Brixen

Who holds it

Name

Eberhard of Regensberg

Title

Bishop of Brixen

Since

summer 1196 (after Bishop Henry died on 19 July 1196)

Confidence

high

Born about 1170, a Swabian. His father is debated: the Neue Deutsche Biographie makes him a son of Liutold III of Regensberg, while the older Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie doubts it. Both agree his mother was a Krenkingen, so Bishop Diethelm of Konstanz, one of Philip of Swabia's chief counsellors, and Bishop Walter of Gurk are his maternal uncles. Canon of Konstanz by 1190. As bishop he spends much of his time away studying theology and law at foreign schools, and the pope has criticised him for it.

A Staufen loyalist: after his election to Salzburg he will attend the Staufen princes' meeting at Bamberg on 8 September 1201 and carry their protest to Rome in 1202. He dies on 1 December 1246.

What it holds

• Brixen: the city, cathedral and bishop's court
• Klausen below the rock of Säben, the old episcopal seat, where the Brenner road passes
• Bled (Veldes) in Upper Carniola: castle and lordship, recorded in Henry II's donation of 22 May 1011
• The courts of Kastelruth and Rodeneck, which the counts of Tyrol will force from the bishops only in 1272 and 1269
• Overlordship of the county of the Norital (Conrad II, 1027): the Eisack and Wipp valleys and the middle Inn valley around Innsbruck, between the Melach and the Ziller, with part of the Gader valley; held in fief by lay counts
• Overlordship of the county of the Puster valley (Henry IV, 1091), from the Mühlbach gorge east to the Kristeinbach between Anras and Assling; held in fief by the Andechs
• The church's advocacy, held by the Andechs

How it was acquired

Brixen was a royal estate given to the bishop of Säben in 901, and the see moved there around 1000. Conrad II granted the county of the Norital in 1027, in the same policy that made Trent a principality, to secure the Brenner road. Henry IV added the Puster valley county in 1091 after removing its count in the Investiture quarrel. Bled came from Henry II.

How things stand that morning

Eberhard holds the city of Brixen and its district, the courts of Kastelruth and Rodeneck, and Bled directly, and is often away. The counties are his only in law: the Andechs govern the Inn and Puster valleys, and the Tyrol counts hold rights in the Eisack valley. Brixen is a Staufen see under a Staufen metropolitan, Salzburg.

Wealth

The Brenner road, the main route between Germany and Italy, and its traffic; vineyards and orchards of the Brixen basin; alpine pasture and timber; rents of the church's domain in the Eisack and Puster valleys; Bled's lands in Carniola.

Threats

• Lay counts stronger than the bishop inside his own counties
• A contested succession once Eberhard leaves: the chapter, the Andechs and the Tyrol counts will all want a say
• Papal displeasure at an absentee bishop

Advocates and rivals

The Andechs, under Berthold, duke of Merania and margrave of Istria, hold the advocacy and, since about 1165, the church's counties in the Inn valley and the Puster valley in fief. The counts of Tyrol hold Brixen fiefs in the Eisack valley and want the advocacy, which they will win in 1210 when the Andechs fall after Philip of Swabia's murder. The bishop of Freising holds Innichen at the head of the Puster valley, and the counts of Gorizia hold the Lienz country beyond the Kristeinbach.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 20 April 1200The Salzburg chapter elects Eberhard archbishop, twelve days after Adalbert III dies (8 April). Innocent III objects that he left Brixen without papal leave and named his uncle Walter to Gurk without approval, and lets him accept Salzburg and the pallium only at the start of 1201, after Eberhard comes to Rome.Depends on: Adalbert's death on 8 April and a Staufen-minded Salzburg chapter. Stopped by: Adalbert living, or the pope refusing the translation.
2. 1200 (month not pinned)Konrad of Rodank becomes bishop of Brixen; he holds the see until his death on 14 October 1217.Depends on: Eberhard's move to Salzburg. Stopped by: Eberhard staying at Brixen.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1210Count Albert of Tyrol takes over the Brixen advocacy forfeited by the Andechs.Depends on: Philip of Swabia's murder in 1208 and the Andechs' ban. Stopped by: No murder, or the Andechs keeping their fiefs.

Places of note

• Brixen cathedral: Seat of the bishop
• Säben: Rock of Säben above Klausen, the old episcopal seat
• Bled castle: The bishops' castle and lordship in Carniola
• Innichen: Not Brixen's: the bishop of Freising's collegiate church and lordship

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The grants of 1027 and 1091, Bled, and Eberhard's career are well attested (NDB, ADB). The bishop's immediate district in 1200 and the exact division of the counties between the Andechs and the Tyrol counts are drawn from general and later evidence. German Wikipedia dates the Norital grant to 1024 in one passage; most sources give 1027.

On the map: The district around Brixen is drawn from the bishop's later immediate lands; its bounds in 1200 are not pinned. The Norital and Puster valley counties are drawn as claims because lay counts held and governed them in fief. The Fassa and Buchenstein valleys, later Brixen territory, are left out as not attested for 1200. Kastelruth and Rodeneck are drawn as the bishop's own on the Tirol Atlas statement that they were taken from him only in 1269-72.

Primary sources for Brixen

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Charter book of the bishops of Trent (compiled 1207 to 1218; documents from the 11th century onward; edited 1852). The cartulary of the prince-bishops of Trent. Read online