Dietmar I (archbishop of Salzburg)

Dietmar I or Thietmar I, commonly called Theotmar, was the archbishop of Salzburg from 873 to 907.

Life

Dietmar was a chaplain at the court of King Louis the German. ^[1] At the time of his appointment to Salzburg, he was a priest of that church. His predecessor, Adalwin, died on 26 August and King Louis moved immediately to Bavaria to arrange the succession, according to the Annals of Salzburg . ^[2] Dietmar was ordained bishop on 13 September 873 in Regensburg. ^[1] In early 874, he consecrated a church in Ptuj for the Slavic ruler Chozil. ^[3]

At the request of King Carloman of Bavaria, he received the pallium from Pope John VIII in November 877. ^[1] Dietmar was the archchaplain of three successive kings: Carloman (recorded 28 June 877 – 11 August 879), Arnulf (27 November 887 – 2 July 899) and Louis the Child (7 February 900 – 19 March 907). ^[4] He died fighting against the Hungarians at the battle of Brezalauspurc on 4 July 907. ^{[5] [6]} He was buried in Salzburg Cathedral on 21 July. ^[4]

Letter

Sometime between receiving news of the accession of King Louis the Child on 8 December 899 and the death of Pope John IX in 900, Dietmar wrote a letter to the pope complaining that the latter had sent an archbishop, John, and two bishops, Benedict and Daniel, to Moravia, which was properly under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Passau. ^[7] The letter is evidence that the papacy still recognized the archbishopric of Moravia. ^[8] Dietmar had a low opinion of the Moravian Slavs, describing them as clinging to pagan customs like swearing oaths on dogs. He claims they shaved their heads in alliance with the pagan Hungarians. ^[9]

The original of Dietmar's letter does not survive, but there are several copies. As the earliest copy is found in a manuscript alongside the Lorcher forgeries of Pilgrim of Passau, the authenticity of the letter has been disputed. Fritz Lošek, its most recent editor, accepts it as genuine. Since it asserts the authority of Salzburg over Passau, it is completely at odds with Pilgrim's forgeries. ^[7] An English translation has been published. ^[10]

Footnotes

1. Fischer 1916, p. 32.
2. Goldberg 2006, p. 318.
3. Goldberg 2006, p. 319n.
4. Fischer 1916, p. 33.
5. Airlie 2001, p. 89.
6. Bowlus 1994, p. 258.
7. Bowlus 1998, pp. 1–2.
8. Betti 2013, p. 52.
9. Airlie 2001, p. 94.
10. Bowlus 1994, pp. 337–339.

References

• Airlie, Stuart (2001). "True Teachers and Pious Kings: Salzburg, Louis the German, and Christian Order". In Richard Gameson; Henrietta Leyser (eds.). Belief and Culture in the Middle Ages: Studies Presented to Henry Mayr-Harting. Oxford University Press.
• Betti, Maddalena (2013). The Making of Christian Moravia (858–882): Papal Power and Political Reality. Brill.
• Bowlus, Charles R. (1994). Franks, Moravians and Magyars: The Struggle for the Middle Danube, 788–907. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   0-8122-3276-3.
• Bowlus, Charles R. (1998). "Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg's Letter to Pope John IX: A Forgery of Bishop Pilgrim of Passau?". Südost Forschungen. 57: 1–11.
• Fischer, Wilhelm (1916). Personal- und Amtsdaten der Erzbischöfe von Salzburg (798–1519). Richard Poettcke Nachfolger.
• Goldberg, Eric J. (2006). Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict under Louis the German, 817–876. Cornell University Press.

Further reading

• Lošek, Fritz, ed. (1997). Die Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum und der Brief des Erzbischofs Theotmar von Salzburg. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Studien und Texte. Vol. 15. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung.