Bertram

Bertram, born Berthold (died 6 April 1212), was a Saxon nobleman, jurist and prelate of the Holy Roman Empire. Praised by contemporaries for his education, his expertise was in Roman law. He was the elected archbishop of Bremen from 1178 until 1179 and the bishop of Metz from 1180 until his death. He was in general a strong supporter of the Staufer emperors, although he was forced into internal exile and temporarily dispossessed of his diocese in 1187–1189. He supported the Staufer in the German throne dispute after 1198. In 1199, Bertram suppressed a heretical movement in Metz, probably Waldensian, through book burning. His several efforts to strengthen his control of the city government brought him into conflict with the citizens from 1203 onward. In 1206, he joined a war against the County of Bar and lost. In 1209, he put down riots and won a decisive victory over the citizenry. His health declined in the last two years of his life. In the late medieval and early modern periods, he was regarded as one of the architects of the . Life Education Berthold was born into a minor noble Saxon family. He took minor orders and became an acolyte of the canons of St Gereon's in Cologne. He received an education in secular and canon law, the liberal arts and the Bible. He bore the title of magister. He probably studied under Girard la Pucelle at Cologne and may be the person referred to only by the initial B. in the summa called Omnis qui iuste, a work produced in Girard's circle.