insignia in Rome. The king of Poland, Casimir IV, did not accept the choice of Tüngen as bishop. He instead nominated Wincenty Kiełbasa, the bishop of

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(Kulm) and administrator of the

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, as the new bishop of Warmia. The Warmia chapter accepted the king's will, entrusting Kiełbasa with temporary administration of the Warmia diocese at

Malbork Malbork (German: ''Marienburg'') is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a population of 36,709 people as of 2024. The town is located on the Nogat river, in the historical region of Pomerelia. Fo ...

(Marienburg)

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) on 1 December 1467. Tüngen did not withdraw his candidacy, however, and soon the papal provision strengthened Tüngen's position. In September 1469, Kiełbasa withdrew his claim to the Warmia bishopric. One year later, Tüngen unofficially arrived in Warmia. Kiełbasa's resignation did not mean the resignation of the Polish king from his aim of putting his own candidate in office. Casimir IV intervened with the pope, Paul II, who ordered Tüngen to resign the Warmia bishopric (his successor,

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

, nominated Tüngen

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). The new candidate nominated for the post in 1471 was Andrzej Oporowski,

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and a royal secretary. Oporowski's nomination did not change the situation in Warmia. The nominee was not allowed to assume his office because of protests from the clergy and people of Warmia and the Prussian Estates. At the same time, Nicolaus of Tüngen began to strive to obtain his desired bishopric. Supported by the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

, Tüngen gained control of most of Warmia's castles and towns. He also gained the support of the king of

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Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

, then in conflict with Poland, entrusting him with protecting the bishopric. In 1478, Polish forces intervened militarily in Warmia and regained control of most of it. This armed conflict is known as the War of the Priests. In 1479, an agreement reached between Casimir II and Matthias Corvinus further weakened Tüngen's position. Peace negotiations to end the conflict took place in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

. The agreement reached on 15 July 1479 affirmed that Warmia was under the Polish king's sovereignty and required the bishops of Warmia to swear an oath of

fealty An oath of fealty, from the Latin (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Definition In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fealty" also r ...

to him. The Warmia chapter was also required to elect as bishop ''a person to the liking of the king''. As part of the agreement, Tüngen was allowed to remain Bishop of Warmia, after he paid homage to the king, entitling him to be a senator of Poland, like other Polish bishops. After 1479, bishop Tüngen made efforts to rebuild the diocese after the devastations caused by the war. Tüngen funded the altar in St. George's church in

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, and in his will he gave large sums to the monasteries and churches of the diocese.

Death and legacy

Tüngen made efforts in Rome to nominate

Lucas Watzenrode Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (sometimes ''Watzelrode'' and ''Waisselrod''; ; ; 30 October 1447 – 29 March 1512) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) and patron to his nephew, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Early life The family and its n ...

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

. These efforts were interrupted by his death, yet his will was respected when the diocese chapter selected Watzenrode as the next bishop, taking advantage of the fact that the 1479 agreement did not specify which candidate was to be chosen.

References

Bibliography

* Schmauch, H.: ''Der Kampf zwischen dem ermländischen Bischof Nikolaus von Tüngen und Polen oder der Pfaffenkrieg (1467-1479).'' In: Z. Gesch. Altertumskde. Ermlands, Bd. 25, S. 69-186. * Piotr Nitecki, ''Biskupi Kościoła w Polsce w latach 965-1999'', Warszawa 2000 * Tadeusz Oracki, ''Słownik biograficzny Warmii, Prus Książęcych i Ziemi Malborskiej od połowy XV do końca XVIII wieku'', Olsztyn 1988 * Jerzy Sikorski, ''Prywatne życie Mikołaja Kopernika'', Olsztyn 1985 * Alojzy Szorc, ''Dzieje diecezji warmińskiej (1243-1991)'', Olsztyn 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tungen, Nicolaus von Year of birth missing 1489 deaths 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland Bishops of Warmia Prince-bishops in the Holy Roman Empire People from the State of the Teutonic Order Canons of Warmia Canons of Wrocław