He entered the church under the patronage of Louis II, Landgrave of Thuringia, who helped him to the position of cathedral provost of Merseburg.
The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, however, convened the Synod of Lodi and had Pope Victor IV depose both candidates and raise Conrad of Wittelsbach to the episcopal seat on 20 June 1161.
Christian became provost of Mainz Cathedral in 1162, as well as in Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, and accompanied the emperor on his Italian expedition of 1163.
Then, in May, the Romans amassed a large army of 40,000 and besieged Tusculum, where the imperialist Count Raino called in the forces of Rainald of Dassel, the archbishop of Cologne and archchancellor of Italy.
The emperor and his antipope entered Rome, but the onset of malarial weather cut down 2,000 men, including Rainald of Dassel.
After returning to Germany, where he made one of only two visits of his career to Mainz, he mediated between Frederick and the Saxon duke Henry the Lion.
He also tried to end the Great Schism between Eastern and Western churches, which brought him to Greece in 1170 as an ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor.
Allied with Venice, he besieged Ancona in 1173, but was forced to retreat; the widow Stamira, later accounted an Italian national heroine, had an important role in the city's resistance.
He caught the same malarial fever which had killed 2,000 after Monte Porzio, though Roger of Hoveden suggests he drank from a poisoned fountain.
His legacy and character are summed up by Gregorovius: Christian [...] was one of the greatest princes of his age, [...] a jovial knight until his death, kept a harem of beautiful girls, and, clad in glittering armour, rode a splendid horse, swinging the battle axe with which he shattered the helmet and head of many an enemy [...] He spoke several languages [...] The asses in his army were more luxuriously cared for than the servants of the Emperor.