Adolf von Schaumburg

Seal of Adolf von Schaumburg from around 1545–1556

Coat of arms of the Counts of Schaumburg

Adolf von Schaumburg , sometimes also called von Schauenburg , (born January 19, 1511 , † September 20, 1556 in Brühl ) was known as Adolf III. Archbishop and Elector of Cologne from 1547 to 1556 . He was as Adolf XIII. from 1531 to 1544 Count of Holstein-Pinneberg and the Stammgrafschaft Schaumburg .

Life

Adolf was the third son of Count Jobst von Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg and his wife Maria von Nassau-Dillenburg . He was baptized on February 3, 1511. He had two older and seven younger brothers and two sisters.

As a younger son, he was destined for a spiritual career. In 1522 he began to study in Leuven . From 1528 onwards he received several spiritual benefices . First, he was on September 2, 1528 Canon to Liege , where he arrived May 30, 1533 to Provost rise. During this time he was also provost of the Holy Cross monastery in Liège. In 1529 he became canon of Mainz and on December 23, 1529 also of Cologne , where he was later also cathedral dean . In the same year he received a benefice as a dean of St. Gereon in Cologne, where he was promoted to provost in 1533.

In 1531 his father died. Since the two older brothers had died in the meantime, the 20-year-old Adolf took over the reign of the county and became the guardian of his siblings. It was not until April 21, 1544 that he finally renounced his government and primary education rights in favor of his now 25-year-old brother Otto IV von Holstein-Pinneberg. In the same year he took over the guardianship of the Count of Nassau-Orange.

The Cologne cathedral chapter elected Adolf on December 17, 1533 as coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Cologne , which included the option of succeeding Archbishop Hermann V von Wied . Together with the Archbishop, he tried to get the Pope to recognize his election in Rome . In an election surrender, he had to promise the cathedral chapter that he would be ordained priest and bishop within a year of assuming the office of archbishop.

Adolf had not only put together the new court regulations of the Elector-Archbishop of 1539, but also secured a significant share in government and court affairs. With the incumbent Archbishop's growing attempts at Reformation , Adolf assumed a decisive role as guarantor of Catholicism. Even Pope Paul III. urged him on June 3, 1543 to be vigilant towards the archbishop and to exercise his office with strength.

After Pope Paul III. Archbishop Hermann V von Wied had removed his office on July 3, 1546, on that date he appointed Adolf administrator of the archbishopric. On January 24, 1547, Adolf was introduced as the new archbishop by the cathedral chapter. Archbishop Hermann formally resigned his office on February 25, 1547. On May 3, 1547, Adolf was ordained a priest by Auxiliary Bishop Johann Nopel in Cologne . He immediately cracked down on Protestant preachers and banned their preaching in his diocese . He reversed many changes made by his predecessor Hermann V. von Wied. Accompanied by the Carmelite Provincial Eberhard Billick , he took part in the Reichstag in Augsburg from September 1547 to June 1548 . There, on April 8, 1548, in the presence of the Emperor Cardinal Otto von Waldburg, he was ordained a bishop .

In 1551 the Archbishop took part in the Council of Trent . He was accompanied by Johannes Gropper and the Provincial of the Carmelites, Eberhard Billick. At the council he was the celebrant of the All Saints Mass. The archbishop took an active part in the council and gave it a written vote on November 6, 1551.

Adolf von Schaumburg died on September 20, 1556, a Sunday, in Brühl and was buried in Cologne Cathedral . His epitaph and that of his brother and successor Anton von Schaumburg were created in 1561 by Cornelis Floris . They are almost completely alike and were placed opposite one another on the two eastern choir screens. In 1841 or 1863 they were repositioned at their current locations in the Stephanus and Engelbertus chapel.

seal

Transcription: S [IGILLUM] * ADOLPHI * D [EI] * G [RATIA] * ARCHIEPISCOPI [S] * COLON [IENSIS] * PRINCIPIS * ELECTORIS * ZC
Seal of Adolph by God's grace Archbishop of Cologne (and) Elector

literature

• Norbert Trippen (Ed.): History of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Volume 3: Hansgeorg Molitor : The Archdiocese of Cologne in the age of religious struggles. 1515-1688. Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-1346-7 .
• Robert Haaß :  Adolf III .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 83 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen, Elke Imberger, Dieter Lohmeier , Ingwer Momsen (ed.): The princes of the country. Dukes and Counts of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. Wachholtz, Neumünster 2008, ISBN 978-3-529-02606-5 .

Web links

• Entry on Adolf von Schaumburg on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on August 16, 2016.
• Archbishop Adolf von Schaumburg's tomb

predecessor	Office	successor
Hermann V. von Wied	Elector Archbishop of Cologne 1547–1556	Anton von Schaumburg
Jobst I.	Count of Schauenburg and Holstein 1531–1544	Otto IV.