Hartwig of Uthlede (died 3 November 1207) was a German nobleman who – as Hartwig II –Prince-Archbishop of Bremen (1185–1190 and de facto again 1192–1207) and one of the originators of theLivonian Crusade.

Coming from a family of the BremianMinisterialis atUthlede, he was acanon ofBremen Cathedral and a clerk of DukeHenry the Lion ofSaxony,House of Guelph, before becoming prince-archbishop in 1185. When the Bremiancathedral chapter elected him for prince-archbishop, due to the competitive politics withinKingdom of Germany at the time, this was regarded a Guelphic triumph.^[1]

A canon namedMeinhard, originally from theAugustinian monastery atSegeberg (in Hartwig's diocese), was active atÜxküll among the paganLivonians, apparently attempting to gain converts through preaching. In 1186, one year into Hartwig's episcopate, the prince-archbishop intervened and gave him the status of a bishop, in effect seizing control of missionary efforts there.^[2] The historian Eric Christiansen judged this to be part of Hartwig's attempt to resurrect his see's former glory, when it "had exercised authority over the entire Northern world".^[3] Papal records of 1188 indicate that the bishopric which had been established "in Russia" by Meinhard was recognised by the papacy as subordinate to the prince-archbishopric of Bremen.^[4] InLivonia, despite a further decade of activity, Bishop Meinhard had made little progress and died in 1196.^[5]

In 1186 Hartwig and his bailiff in Bremen confirmed theGelnhausen Privilege, by whichFrederick I Barbarossa granted the city ofBremen considerable privileges. The city was recognised as political entity of its own law. Property within the municipal boundaries could not be subjected to feudal overlordship, this was true also for serfs acquiring property, if they managed to live in the city for a year and a day, after which they were to be regarded as free persons. Property was to be freely inherited without feudal claims to reversion (allodification of real estate). This privilege laid the foundation for Bremen's later status ofimperial immediacy.

Hartwig prepared the subjection of the trans-Elbian free peasants republic ofDitmarsh, religiously belonging to theArchdiocese of Bremen but rejecting Bremian secular princely overlordship. He persuadedAdolphus III of Schauenburg,Count of Holstein, to waive his claim to Ditmarsh in return for regular dues levied from them to be subjected Ditmarsians. In 1187 and 1188 Hartwig and his allyMaurice I, Count of Oldenburg heading their troops invaded Ditmarsh. The free peasants promised to pay him dues, only to mock about him, once he and his soldiers had left. The Ditmarsians gained support byValdemar, steward of theDuchy of Schleswig andBishop of Schleswig. Hartwig, owing dues to Adolphus III and the soldiers' pay to Maurice I, was trapped. He had to cede the dues of three years, levied from Bremianministerialis families, to Maurice I and Adolphus III. Hartwig now tried to impose an extra tax of 200 Bremian Marks onto theburghers of the city ofBremen, but the city refused and gained support by emperor Frederick I, whom the city helped with fully equippedcogs and remittances of funds in theThird Crusade to theHoly Land. Between April and June 1189 the dispute between the city and the prince-archbishop escalated to uproar so that Hartwig had to leave the city.

While Frederick I, together with KingRichard I of England and – among others – Adolphus III, left for the Third Crusade, Frederick's defeated rival, Henry the Lion, Richard's brother-in-law, promised to stay calm in English exile. But instead Henry returned in September 1189 and Hartwig warmly welcomed him inStade and ceded him the Bremian County of Stade with the pertaining revenues. Henry the Lion invaded theCounty of Holstein, whose absent ruler Adolphus III, a former vassal of Henry, he blamed forfelony. Meanwhile, Frederick I's sonHenry VI, holding the imperial stake, and his troops seized most of Henry the Lion'sallodially ownedGuelphic possessions around the city ofBrunswick, but not the city itself. Arriving at Bremen in 1190, Henry VI withdrew Hartwig's princely competences (regalia) and forced him to England and thenLüneburg in exile, returning after a few years. Henry VI and Henry the Lion reached a peace settlement. Adolphus III regained Holstein, an imperial fief, and took the County of Stade, a Bremian fief. Henry VI granted the city of Bremen all prince-episcopal revenues levied in the city, such as fines payable to the prince-archiepiscopal bailiff in Bremen, tolls and theseigniorages of the mint.

In 1192 the Bremian Chapter didn't wait any longer for a papal dismissal of Hartwig and unauthorisedly elected Bishop Valdemar as its new prince-archbishop – encouraged by Henry VI.^[6] Valdemar welcomed his election, hoping his new position could be helpful in his dispute withDuke Valdemar of Schleswig and his elder brotherCanute VI of Denmark. Before entering the prince-archbishopric he won the support ofDitmarsh. Duke Valdemar and Canute VI realised the threat Prince-Archbishop Valdemar presented and caught him in 1193, keeping him in captivity until 1206.

In 1193 Henry the Lion's sonHenry the Younger married a cousin of Henry VI and in March 1194 the two Henrys were reconciled. Thus Hartwig could consider to regain the Bremian see. In July 1194Ulrich,Prince-Bishop of Minden, andRudolph I, Prince-Bishop of Verden negotiated with the Bremian Chapter an agreement under which conditions Hartwig could return to the see. Hartwig obliged himself not to pledge or enfeoff the revenues from his prince-archiepiscopalestates, any reverted Bremian vassal fief (like Ditmarsh or the County of Stade) or the tax revenues levied in the cities of Bremen and Stade without the consent of the Chapter.

Theburghers of Bremen refused to pay Hartwig the prince-archiepiscopal revenues, arguing Henry VI would first have to re-enfeoff Hartwig with his princely power. Also Adolphus III refused to provide dues from the Bremian County of Stade. Hartwig therefore excommunicated Adolphus III and imposed theinterdict upon the city of Bremen and the entire Bremian diocese.

In October 1195 at theDiet inGelnhausen Adolphus III and Hartwig reached an agreement, which Henry VI confirmed. Adolphus III would further administer the County of Stade and keep a third of all its revenues for himself. In the same year Hartwig had convincedPope Celestine III to confer the same spiritual benefits gained byLevantine crusaders also to Catholics visiting the valley of theWestern Dvina.

In 1196 Hartwig appointed theCistercianBerthold,abbot of Loccum, to fill the vacancy at Üxküll.^[7] In 1197 Hartwig – together with Henry VI, Adolphus III and many others – headed for theCrusade to theHoly Land, which ended prematurely when Henry VI died of malaria. In 1198,Pope Innocent III repeated Celestine's privileges, while an expedition to Livonia was being prepared.^[8] Prince-Archbishop Hartwig recruited an army ofSaxon crusaders which were sent to Livonia under BishopBerthold of Hanover in 1198. The Saxon army met a Livonian army and defeated it, but the bishop was killed during the battle.^[9]

Not being discouraged, Hartwig appointed another canon of Bremen, his nephewAlbert von Buxhövden, as the new Bishop of Üxküll.^[8] Together they recruited another large army of Saxon knights, eventually sending an expedition of 500 armed "pilgrims" in 13 naval vessels.^[8] Bishop Albert's campaigns were more successful, removing his see to a new site atRiga and founding a viable crusader state.^[10] Prince-Archbishop Hartwig died on 3 November 1207, while this was ongoing.^[1] Hartwig was buried in the old St. Angar's church (German:Ev. Kirche St. Ansgarii) in Bremen.

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• 12th-century births
• 1207 deaths
• Roman Catholic prince-archbishops of Bremen
• Christians of the Northern Crusades
• 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire
• Christians of the Crusade of 1197

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