Jacob of Liebenstein () (1462–1508) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1504 to 1508.

Biography

Jacob of

Liebenstein Liebenstein is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Geratal Geratal is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. It was ...

was born in 1462, the son of Peter II of Liebenstein and his wife Agnes (née von Kaltental). Groomed for a life in the church from an early age, Jacob became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Family of de Haas in the Netherlands.

Mainz Cathedral Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral ( or, officially, ') is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of th ...

in 1470. He was sent to study at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

(''Rektor'' 1474; ''lic. jur.'' 1482). He became

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of Mainz Cathedral in 1497. Following the death of Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild in 1504, the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of Mainz elected Jacob as

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 ...

on 30 December 1504. His reign is marked by the expansion of the size of the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

. Jacob was also a supporter of

Imperial Reform Imperial Reform (, ) is the name given to repeated attempts in the 15th and 16th centuries to adapt the structure and the constitutional order () of the Holy Roman Empire to the requirements of the early modern state and to give it a unified gove ...

, and participated enthusiastically in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

held in

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 ...

in 1505 and the Diet of

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

in 1507, where he was in favour of financial reforms and the creation of the ''

Reichskammergericht The ; ; ) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal proceedings in the Holy Roman Empire could be ...

''. Jacob expelled all

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1507 (they had already been expelled from the city 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 ...

in 1470). Jacob died on 15 September 1508 and is buried in Mainz Cathedral. His funerary monument was designed by

Hans Backoffen Hans Backoffen (c. 1460-1475 — 21 September 1519, Mainz) was a German sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in ...

References

*This page is based on this page on

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

.
Brück, Anton Ph., „Jakob von Liebenstein“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 10 (1974), S. 315
*Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, "Jakob von Liebenstein", in Erwin Gatz (ed.):''The bishops of the Holy Roman Empire from 1448 to 1648. A Biographical Dictionary'' (Berlin: Duncker and Humblot 1996) {{Authority control 1462 births 1508 deaths Archbishop-electors of Mainz