BURCARDO DI BASILEA

BURCHARD of BASLE. — Bishop, born c. 1040, died, it seems, at Basle on 12 Apr. 1107. Son of Ulrich, Count of Féni, he was a canon of Eichstätt and then chamberlain to Siegfried, Archbishop of Mainz. In 1072 he became Bishop of Basle. In 1076, after hostilities had broken out between Gregory VII and Henry IV, he took part in the assembly that voted for the Pope’s deposition and was a member of the embassy sent to Italy to persuade the Roman bishops to support the imperial cause. Like all Henry IV’s partisans, he was struck by the excommunication, but he too obtained Gregory VII’s forgiveness at Canossa and then followed Henry IV back to Germany, assisting him during the war he waged against Rudolph of Swabia, and in return receiving from Henry IV the county of Herkingen for the Church of Basle. Remaining loyal to Henry IV even after the second bull of excommunication on 7 Mar. 1080, he attended the election of the antipope Clement III that took place in Rome on 21 Mar. 1084. On his return to Germany, he subscribed to the deposition of Gregory VII and the confirmation of the antipope. From Henry IV he also received the lordship of Ribeaupierre in Alsace and the abbey of Pfäfers.