LANDENBERG, HUGO VON

LANDENBERG, HUGO von. — Bishop, born in 1457 at Hegi Castle near Winterthur (Switzerland), died at Meersburg in 1532. Between 1477 and 1480 he was canon and dean of S. Bartolomeo in Friesach (Carinthia); in 1482 he became a familiar of the Pontiff and prior of Trento; he held the same office in 1484 at Erfurt, where he was also able to study. In 1487 he was simultaneously canon of the churches of Costanza, Basilea, and Coira; in 1492 apostolic protonotary and dean of the Chapter of Costanza; on 7 May 1496 he was elected, by unanimous vote, bishop of the city; he was ordained a 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 established at Esslingen with the aim of maintaining order in the Empire. The League obviously showed a propensity to support Emperor Maximilian I, against the Swiss, who did not intend to submit to the jurisdiction of the Imperial court. When the “Swabian War” broke out between the Swiss and the League, H. von L. sided with the latter, obtaining from the Emperor the position of his frequent delegate to the federal diets. Rigid and upright, he worked assiduously to reform the episcopate; from 1497 to 1522 he carried out meticulous visitations of the convents. But because of his weakness and goodness, he was unable to oppose the Church’s adversaries, especially Zwingli, toward whom he had initially shown benevolence. H. von L. was unable to assert himself even in his episcopal see and took refuge in Meersburg in 1526; on 7 January 1529 he relinquished the direction of the bishopric, although he resumed its administration in 1531.