Wezilo

Wezilo († 1088) was from 1084 to 1088 Archbishop of Mainz.

Life

Wezilo was first priest in Halberstadt. His ascent to the Archbishop of Mainz he owed King Henry IV, the position of which he represented in the sequence when conflict with Pope Gregory VII. Wezilo was one of the most important exponents of the imperial side, negotiated for Henry with the papal legate Otto of Ostia (the future Pope Urban II ) and represented the imperial position against the episcopal supporters of the Pope at the meetings of Gerstungen and Berka in January 1085th Contrary to the position of the legate, who said that one could not to associate with the excommunicated king, Wezilo argued that Henry is not situated under a legitimate spell. Against the background of these basic contradictions, a compromise between the two sides was not possible.

At the Synod of Quedlinburg, in April 1085 Wezilo was even banned. Then said one of Henry IV, Wezilo and legacies of the later antipope Clement III. appointed Synod of Mainz in the meantime fled from Rome Gregory VII deposed and said Clemens to the papacy.

At the political level Wezilo also worked as a mediator between Henry IV and the raised king of Bohemia Duke Vratislav II. At the end of his life he is said to have turned away from Henry. He was buried in Mainz Cathedral.