Floris van Wevelinkhoven

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Floris van Wevelinkhoven (c. 1330 – 4 April 1393) was a nobleman and a Catholic bishop who led the bishoprics of Münster and Utrecht in the 14th century. He served as Bishop of Münster from 1364 to 1379 and then as Bishop of Utrecht from 1379 until his death in 1393. He began his church career in the Bishopric of Cologne, becoming vicedeacon of the cathedral chapter in 1356. The pope moved him to Münster after a series of bishop changes, a common practice at the time because new bishops paid large taxes to the pope. In Münster he curbed unruly nobles, reformed finances, and in 1368 signed a union with the regional estates. In 1379 he was transferred to Utrecht to replace Arnold II of Horne. He faced rival Reinoud van Vianen, backed by Antipope Clement VII, and Utrecht’s faction fights; the Gunterlingen faction was banished in 1380, helping Floris establish his rule with the support of cities and cathedral chapters. He recovered several castles, including a five-month siege of Montfoort. In the Western Schism he supported Pope Urban VI. He was initially sympathetic to Geert Groote and the Modern Devotion but, urged by Groote’s opponents, banned his preaching; he later favored the Windesheim monasteries. Floris is buried in the Dom Church in Utrecht, with a gravestone in the choir. In 2008 a square in Hardenberg was named van Wevelinckhovenplein, and a street in Zwolle bears his name.