Siegfried II of Querfurt (mid 13th century – May 5, 1310) was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1279 to 1310.

Siegfried was from a noble family of Querfurt

Querfurt

Querfurt a town in Saalekreis district in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, situated in a fertile area on the Querne, west from Merseburg, on a branch line from Oberroblingen. Pop. 12,935 .-History:...

 (which now belongs to Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

).

He was head of the chapter at the Cathedral of Magdeburg

Cathedral of Magdeburg

The Protestant Cathedral of Magdeburg , officially called the Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice , is the oldest Gothic cathedral in Germany. It is the proto-cathedral of the former Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Today it's the principal church of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany...

 before he was appointed as bishop on July 18, 1279.

He founded the medieval commune

Medieval commune

Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...

 of Gronau

Gronau, Lower Saxony

Gronau is a town and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 15 km southwest of Hildesheim, and 35 km south of Hanover....

. This was one part of his defense strategy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim that he was head of in his role as bishop. Two other parts of this strategy were that he ordered to build a castle in Liebenburg

Liebenburg

Liebenburg is a village and a municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated within the eastern Innerste Uplands, approx...

 and another one in Ruthe (which now belongs to the municipality of Sarstedt

Sarstedt

Sarstedt is a town in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 17,800 inhabitants. Sarstedt is close to Hanover.The GEO 600 gravitational wave detector is located nearby....

). Both castles were destroyed in the centuries thereafter. In 1302 he bought a castle in Westerhof (which now belongs to the municipality of Kalefeld

Kalefeld

Kalefeld is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 10 km north of Northeim. It comprises the villages of Dögerode, Eboldshausen, Echte, Kalefeld, Oldenrode, Oldershausen, Sebexen,...

). In 1310 he bought the County of Dassel

County of Dassel

The County of Dassel emerged shortly after the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries when, after the extinction of the male line of the Billungs, its seat in Suilbergau, north of the Solling hills was divided into the domains of Einbeck and Dassel. Reinold of Dassel was able to secure rights...

 in order to enlarge his diocese.

The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg

Brunswick-Lüneburg

The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...

 were his major opponents. While he was bishop, the citizens of Hildesheim

Hildesheim

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...

 tried to get independent from his diocese as well.

Reference

• Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling: Die deutschen Bischöfe bis zum Ende des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts. Leipzig 1858, Erster Band, S. 510–512

External links