Arnold of Selenhofen (c. 1095/1100 – 24 June 1160) 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 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

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

and became the treasurer of the archdiocese of Mainz, then provost of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Conrad III Conrad III (; ; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in the ...

made him

archchancellor An archchancellor (, ) or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries. The Car ...

of Germany in 1151 and

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 ...

made him archbishop in 1153. His administration of justice was unforgiving. While he was away in Italy working for the recognition of the Antipope Victor IV in 1159, the leading citizens rebelled. When he returned, he was murdered in front of the monastery of St. Jakob. He was buried in the church of

St. Maria ad gradus St. Maria ad Gradus ("Our Lady of the Steps", also colloquially called ''Mariengraden'' in German language) is the name of a former church located East of the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany, situated between the cathedral and the Rhine. Founded ...

(

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

of the Steps).

Literature

Johann Friedrich Böhmer Johann Friedrich Böhmer (22 April 179522 October 1863) was a German historian. His historical work was chiefly concerned with collecting and tabulating charters and other imperial documents of the Middle Ages. Biography Böhmer was born in Fra ...

: ''Martyrium Arnoldi Archiepiscopi Moguntini''. Stuttgart 1853. (Fontes Rerum Germanicarum 3), pp. 173–217 * Burkhardt, Stefan, ''Mit Stab und Schwert. Bilder, Träger und Funktionen erzbischöflicher Herrschaft zur Zeit Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossas. Die Erzbistümer Köln und Mainz im Vergleich'' (Mittelalter-Forschungen 22), Ostfildern 2008. *Burkhardt, Stefan, ''Vita Arnoldi archiepiscopi Moguntinensis'', Schnell + Steiner, 2014, 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire 11th-century births 1160 deaths Archbishops of Mainz Assassinated German people Assassinated bishops Medieval assassinated people {{Germany-RC-archbishop-stub