Henry I Van Vianden

Henry (or Hendrik) van Vianden (died 4 June 1267) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

from 1249 to 1267. He was the son of Henry I, Count of Vianden and Margaret, Marchioness of Namur. He was provost at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

before he was pushed forward as candidate for the bishopric of Utrecht by the Welfs in their struggle with the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

. Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

then formally appointed him despite resistance from the canons of Utrecht. Until 1252 he was bishop-elect, but in 1252 he was consecrated. Henry supported the German anti-king

William II of Holland William II (February 1227 – 28 January 1256) was the Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1234 until his death. He was elected anti-king of Germany in 1248 and ruled as sole king from 1254 onwards. Early life William was the eldest son and heir ...

, but William exploited the disputes that emerged between Henry, and the nobility and the city of Utrecht. Henry managed to subdue his opponents, but their actions were a precursor to future struggles. Henry van Vianden granted

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

to a large number of towns, such as

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

in 1252,

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

in 1259, Goor in 1263, and Oudewater,

Loenen Loenen () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was in the '' Vechtstreek'' area. On January 1, 2011, Loenen merged with Breukelen and Maarssen to form Stichtse Vecht. Population centres The former munic ...

and

Vreeland Vreeland () is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has been part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It is located on the river Vecht, about 2 km nort ...

in 1265. In Vreeland he also constructed the Castle Vreeland as a border-fortress against Holland. In 1254 he laid the first stone of the gothic

Dom Church St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church (), 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, but ha ...

of Utrecht, after the previous church had burned down in a nine-day long city fire in 1253. He was interred in the Dom church. 13th-century births 1267 deaths Prince-bishops of Utrecht 13th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Burials at St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht House of Vianden Sons of counts Sons of countesses regnant {{Netherlands-reli-bio-stub