Rudolf of Zähringen (also ''Rudolph'', ''Ralph'' or ''Raoul'') (c. 1135 – 5 August 1191) 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 1160 to 1161 and

prince-bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

. He was the son of Conrad I of Zähringen and Clemence of Luxembourg-Namur. After the death of

Arnold of Selenhofen Arnold of Selenhofen (c. 1095/1100 – 24 June 1160) was the archbishop of Mainz from 1153 to his assassination in the Benedictine abbey St. Jakob, where he took shelter from the raging crowd. He was born to a wealthy Mainz family. He studied at ...

, the citizens of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

elected him archbishop, but the city had been placed under the interdict and the aristocracy and clergy had fled to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, where they elected Christian of Buch instead. Neither election was recognised by the emperor,

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

. At the Synod of Lodi, both archbishops-elect were deposed and Rudolf was excommunicated. In 1167, already released from his excommunication, he became bishop of Liège, a position almost as secularly important as that of Mainz. As bishop, he supported his brother,

Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen ( – 8 December 1186) was a Duke of Zähringen and Rector of Burgundy. He was the son of Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen and Clementia of Luxembourg-Namur. He founded numerous cities, including Fribourg. Life ...

. On 11 May 1188, he arrived at the Siege of Acre with an army. He died on the way back from the Crusade, at

Herdern Herdern is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Frauenfeld District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Herdern is first mentioned in 1094 as ''Harderin''. Originally it was under the authority of ...

. He was buried in the monastery of Saint Peter's there.

Ancestry

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf Of Zahringen 1130s births 1191 deaths Year of birth uncertain Rudolf Christians of the Third Crusade 12th-century Prince-Bishops of Liège Archbishops of Mainz People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Prince-bishops of Liège Armed priests