Baldwin was born in
Luxembourg to Count
Henry VI and his wife,
Beatrice of Avesnes, Henry died at the
Battle of Worringen in 1288. Baldwin was intended for an ecclesiastic career at an early age. He studied
theology and
canon law at the
University of Paris, for his family was on good terms with the
Capetian court of
France. He was only twenty-two years of age when elected Archbishop of Trier in 1307. In 1308, he was consecrated bishop by
Pope Clement V in
Poitiers. He quickly became one of the most influential princes in Germany, influencing the election that year of his brother
Henry VII as
King and
Holy Roman Emperor. From 1310 to 1313, Baldwin accompanied Henry in
Italy, where he was crowned emperor in
Rome on 29 June 1312. In the election which followed Henry's early death the next year, Baldwin lent his support to
Louis the Bavarian. He later repudiated the Bavarian, however, and moved to support his great-nephew
Charles IV in 1346. He was Charles's greatest supporter in the west of the realm. . From the
Codex Balduini, 1341. From 1324 to 1326, he was one of the four lords in the
Four Lords' War against
Metz. In 1328, he was captured on the
Moselle by troops of
Loretta of Sponheim, regent for her son,
Johann III, Count of Sponheim-Starkenburg, and held at
Starkenburg castle. He was only released after a ransom was paid and concessions made. Likewise in that year, he was put forward by his own cathedral chapter as a candidate for the vacant Mainz archdiocese, but the Pope appointed . Baldwin did govern the archbishopric until the so-called "Mainz Schism" was terminated by the
Avignon curia in 1336. During that time period, from 1331 to 1337, Baldwin had as well endeavoured to control the dioceses of Worms and Speyer. Baldwin, like most medieval bishops, was a patron of his
see. He built the Balduinbrücke (Baldwin's Bridge) in
Koblenz and repaired the old Roman bridge in Trier. He reformed the administration of the archdiocese and preserved official documents. He had many copies made and four manuscript copies of the archives of the diocese survive in the main national archives in Koblenz. Baldwin also strove to connect the various regions of his diocese (Trier and Koblenz). He did not shy away from military methods. He died in a monastic cell in the local
Charterhouse and was buried in the west choir of
Trier Cathedral. ==See also==