Alexander Sigismund of the Palatinate

Alexander Sigmund of the Palatinate as Prince-Bishop

Coat of arms of the Prince-Bishop on the portal of the Dillingen Study Library

Alexander Sigismund von der Pfalz (born April 16, 1663 in Neuburg an der Donau , † January 24, 1737 in Augsburg ) was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from the Wittelsbach line of Pfalz-Neuburg .

Life

Alexander Sigismund von der Pfalz was born on April 16, 1663 in Neuburg as the fifth son of the Palatinate Elector Philipp Wilhelm and his wife Elisabeth Amalie von Hessen-Darmstadt . The incumbent Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Augsburg , Johann Christoph von Freyberg acted as godfather . He was destined for the clergy and brought up by the Jesuits at his father's court in Düsseldorf and Neuburg. In order to secure his livelihood, he was appointed coadjutor and thus bishop's successor in Augsburg in 1681 with the help of his godfather. In 1688 he suffered a serious riding accident, was ordained a priest in 1689 and succeeded his godfather as bishop in 1690.

Regency in the Principality of Augsburg

As the new bishop, he developed a wide range of activities and reformed the court and financial system, took care of town and road construction and intensified pastoral care through regular visitations. Especially after the effects of the War of the Spanish Succession with the Battle of Höchstädt in 1704 , he was able to bring the bishopric back to economic prosperity relatively quickly.

In addition, there was a long-term intrigue with the Bishop of Constance Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg , who tried to get Augsburg to become coadjutor . The cause was a disease that has not yet been clarified, known as "melancholey" or "persistently severe indisposition". The Bishop of Constance took it as an excuse to the court in Vienna and Rome government inability to maintain the Palatine. In addition, there was his unwillingness to pay the Habsburgs for the war mentioned. In 1714, the Stauffenbergs were illegally elected "Coadjutor cum plenipotentia in spiritualibus et temporalibus", which was later confirmed by the Pope and Emperor. The Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz, brother of the sick bishop, also congratulated the election. The very "laid-back state" of his brother is well known to him. It took four years until Alexander Sigismund, who had apparently recovered immediately before the election, and his remaining family (including Elector Karl Philipp von der Pfalz) were able to reassert their rights. From 1718 he was able to continue his reform work until his death in 1737. He was followed by Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg. It is still controversial today who is ultimately responsible for the fact that the diocese went bankrupt after its four years in power.

Alexander Sigismund was a brother of the Palatinate Electors Johann Wilhelm (1658–1716) and Karl III. Philipp (1661–1742), as well as Archbishop of Trier and Mainz, Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg (1664–1732). His eldest sister Eleonore (1655–1720) was the wife of Emperor Leopold I and the mother of the later Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI. Other sisters became queens of Spain and Portugal.

ancestors

Philipp Ludwig (Pfalz-Neuburg) (1547-1614)

Wolfgang Wilhelm (Pfalz-Neuburg) (1578–1653)

Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg (1552–1632)

Philipp Wilhelm (Palatinate) (1615–1690)

Wilhelm V (Bavaria) (1548–1626)

Magdalene of Bavaria (1587–1628)

Renata of Lorraine (1544–1602)

Alexander Sigismund of the Palatinate

Ludwig V (Hessen-Darmstadt) (1577–1626)

George II (Hessen-Darmstadt) (1605–1661)

Magdalena of Brandenburg (1582–1616)

Elisabeth Amalia of Hessen-Darmstadt (1635–1709)

Johann Georg I (Saxony) (1585–1656)

Sophie Eleonore of Saxony (1609–1671)

Magdalena Sibylle of Prussia (1586–1659)

bibliography

• Josef Johannes Schmid : Alexander Sigismund von Pfalz-Neuburg, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1690–1737. A contribution to the cultural history of Swabia in the High Baroque (Swabian historical sources and research 19), Weißenhorn 1999, ISBN 978-3-87437-401-9 .
• Josef Johannes Schmid:  Alexander Sigismund of the Palatinate. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 16, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-079-4 , Sp. 1228-1231.

Web links

Commons : Alexander Sigismund von der Pfalz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Alexander Sigismund von der Pfalz in the catalog of the German National Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Christoph von Freyberg	Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1690–1737	Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg