Folcmar (died 10 December 990), also named Poppo, was a

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 ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

from 976 to 990. Folcmar was the son of the Saxon count Adalbero and an uncle of bishop Bernward of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

, a fervent builder who was responsible for the famous

bronze doors Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids ...

and the ''Christussäule'' (

Bernward Column The Bernward Column (german: Bernwardssäule) also known as the Christ Column (german: Christussäule) is a bronze column, made for St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany, and regarded as a masterpiece of Ottonian art. It was commission ...

). Folcmar was a member of the Chapter in Hildesheim, and in 975 he became

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ita ...

, who afterwards appointed him to the

Bishopric of Utrecht The Bishopric of Utrecht ( nl, Sticht Utrecht) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in the present-day Netherlands. From 1024 to 1528, as one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, it w ...

. When Otto II's cousin,

Henry II, Duke of Bavaria Henry II (951 – 28 August 995), called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome (german: Heinrich der Zänker), a member of the German royal Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria from 955 to 976 and again from 985 to 995, as well as Duke of Carinthia ...

, revolted in a bid to seize the throne, he was defeated, stripped of all his possessions and placed in the custody of bishop Folcmar. After Otto II's death, Henry was released, but he soon made another attempt at the throne against the infant

Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

. This kept Folcmar involved in the succession issue. Folcmar was buried in the

Dom Church St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church ( nl, Domkerk), is a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, ...

of Utrecht.

References

This info was partially taken from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folcmar (Bishop) 990 deaths Bishops of Utrecht 10th-century bishops in Lotharingia Burials at St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht Year of birth missing