Theoderich von Wied (also called Dietrich of Wied or Theodoric II; c. 1170 – 28 March 1242) was Archbishop and

Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

from 1212 until his death.

Life

He was the son of Count Dietrich I of

Wied Wied may mean: Places *County of Wied, a County of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany *Wied (river), in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany *Wied, Rhineland-Palatinate, a community in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany *Wied, Texas, an unincorporated area in Texas ...

(died about 1200), a follower of Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...

in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity ( Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

. His brother Rudolf, Theoderich's uncle, was already elected Archbishop of Trier in 1183, however, he was denied by

Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III (c. 1097 – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born of an aristocratic family of Lucca, prior to being elected pope, he had a long career as a papal diplomat. His pa ...

who favoured his rival

Folmar of Karden Folmar of Karden (''ca''. 1135 – 1189), also occurring in the variant forms ''Fulmar'', ''Vollmar'', ''Volcmar'', ''Formal'', or ''Formator'', was the Archbishop of Trier from 1183 and the last not also to be a prince elector. He opposed th ...

. Theoderich began his ecclesiastical career about 1189; from about 1196, he served as provost of St. Kunibert's in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, from 1205 also of Rees on the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); ...

. In 1210 he is documented as

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of m ...

and provost of St. Paulinus' Church. Elected archbishop upon the death of his predecessor

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John ...

on 15 July 1212, he soon entered into a fierce quarrel with the

Rhenish The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

count Henry II of Nassau over the erection of

Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to wh ...

Castle on the right bank of the Rhine. Henry had the fortress devastated and the archbishop arrested, nevertheless Theoderich was able to finish the construction two years later. Like his ancestors, he remained a loyal supporter of the Imperial

House of 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 dynasty ...

, backing the young king Frederick II against his

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: * Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious * Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of ...

rival

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 119 ...

, which earned him the opposition of his counterparts in

and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

. He also ensured the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of Frederick's son Henry (VII) as King of the Romans in 1220 and his coronation by Archbishop Engelbert of Cologne two years later. He remained a close confidant of the emperor, whom he accompanied to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and also of His son Henry (VII) until his rebellion in 1234. Theoderich also took care of his Trier principality. Under his rule construction was begun on the

Liebfrauenkirche Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Dear Lady) is a common dedication for churches in German-speaking countries. Liebfrauenkirche may refer to: * Church of Our Lady (Bremen) *Liebfrauen, Frankfurt, a Gothic church in the centre of Frankfurt am Main *Li ...

(Church of Our Lady) in approximately 1230 AD. He consecrated Limburg Cathedral in 1235 AD and also promoted the establishment of the Order of Saint John in Trier and of a

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

commandry in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...

(at the later '' Deutsches Eck''). He acquired the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

estates around Malberg and had Kyllburg Castle erected about 1240. Theoderich was buried in the Cathedral of Trier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theoderich von Wied Archbishops of Trier 13th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire 1170s births 1242 deaths Year of birth uncertain