Christoph Andreas von Spaur

Christoph Andreas Freiherr von Spaur (born November 30, 1543 - † January 10, 1613 in Brixen ) was Bishop of Gurk and of Brixen .

family

Coat of arms of the bishop at the gate of Bruneck Castle

Christoph Andreas was born as a scion of the Tyrolean noble family of the Lords of Burgstall, who acquired their names after the Spaur family (ital. De Sporo) and Valor died out. His father Ulrich von Spaur was captain of the Nonsberg and Sulzberg and heir to the County of Tyrol , his mother Katharina von Madruz was a sister of the Bishop of Brixen. Spaur was also distantly related to Pope Pius IV and the Salzburg Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems .

Life

His uncle, Cardinal Christoph von Madruz , had a great influence on his upbringing and took him several times to Rome, where he also introduced him to Pope Pius. He received his training with the Jesuits in Leuven and at the age of 15 he was given minor orders in Trento. In 1559 he was already canon of Brixen and Trient, in 1565 his uncle made him general commissioner for the reform of the clergy and people and in 1570 he became dean of the Brixen cathedral chapter . He was ordained a priest on April 2, 1570. Three years later, on November 13, 1573, he was confirmed bishop in Salzburg and consecrated bishop of Gurk the following day. A week later, on November 22nd, he baptized the daughter of Archduke Charles. On December 4, 1573, he arrived in his residence city of Strasbourg and on December 8, he was enthroned in Gurk Cathedral.

With Prince-Bishop Spaur, a man with a genuinely Catholic disposition and undisputed moral rigor ascended the Gurk bishop's chair. On April 30, 1575 he was in audience with Pope Gregory XIII. receive.

After the death of Emperor Ferdinand I , the Habsburg lands were divided and Inner Austria with Carinthia fell to Archduke Karl . On August 6, 1577, he appointed the Gurk Bishop Spaur as regional president or governor in the residential city of Graz. Spaur held this office for seven years. His main concern was the defense of the Catholic faith against the Protestant nobility.

In 1587 Spaur traveled again to Rome to support Archduke Charles' plan to establish his own dioceses in Gorizia and Völkermarkt. Pope Clement VIII wanted to elevate Spaur to cardinal , which he refused in his modesty.

In 1601 he was elected Bishop of Brixen. In 1603 he resigned as Bishop of Gurk in order to devote himself entirely to his new office. On January 10, 1613 he died in Brixen and was buried in the crypt of the local cathedral.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Spaur, Christoph Andreas . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 36th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1878, p. 93 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Franz von Krones :  Christoph (Andrä Frh. V. Spaur) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 239 f.
• Franz Huter :  Christoph IV. Andreas, Frhr. v. Spaur. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 244 ( digitized version ).
• Jakob Obersteiner: The bishops of Gurk. 1072–1822 (= From Research and Art. 5, ISSN  0067-0642 ). Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1969, pp. 332-350.