John I, Archbishop of Trier

John I of Speyer
Archbishop of Trier
Elected	September 1189
Term ended	July 15, 1212
Predecessor	Folmar of Karden (Rudolf of Wied)
Successor	Theodoric II
Personal details
Born	ca. 1140
Died	July 15, 1212 Trier
Nationality	German
Denomination	Roman Catholic

John I (German: Johann I.) (born ca. 1140; died July 15, 1212 in Trier) was Archbishop of Trier from 1190 to 1212 and the first also to bear the title of Elector.

Originating in the area around Speyer of unknown, possibly non-noble stock, John was consecrated in 1173 as an archdeacon and as the provost of the Monastery of St. Germain in Speyer. From 1186 to 1189 he was the chancellor of Henry of Hohenstaufen, King of the Romans and imperial regent while his father, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, was on crusade; on Henry's initiative, John was elected as archbishop of Trier in September 1189, replacing the see’s rival archbishops, the just-deceased Folmar of Karden and the imperial anti-archbishop Rudolf of Wied, and was formally confirmed the following year by Pope Clement III.

Among his first duties as archbishop were the reorganization and strengthening of the archdiocese (in both its ecclesiastical and its secular aspects), the fortification of the city of Trier, and the acquisition of a number of castles. John established the "Liber annalium jurium," a comprehensive reckoning of all the properties and privileges of the archbishopric (similar to the English Domesday Book of William the Conqueror) and one of the most important historical sources for the city and territory of Trier.

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