Hartwig of Uthlede (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Hartwig of Uthlede (died 3 November 1207) was - as Hartwig II - Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1185-1190 and de facto again 1192-1207) and one of the originators of the Livonian Crusade. Coming from a family of the Bremian Ministerialis at Uthlede, he was a canon of Bremen Cathedral and a clerk of Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony, House of Guelph, before becoming prince-archbishop in 1185. When the Bremian Chapter elected him for prince-archbishop, due to the competitive politics within Germany at the time, this was regarded a Guelphic triumph. A canon named Meinhard, originally from the Augustinian monastery at Segeberg (in Hartwig's diocese), was active at Uxkull among the pagan Livonians, apparently attempting to gain converts through preaching. In 1186, one year into Hartwig's episcopate, the prince-archbishop intervened and gave him the status of a bishop, in effect seizing control of missionary efforts there. The historian Eric Christiansen judged this to be part of Hartwig's attempt to resurrect his see's former glory, when it "had exercised authority over the entire Northern world."