Johann Ernst Graf von Thun und Hohenstein (3 July 1643 – 20 April 1709) was

Bishop of Seckau The Diocese of Graz-Seckau (, ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the Austrian state of Styria. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg, Ecclesiastical Province of Salzburg. History The See of Seckau ...

from 1679 to 1687 and

Prince-archbishop of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

from 1687 until his death.

Life and career

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, he was a member of the Tyrolean

Thun und Hohenstein The House of Thun und Hohenstein, also known as Thun-Hohenstein, belonged to the historical Austrian nobility, Austrian and Bohemian nobility. There is one princely and several count, comital branches of the family. The princely branch of the fami ...

noble family, elevated to the rank of

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

s (''Reichsgrafen'') in 1629. His elder half-brother Guidobald was Archbishop of Salzburg from 1654 to 1668. Johann Ernst von Thun was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest in 1677. He was elected

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Seckau in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

on 29 December 1679 and

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

by the Salzburg archbishop Max Gandolf von Kuenburg the next year. Thun succeeded Kuenburg by election on 30 June 1687, obtaining the prince-archiepiscopal dignities. COA archbishop AT Thun-Hohenstein Johann Ernst

COA archbishop AT Thun-Hohenstein Johann Ernst

The archbishop is best remembered as patron of the architect

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (20 July 1656 – 5 April 1723) was an Austrian architect, sculptor, engraver, and architectural historian whose Baroque architecture profoundly influenced and shaped the tastes of the Habsburg Empire. His inf ...

, a leading proponent of Austrian

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church architecture. Thun had his

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

residence lavishly rebuilt, including the

Collegiate Church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

, the

Holy Trinity Church Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

, and Schloss Klessheim. Throughout his reign, however, he displayed a marked antipathy to the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

designers and tastemakers that were emulated by many German monarchs at the time. Upon his accession, he halted work on a church being built for the Italian

Theatine The Theatines, officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular (; abbreviated CR), is a Catholic order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa on 14 September 1524. Foundation The order was f ...

order and denied payment to Italian craftsmen, resulting in longstanding court proceedings. Thun, backed by

Pope Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII (; ; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He took a hard stance against nepotism ...

, prevailed in lengthy quarrels with the Salzburg cathedral chapter as well as with the neighbouring Bishops of Chiemsee and

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

. In 1697, he obliged all graduates of Salzburg's university to swear belief in the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

. He remained a harsh persecutor of

Crypto-protestantism Crypto-Protestantism is a historical phenomenon that first arose on the territory of the Habsburg Empire but also elsewhere in Europe and Latin America, at a time when Catholic rulers tried, after the Protestant Reformation, to reestablish Cath ...

in his Salzburg lands; these measures were later once again intensified under his successor

Leopold Anton von Firmian Leopold Anton Eleutherius Freiherr von Firmian (11 March 1679 – 22 October 1744) was Bishop of Lavant 1718–24, Bishop of Seckau 1724–27 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1727 until his death. Early life He was born in Munich, into ...

. On the other hand, Thun supported the leading members of the

Braunau Parliament The Braunau Parliament (''Braunauer Parliament'') is the name of the congress on the defence of the state of Bavaria held at Braunau am Inn convened on 21 December 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession and often seen as the precursor of ...

during the

Bavarian uprising of 1705–06 Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...

against the occupying forces of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

emperor

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) * Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

. Archbishop von Thun was buried in

Salzburg Cathedral Salzburg Cathedral () is the seventeenth-century Baroque architecture, Baroque cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg in the city of Salzburg, Austria, dedicated to Rupert of Salzburg, Saint Rupert and Vergilius of Salzburg, Saint ...

. By his will, he had his brain deposited in the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

chapel, his entrails (symbolizing

compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...

) deposited in his hospital church, and his heart interred at his favorite Holy Trinity Church.Blunt, Anthony, editor: "Baroque and Rococo Architecture and Decoration.", Grafton Books, 1978

References

External links

Entry
on

Aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German language, German, with some articles in English language, English, initiated by Graz University of Technology, TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has be ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thun, Johann Ernst von 17th-century Austrian clergy 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Roman Catholic archbishops of Salzburg Counts of Austria

Johann Ernst Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

Clergy from Graz 1643 births 1709 deaths Bishops of Graz-Seckau Prince-archbishops of Salzburg