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Meinwerk

Bishop of Paderborn

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ463997
Source-derived summary

Meinwerk (c. 975 – 5 June 1036) was the Bishop of Paderborn from 1009 until his death.

He was a member of the aristocratic Immedinger family and was granted his see on the understanding that his property would pass to the diocese on his death. He is known as "the Second Founder of Paderborn".

In 1014 and 1015, Meinwerk had two meetings with the Emperor Henry II to urge the continued reform of Corvey Abbey.

In 1017, he won a dispute with the Ekkehardinger over the rights to Helmarshausen Abbey. A gathering of nobles under the king declared in his favour, though the sources give differing reasons for this. The most likely explanation appears be that because Helmarshausen was too poor to provide the proper servitium regis to the king and because it lay within the diocese of Paderborn, which meant the bishop already had episcopal responsibility for it, it made sense to make a formal grant of it to the bishopric so that the bishop could more effectively protect it.

Meinwerk was highly suspicious of Haimerad, a well-known wandering hermit of unfree origins, and had him arrested and beaten, and his prayer-book burnt.

Meinwerk's competence in Latin is questionable.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Meinwerk” is bishop of Paderborn. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Meinwerk, Bishop and Paderborn, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1036, 1009, 1014, 1015—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0975. For this dossier, Meinwerk, Bishop and Paderborn is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “bishop of Paderborn” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q463997. VIAF identifies the subject as 74645222. The Library of Congress control number is n93065146. 3 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1036, 1009, 1014 and 1015.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Meinwerk”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Meinwerk primary sources, Meinwerk archive and Meinwerk research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Meinwerk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.