Christian Albert Anton von Merle

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Ex-libris of the nephew and Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne Clemens August von Merle (1732–1810), with the family coat of arms

Christian Albert Anton von Merle (born May 22, 1693 in Wetzlar ; † March 2, 1765 in Worms ) was auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Worms and titular bishop of Sinope from 1734 to 1765 .

Live and act

Christian Albert Anton von Merle was the son of the lawyer and assessor at the Reich Chamber of Commerce , Philipp Christoph von Merle, and his wife Maria Anna de Bruyn von Blankenfort. The paternal family was a long-established, originally Moselle aristocratic family.

Merle lived with his family in Wetzlar and they moved to Cologne in 1708. There he attended the Jesuit grammar school and studied law from 1709. In 1723 Christian Albert Anton von Merle was promoted to government councilor of Prince zu Schwarzenberg for the Landgraviate of Klettgau in Tiengen .

The young lawyer soon embarked on a spiritual career. From 1727 he studied at the Sapienza in Rome, where he acquired the Doctor Juris Utriusque (ecclesiastical and secular law) in 1729 . As early as 1728 he held a canonical at the Cassius monastery in Bonn ; on July 30, 1730 he was ordained a priest.

From 1733 Merle officiated in Bonn as an official of the archdeaconate there and as spiritual advisor to the Archbishop of Cologne. In 1734 he was appointed by the Worms Prince-Bishop Franz Georg von Schönborn-Buchheim to succeed his late Auxiliary Bishop Johann Anton Wallreuther (1673–1734). The appointment took place on April 12th, the consecration as titular bishop of Sinope, by Bishop von Schönborn, on September 21st of the same year in Ehrenbreitstein .

The three altars consecrated in 1750 by Bishop Merle in the parish church of St. Michael zu Hofheim

Merle worked as Auxiliary Bishop of Worms for over 30 years and performed a large number of pontifical acts such as confirmations, ordinations, etc. during this period. In 1746 he consecrated the Laurentius Church (Dirmstein) and its three altars, as well as the three altars of the parish church of St. Michael zu Hofheim im Ried in 1750 . The number of his confirmations amounts to more than 53,000, he consecrated 297 priests, over 200 altars, 112 bells and 25 churches.

In addition to his office as auxiliary bishop, he also acted as vicar general and official of Worms and as the secret spiritual council of the Palatinate government in Heidelberg . From 1736 to 1748 the priest was the holder of the doctoral exam at the Knight's Abbey in Odenheim zu Bruchsal , and in 1747 he was promoted to provost of the Abbey of St. Simon and Juda in Goslar (resigned again in 1752) due to an imperial presentation .

As he got older, Christian Albert Anton von Merle became sickly. He died in Worms in 1765 and was buried on the epistle side (right) of the high altar in the collegiate church of St. Paulus , where he had also had a canonical since 1736 and was custodian from 1745 . Its epitaph was destroyed in World War II.

Christian Albert Anton von Merle's nephew, Clemens August von Merle (1732–1810), was also auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Cologne .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Heinrich Kneschke : New general German Adels Lexicon , Volume 6, S 246, Leipzig, 1865; (Digital scan of the gender of those from Merle)
  2. ^ Christian von Stramberg, Anton Joseph Weidenbach: Memorable and useful Rheinischer Antquarius , III. Department, Volume 13, p. 134 and 135, Koblenz, 1867; (Digital scan of the family environment of Auxiliary Bishop of Merle)
  3. ↑ Otto Renkhoff: Nassauische Biographie: Kurzbiographien aus 13 Centuries , Volume 19 of: Publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau , 1992, ISBN 3-922244-90-4 , p. 511; (Detail scan)
  4. ↑ Hermann Schmitt : Pontifical Actions of the Worms Auxiliary Bishops , in: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , Volume 10, 1958, p. 307 (digital scan)
  5. ^ Yearbook of the State Art Collections in Baden-Württemberg , Volume 2, p. 260, Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1965; (Detail scan)
  6. ^ Certificate of resignation from the Goslar provost office
  7. ^ Görres-Gesellschaft: Historisches Jahrbuch , Volume 87, 1967, p. 346; (Detail scan)
  8. ^ Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , Volume 16, 1964, p. 245; (Detail scan)
  9. ^ Journal of Philosophy and Catholic Theology , New Series, Volume 2, Part 1, Cologne, 1841, p. 17; (Digital scan of the relationship between the two bishops)
personal data
SURNAME Merle, Christian Albert Anton von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catholic priest, auxiliary bishop of Worms (1734–1765)
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1693
PLACE OF BIRTH Wetzlar
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1765
Place of death Worms