Franz von Hatzfeld (13 September 1596 – 30 July 1642) was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1631 to 1642 and the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg from 1633 to 1642. Franz von Hatzfeld was born in Crottorf, near Friesenhagen, on 13 September 1596, the third son of ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

'' Sebastian von Hatzfeld-Wildenburg (1566-1631) and his wife Lucia von Sickingen (1569–1605), a granddaughter of

Franz von Sickingen Franz von Sickingen (; 2 March 14817 May 1523) was a knight of the Holy Roman Empire who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the so-called " Knights' War," and was one of the most notable figures of the early period of the Protestant Reformation. Sic ...

. Article on German Wikipedia His elder brother was Melchior von Hatzfeldt, Imperial field marshal. His father had been raised a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, but converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1615, he became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg for hundreds of ye ...

and, two years later, of Bamberg Cathedral. At age thirty, he became head

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

of Bamberg Cathedral, and the next year, became

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

of Würzburg. He then served as provost of the '' Gangolfskirche'' in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

. The

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of Würzburg Cathedral elected him Prince-Bishop of Würzburg on 7 August 1631, with

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

confirming his appointment on 3 January 1632.Profile on catholic-hierarchy.org
/ref> With the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

raging, Swedish troops occupied the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and Franz von Hatzfeld fled to

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

as a protective measure. On 20 June 1633

Lord High Chancellor of Sweden The Lord High Chancellor () was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from 1538 until 1799, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Privy Council. From 1634, the Lord High Chancellor was on ...

Axel Oxenstierna declared that the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and the

Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg The Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire located in Lower Franconia, west of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. Würzburg had been a diocese since 743. As established by the Concord ...

would henceforth be combined as the "Duchy of Franconia" and enfeoffed to

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Born in Weimar in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea ...

. On 4 August 1633 the cathedral chapter of Bamberg Cathedral (which had escaped to the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

) elected Franz von Hatzfeld Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, with Pope Urban VIII confirming this appointment on 31 October 1633. This created a

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

between the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg and the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. Following the Battle of Nördlingen of 5–6 September 1634, Franz von Hatzfeld ended his Cologne exile, returning to Würzburg in November 1634, accompanied by the troops of Philipp von Mansfeld. He died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in Würzburg on 30 July 1642.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatzfeld, Franz von 1596 births 1642 deaths Prince-bishops of Würzburg Prince-bishops of Bamberg Franz