Nicolaus von Tüngen

Who was Nicolaus von Tüngen?

Nicolaus of Tüngen was bishop of Warmia from 1467 until 1489.

Nicolaus von Tüngen came from a Teutonic Prussian burgher family in Tüngen near Orneta in Warmia. He worked in the Roman Curia for many years as a secretary, and accumulated many church offices. After the death of Warmia's Bishop Paul von Legendorf he was chosen as his successor by the Warmia diocese chapter on 10 August 1467. Tüngen received the pope's agreement for his nomination on 4 November 1468 and obtained the bishop's insignia in Rome.

The king of Poland, Casimir IV, did not accept the choice of Tüngen as bishop. He instead nominated Wincenty Kiełbasa, the bishop of Kulm and administrator of the Poznań diocese, as the new bishop of Warmia. The Warmia chapter accepted the king's will, entrusting Kiełbasa temporary administration of the Warmia diocese at Marienburg on 1 December 1467. Tüngen did not withdraw his candidacy, however and soon the already mentioned papal provision strengthened von Tüngen's position. In September 1469 Kiełbasa withdrew his claim to the Warmia bishopric. One year later Tüngen unofficially arrived in Warmia.