Landenberg, Hugo von

LANDENBERG, HUGO von. - Bishop, b. in 1457 in the castle of Hegi near Winterthur (Switzerland), d. at Meersburg in 1532. Between 1477 and 1480 he was canon and dean of St. Bartholomew in Friesach (Carinthia); in 1482 he became a familiar of the Pontiff and prior of Trent; he held the same office in 1484 at Erfurt, where he was also able to study. In 1487 he was at the same time canon of the churches of Constance, Basel and Chur; in 1492 apostolic protonotary and dean of the Chapter of Constance; on 7 May 1496 he was elected, by unanimous vote, bishop of the city; he was ordained priest on 18 July and toward the end of the month was confirmed by the Pope; he was consecrated bishop in the second half of Dec.

In 1488 the Swabian League was born at Esslingen for the purpose of maintaining order in the Empire. The League obviously showed a leaning in favor of Emperor Maximilian I, against the Swiss, who did not intend to submit to the jurisdiction of the Empire's tribunal. H. von L., when the "Swabian war" broke out between the Swiss and the League, took the side of the latter, obtaining from the Emperor that he often be his delegate at the federal diets. Rigid and upright, he worked assiduously to bring about a reform of the episcopate; he carried out scrupulous visitations in the convents from 1497 to 1522. But because of his weakness and his goodness he was unable to oppose the enemies of the Church, especially Zwingli, toward whom he had shown benevolence at the beginning. H. von L. could not assert himself even in his episcopal see and took refuge at Meersburg in 1526; on 7 Jan. 1529 he renounced the direction of the bishopric, whose administration he nevertheless resumed in 1531.

Luciano Gulli