Floris van Wevelinkhoven

Who was Floris van Wevelinkhoven?

Floris van Wevelinkhoven was Bishop of Münster from 1364 to 1378 and Bishop of Utrecht from 1378 to 1393.

Floris van Wevelinkhoven descended from high nobility, and started his career in the Bishopric of Cologne, where he climbed to the position of vicedeacon of the cathedral chapter in 1356. He was appointed bishop of Münster by the pope as a result of several changes in positions, in which the Bishop of Liège Engelbert III of the Mark was moved to Cologne, the bishop of Utrecht Jan van Arkel was moved to Liege, and the bishop of Münster Jan van Virneburg was moved to Utrecht. Such movements were common in medieval times, because whenever someone became bishop of a new bishopric, he had to pay a large amount of taxes to the pope, the so-called servitia tax.

In Münster, Floris fought the unruly nobility and put the bishopric's finances in order. In 1368 he signed a Landesvereinigung with the States.

In 1378 another shuffle of ecclesiastical seats took place; Arnold II van Hoorn was moved from Utrecht to Liege by Pope Urban VI, and Floris was moved from Münster to Utrecht. Despite his advanced age at his accession, Floris showed himself to be an able and powerful ruler, good organiser and diplomat, and he secured the support of his subjects.