Bruno, archbishop of Cologne
| Bruno the Great | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 925 |
| Died | 965 Reims |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholicism Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | St Patrokli Dom in Soest |
| Feast | 11 October |
Bruno the Great or Bruno I, (May 925 – 11 October 965) was Archbishop of Cologne, from 953 until his death and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor.
Bruno was the youngest son of Henry the Fowler and his second wife Matilda. While he was still a child, it was decided that he should pursue an ecclesiastical career. In the early 940s he was educated in Trier by the leading scholar, Israel the Grammarian. In 951, Otto appointed Bruno as his archchaplain.
Bruno soon received further advancement. In 953, the Archbishopric of Cologne fell vacant just when Conrad the Red, Duke of Lotharingia and Otto's son-in-law, had joined a rebellion against Otto. By appointing Bruno to the vacant position, Otto provided himself with a powerful ally against Conrad in Lotharingia (much of which fell under the archdiocese of Cologne) just when he needed one most. By the next year, the rebellion had collapsed. Otto deposed Conrad as Duke of Lotharingia and appointed Bruno in his place.
Bruno was to be almost the last duke of the whole of Lotharingia: in 959 two local nobles, Godfrey and Frederick, were appointed as margraves of Lower Lotharingia and Upper Lotharingia respectively. Both margraves were recognised as dukes after Bruno's death. The two duchies would only be reunited between 1033 and 1044 under Gothelo I, Duke of Lotharingia.
The combined positions of archbishop and duke — or archduke, as his biographer Ruotger called him — made Bruno the most powerful man after Otto not just in Germany but also beyond its borders. After the deaths of Louis IV of West Francia in 954 and Hugh the Great, his most powerful feudatory, in 956, Bruno, as brother-in-law to both of them and maternal uncle to their heirs Lothair, the new king, and Hugh Capet, acted as regent of west Francia.
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