Hermann Wesel

Hermann II Wesel ( † June 1563 in Russia ) was a German priest in Livonia and Prince-Bishop of Tartu ( Dorpat German ).

Hermann probably originated in the city of Wesel on the Lower Rhine. His father was said to be a shoemaker.

He became abbot of the Cistercian monastery Kärkna ( German Sokolov ) in Livonia. On October 17, 1552 the chapter of the diocese of Dorpat as Hermann II appointed him prince-bishop. On June 25, 1554 the election was confirmed by the Pope. At the same time, he remained head of the monastery Kärkna.

1558 broke in the Livonian War ( 1558-1583 ) over the region. Already at the beginning of the war the bishopric of Dorpat and later the small states of Livonia were almost completely destroyed by Russian troops. Dorpat capitulated on 18 July 1558th

The new Russian rulers were Hermann Wesel II, the last Catholic bishop Dorpat, alive. He was allowed to initially retire for a few weeks after Kärkna. Russian troops deported him on August 23, 1558 into the interior of Russia, where he died in 1563.