Joseph Ferdinand Damberger (1 March 1795 – 1 April 1859) was a historian of the Catholic Church.

Biography

Damberger was born in

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 ...

, Bavaria. After completing his earlier studies in the public schools of his native town, he pursued the study of law at

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

, then studied theology at

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 ...

, and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, and was ordained a priest in 1818. While at the Munich Lyceum he had also devoted himself to historical studies. Until 1837 he was particularly active as a preacher at Landshut and at St. Cajetan's, Munich. His first historical works appeared in Ratisbon in 1831, three closely related narratives: * * * In 1837, Damberger joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, completed his novitiate at Brieg, canton of

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, Switzerland, where he spent about ten years, partly as a mission-preacher and partly as professor of ecclesiastical history at

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. A collection of his mission sermons was printed (Lucerne, 1842; 2nd ed., 1852), but was violently attacked (; Bern, 1842). The defeat of the Sonderbund (1847) brought with it the expulsion of the Jesuits from Switzerland. Damberger then spent several years in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

and

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, and in 1853 became confessor at the Convent of Schäftlarn in Bavaria, where he died. He was working on (Ratisbon, 1850–63). The last volume was finished and published after his death by Daniel Rattinger. The narrative reaches the year 1378.Synchronistische Geschichte der Kirke und der Welt
HathiTrust Digital Library In its day it was considered an important piece of work.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Damberger, J 1795 births 1859 deaths 19th-century German Jesuits 19th-century German historians Historians of the Catholic Church People from Passau German male non-fiction writers