Bishopric of Bamberg

Who rules

Name

Timo (Thiemo)

Title

Bishop of Bamberg

Since

Elected 7 August 1196; consecrated in the winter of 1196-97 by Pope Celestine III

Born

not pinned

Family

Of the Heroldsbach family (Heroldsbach lies between Forchheim and Erlangen); whether free or ministerial is not pinned in what we read. Before his election he was cathedral provost of Bamberg.

Confidence

high

de.wikipedia (Timo (Bamberg)); signatory of the Speyer protest of 28 May 1199.

Overlord

The king for the regalia; the see is exempt from any archbishop and answers directly to Rome.

What the realm holds

• The city of Bamberg with the cathedral hill, the bishop's palace and the Altenburg (the Altenburg becomes the bishop's seat only in 1251)
• Forchheim, the old royal palace on the Regnitz
• Herzogenaurach and the Aurach valley
• Fürth on the Rednitz (held by the cathedral chapter since 1007; its market, moved to Nuremberg by Henry III, was granted again in 1062)
• Kronach and the Frankenwald (the see's forest district northeast)
• The castles of Pottenstein and Gößweinstein in the hills east of Forchheim
• Manors on the Main below Bamberg (Zeil and others; not checked one by one)
• Kitzingen abbey on the Main, given to the bishop of Bamberg by Henry II on 1 November 1007 (whether the see's lordship still held in 1200 is not confirmed)
• Fiefs held of the see by the Andechs-Meranians, by many free lords and by the see's ministeriales
• Outside the sheet: Villach, Feldkirchen, Wolfsberg, Tarvisio, the Kanaltal and other Carinthian lands; Kirchdorf on the Krems; lands in the Upper Palatinate (Vilseck)

How it was acquired

Founded by Henry II in 1007 from royal estates; bishops since 1139 elected by the cathedral chapter, though the kings claimed a voice.

Allies and rivals

Ally: King Philip. Neighbours: the Andechs-Meranians, the see's greatest vassals; the burgraves of Nuremberg and the king's lands round Nuremberg to the south; the bishop of Würzburg to the west (the two sees meet on the Main; Würzburg will found Haßfurt against Bamberg about 1230). The see's ministeriales: the Rotenhan, who hold the under-cupbearer's office from 1190.

The realm that morning

Timo holds the see and backs Philip (STAUFEN, firm; Speyer protest 28 May 1199; Philip's visit for the elevation of Kunigunde's relics on 9 September 1201). The advocacy is in question: the Abenberg-Frensdorf counts who held it are dying out around 1200, and the date of the last count's death is not pinned (see the Abenberg record).

Wealth

Rents of a great royal endowment, the Regnitz and Main trade, the bishop's mint at Bamberg, the Carinthian lands and their tolls on the road to Italy.

Military

The see's ministeriales and castles (Forchheim, Pottenstein, Gößweinstein, Kronach); the service of its vassals, above all the Andechs. No figures survive.

Threats

• The vacant or lapsing advocacy, which neighbours (the Andechs, the burgraves of Nuremberg) could try to take
• The pope's leaning to Otto, which tests a Staufen bishop whose canonisation case lies before Rome

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.

1. 29 March 1200 (de.wikipedia on Kunigunde: proclaimed on 3 April 1200)Innocent III canonises the Empress Kunigunde, Henry II's wife and co-founder of the see, at Timo's request.Depends on: the pope's goodwill toward Bamberg despite its Staufen bishop Stopped by: a break between Bamberg and Rome
2. 1201 (beyond 1200)After the extinction of the Abenberg-Frensdorf advocates, Timo promises not to grant the advocacy as a fief again; Scheinfeld castle passes to the see. On 9 September 1201 Kunigunde's relics are raised in the presence of Philip and Irene. Timo dies on 15 or 25 October 1201.Depends on: his health and the advocates' extinction Stopped by: play changing his circumstances

Places of note

• Forchheim: Old royal palace, the see's since the 11th century
• Kronach: The see's castle and market at the gate of the Frankenwald
• Pottenstein castle: Castle of the see in the hills east of Forchheim
• Scheinfeld: Castle that passes to the see in 1201 with the end of the Abenberg advocacy

Where the sources disagree

• campaign notes: 'BAMBERG. TIMO, bishop since 1196. STAUFEN [thin].' Confirmed and firmer than thin: Timo signed the Speyer protest of 28 May 1199 for Philip.
• The Andechs are not recorded as advocates of the see itself in what we read: the see's advocates were the Abenberg counts, extinct in 1199; the Andechs hold the advocacies of Banz and Langheim and many Bamberg fiefs. Who might seek the vacant advocacy that winter is not pinned.
• Date of Kunigunde's canonisation: en.wikipedia (Cunigunde of Luxembourg) and de.wikipedia (Timo) give 29 March 1200; de.wikipedia (Kunigunde von Luxemburg) says Innocent III proclaimed it on 3 April 1200. Either way it falls after 1 January 1200 and belongs to the likely course.

Evidence: Timo's election, his side and the canonisation are well dated. The see's lands in 1200 and the state of the advocacy that winter are less clear.

On the map: Drawn as the see's main concentrations only; much of the ground between them was held of the see by the Andechs, free lords and ministeriales, who have their own records.