Gotebald (or Gotebold) was the

Patriarch of Aquileia This is a list of bishops and patriarchs of Aquileia in northeastern Italy. For the ecclesiastical history of the diocese, see Patriarchate of Aquileia. From 553 until 698 the archbishops renounced Papal authority as part of the Schism of the T ...

during the middle of the eleventh century (1049–1063). He was originally a provost from

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

(''prepositus Nemetensis''). During his reign, the century-old conflict between Old-Aquileia and Grado reached a climax. Between 1050 and 1051, he supported the bishop of Treviso in a conflict, going so far as to falsify an imperial diploma. In 1053,

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (, , 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historica ...

declared Grado to be the true patriarchate, a ''Nova Aquileia'' and ''caput et metropolis'' of the Province of ''Venetia et Histria''. Gotebald was relegated to being mere ''Forojuliensis episcopus''."Bishop of

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

." In response to this, Gotebald took up arms to defend the territorial integrity of his patriarchal

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. He refused to aid the papal reformers against simoniacs. He did, however, have the friendship of

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black () or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was rais ...

, who even confirmed the false diploma. Gotebald and the emperor put pressure on

Pope Victor II Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes ...

to reverse the decision of Leo, but to no avail. Henry continued to treat Gotebald with prestige nevertheless. On his deathbed (1056), the emperor called on Gotebald, Gebhard III of Regensburg, and the pope to determine the

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

for his young son Henry IV. Gotebald traveled to Germany in the years that followed and was confirmed as patriarch with supremacy over Grado by Henry IV. Despite his lifelong conflict with the see of Grado and the popes, he was not a poor clergyman. He enlarged the monasteries of his domain considerably before his death in 1063.

Notes

Sources

*Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''. Rome. {{authority control 1063 deaths 11th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Patriarchs of Aquileia Year of birth unknown