Clemens August of Bavaria

Clemens August with all the signs of his spiritual and secular rule: the Kurmantel and Kurhut stand for the Electorate of Cologne, the episcopal pectoral hanging on his chest, the collar of the priest's robe and the miter lying on the table behind the Kurhut symbolize his office as Archbishop of Cologne, on the left in the background Falkenlust Castle, painted by Georges Desmarées , around 1746, oil on canvas, location: Augustusburg Castle

Clemens August Ferdinand Maria Hyazinth, Duke of Bavaria (born August 16, 1700 in Brussels ; † February 6, 1761 in Koblenz ) was as Clemens August I from 1723 to 1761 Archbishop of Cologne and at the same time Elector of the Holy Roman Empire , sovereign of the associated ore monastery as well as the neighboring countries Recklinghausen and Westphalia . He was also the Legatus natus of the Holy Apostolic See in Rome , as well as Arch Chancellor for Imperial Italy . In addition, he combined the offices of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1732–1761), Prince-Bishop of Regensburg (1716–1719), Münster (1719–1761), Osnabrück (1728–1761), Paderborn (1719–1761) and Hildesheim (1724) –1761) as well as other ecclesiastical dignities in itself.

Clemens August, at the time known as Monsieur des cinq églises (Lord of the Five Churches) because of his bishopric , was one of the most important spiritual princes of his time. His foreign policy was shaped by the fact that he frequently changed his allies. He will be remembered by posterity as a rococo prince who loved pomp and circumstance , who ran a splendid court and had numerous castles built or converted.

Family and early years

Clemens August was the fourth son and fifth child of Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria and his second wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska , a daughter of the Polish King Jan Sobieski . He had nine siblings and five half-siblings from other connections of his father. One brother was Karl Albrecht, later Elector of Bavaria and, as Charles VII, Roman-German Emperor. The brother Ferdinand Maria was the imperial field marshal of the empire. Johann Theodor was bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liège . An uncle was his predecessor as Archbishop of Cologne, Joseph Clemens .

At the time of his birth his father was governor general in the Spanish Netherlands . The family returned to Bavaria with the War of the Spanish Succession . The father allied himself with France and opposed the emperor and the empire. In 1704 he lost the battle of Höchstädt against Prince Eugene , his former comrade in Hungary . The father was ostracized and fled into exile. Clemens August spent, after an initial stay in Munich , the time from 1706 to 1712 in Klagenfurt and then to the end of the war in 1715 in Graz in the Austrian honorary detention. Above all, he received a proper education from the Jesuits under imperial supervision. Only after this more than ten-year separation did he see his parents again when his father regained his rule in 1715.

Office accumulation in the imperial church

His father relentlessly pursued European political goals from dynastic power interests, trained his four sons accordingly and did not leave marriages to chance. He appointed Clemens August - as did his brothers Philipp Moritz and Johann Theodor - for the clergy. They were supposed to take up important positions in the imperial church in order to increase the Bavarian-Wittelsbach influence. Originally, Clemens August was to become Bishop of Freising, Regensburg and Speyer , while his brother Philipp Moritz was to receive spiritual dignity in northwest Germany. In 1715 Clemens August received his first tonsure and became coadjutor of the diocese of Regensburg and the prince-provost of Berchtesgaden . From 1716 to 1719 he was Bishop of Regensburg. In 1718 he became provost of the monastery Altötting . He held this office until 1721. In 1719 he also received a canon post in Cologne, which he held until 1723, and another canon post in Liège, which he only gave up in 1757.

Silver medal for the German Order from the Partin Bank Bad Mergentheim, which has since been dissolved . The obverse is a facsimile of the medal by Franz Andreas Schega . It shows Clemens August von Bayern, 1700 Brussels - 1761 Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein . Grand Master of the Teutonic Order 1732 - 1761. The original medal was issued in 1750 when he was elected Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1732.

Clemens August as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (portrait at Meersburg Castle )

From 1717 to 1719 he went to Rome with his brother Philipp Moritz to deepen his theological studies . During this time, the father tried hard to secure further offices and honors for the two sons. 1719 he became, after the death of his brother, who was originally intended for these items and in Rome on smallpox died, Prince Bishop of Münster and Paderborn . He had to give up the diocese of Regensburg for this. His father urged his reluctant brother Elector Archbishop Joseph Clemens of Bavaria to accept his nephew in 1722 as coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Cologne with the right of succession. Above all, Ferdinand von Plettenberg took care of the canons' approval in a future election. He had to overcome certain resistance from the Provost of Cologne Cathedral and Cardinal Christian August von Sachsen-Zeitz , who made various claims for a nephew. Thereupon the imperial and papal approval for the accumulation of offices had to be obtained. With their consent, the canons confirmed Clemens August as coadjutor. As early as 1723, with the death of his uncle Joseph Clemens von Bayern, he succeeded him in Cologne.

The attempt to have him elected as successor to Joseph Clemens in Liège, too, failed due to resistance from the emperor and France. Instead he also became Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim in 1724 and of Osnabrück in 1728 . In 1732 he was particularly proud to be elected Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (Hoch- und Deutschmeister) . With this he took over an office that had previously been the domain of the Habsburgs , and in 1731 he became the owner of the imperial infantry regiment " Deutschmeister ".

This concentration of clergy in one hand was unique until then. It actually stood in opposition to the decisions of the Council of Trent , but was tolerated by the Curia. As elector and multiple bishop, Clemens August was promoted to the rank of imperial prince and thus not only had sovereign power in a large part of north-west Germany, but also multiple seats and votes in the Reichstag.

Clemens August himself contributed little to his ascent. Above all, his Chamberlain and Prime Minister Ferdinand von Plettenberg influenced the elections in his favor. The reports of spiritual observers from his time in Rome attested Clemens August “good qualities and virtues”, and people in Munich were also convinced that he was qualified for his government office. In 1723, the papal nuncio in Rome particularly praised the religious zeal of the then coadjutor. He felt, however, little inclination to be a priest consecrate to leave. He once told his father that he would represent the priesthood unworthily. Before an ordination he wanted to give up his spiritual offices and the electoral dignity if necessary. The father quickly dissuaded him from these thoughts. Pope Benedict XIII insisted on being ordained a priest in return for confirming his election as Bishop of Hildesheim. After Clemens August finally made up his mind, he was ordained a priest in 1725 in Schwaben Castle near Munich. In 1726 his father died. A year later, Clemens August was from Pope Benedict XIII. personally ordained a bishop. For this purpose, the Pope - this was an extraordinary gesture - traveled to meet him to the place of consecration, the Church of Santa Maria della Quercia in Viterbo .

politics

Ferdinand von Plettenberg around 1721/22, oil painting by Joseph Vivien

At the time of Clemens August internal and external politics are divided into two parts. In the first, Ferdinand von Plettenberg determined the course. The second is characterized by a frequent change of people and institutions. After the fall of Plettenberg, Clemens August no longer wanted to entrust power to one person alone. Instead, a supreme conference was created. But no one could replace Plettenberg's person. The Council therefore only played a subordinate role. The importance increased a little under the integrity of Paderborn Cathedral Provost Friedrich Christian von Fürstenberg , before he fell out of favor. A cabinet government developed in the second half of the 1740s. In this played August Wilhelm von Wolff-Metternich a central role. After this was dropped by the elector, they returned to the conference system. Initially, Hermann Werner von der Asseburg dominated . Later Gottfried Josef von Raesfeld took over the leadership of the government with the rank of Grand Chancellor.

Foreign policy

Alliances and treaties	… from	… With	Remarks
1724	Clemens August of Bavaria	Maximilian II. Emanuel (Bavaria) , Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg , Johann Theodor von Bayern	Wittelsbach House Union
1726	Bavaria, Kurköln	Austria	Clemens August followed the Bavarian politics until 1730
1727	Bavaria	France	Alliance and Subsidy Agreement
1728	Kurköln	France
1730/31	Kurköln	Austria	Clemens August becomes high and German master in 1732
1733	Kurköln	France	War of the Polish Succession 1733–1738
1740	Bavaria, Kurköln	France	War of the Austrian Succession 1740–1748
1744	Kurköln	England	Orientation of politics to the acquisition of subsidies
1747	Kurköln	France
1749/50	Kurköln	England
1751	Kurköln	France

Plettenberg did not turn out to be a mere tool in the hands of the Munich court, as had been hoped, but pursued an entirely independent policy. At times he stood against the Habsburgs with Bavaria, France and England, but secretly established connections with Vienna. Clemens August's transition to the imperial camp is due to his influence. The court in Munich and French ambassadors tried in vain to separate Clemens August from Plettenberg.

On May 9, 1733, a personal favorite of the Elector, Commander Johann Baptist Freiherr von Roll , was killed in a duel between Friedrich Christian von Beverförde zu Werries . This case brought Clemens August completely off balance and he feared for the salvation of his friend's soul. He also reproached himself for not preventing the duel. The elector therefore contacted the nun Maria Crescentia Höss in the Kaufbeuren monastery, whom he had met personally during a stay in Munich and who was known for her visions of the Holy Spirit. Clemens August followed her advice to make sure that Rolls' soul was in heaven. He also initiated extensive investigations that led to two different versions of the events. He blamed Plettenberg for Roll's death. This fell out of favor and was dismissed from his offices. After that, Clemens August came under the influence of changing favorites.

After the fall of Plettenberg, Clemens August turned away from his previous Austrian ally and turned to France and Bavaria. He did this at an inopportune time because the war of the Polish succession to the throne had just broken out and an imperial war against France had been declared. This led to proceedings in the Reich against Clemens August. In addition, its territories suffered from billeting of soldiers. Of all people, Plettenberg, who was fired by him, became the imperial commissioner for the Lower Rhine and was now working against his former master. After the peace agreement, a Habsburg-oriented party at the Bonn court regained weight. When Emperor Charles VI. died, it was therefore by no means certain that Clemens August would support his brother Karl Albrecht in his quest for the imperial crown. Ultimately, new French aid funds brought Clemens August to his brother's side. He then voted for his brother to be elected King of the Romans and crowned him emperor on February 12, 1742 .

However, he felt that he was being neglected and that his support was little rewarded. He therefore made contact with Vienna again and took a neutral stance during the War of the Austrian Succession . For this he received money from Austria, England and the Netherlands. The French ambassador at the Bonn court had previously had significant influence, now the Austrian Johann Karl Philipp Graf Cobenzl decisively determined the political course before he fell out of favor with Clemens August himself. After his brother's death in 1745, he hoped in vain for a major political role as a peace broker. He elected Franz I Stephan as emperor, but already began to switch sides again. On the fringes of festivities in Poppelsdorf, he allied himself with France without informing his ministers beforehand.

After the Peace of Aachen in 1748, the French party lost its influence at court again and the elector changed sides again in 1750 for subsidies of 400,000 guilders per year. A year later, Clemens August allied again with France. Now Hermann Werner von der Asseburg, as chief steward and leading minister, determined the policy of the Electorate of Cologne and was able to set Clemens August on a pro-French course for a long time. Asseburg fell over a similar affair as Plettenberg. Again a close friend of the elector, Baron von Anstel, died unexpectedly. Clemens August wrongly believed that Asseburg had poisoned it. Although the leading minister fell, there was no change of alliance, as France and Austria were now allies against Frederick II of Prussia in the Seven Years' War .

Clemens August joined the antifriderician coalition and provided troops to the imperial army . During the war, he pursued far-reaching and unrealistic political goals: From the high and German masters he derived claims to Prussian areas in the Baltic States. The demand for Prussian territories in Westphalia was more in line with political realities. The Seven Years' War ultimately became a severe test for his possessions, as a large part of the fighting between the French and the Anglo - Hanoverian coalition took place here. In 1762, shortly after the Elector's death, the Arnsberg Castle, which was defended by a French garrison, was bombed and destroyed by the Allied Army in the Duchy of Westphalia . At the end of the war, the Paderborn Monastery was one of the territories most severely damaged by the war, with a war burden of 7.371 million Reichstalers in West Germany. At times the existence of the Hochstift was at stake.

military

Grenadier of the Principality of Paderborn as part of the Imperial Army on the Rhine in 1734 in the Gudenus handwriting

In his dual role as ecclesiastical and secular ruler, Clemens August commanded the regiments of his territories linked in personal union. Since waging wars of aggression could hardly be reconciled with his office as prince-bishop, his troops mainly had to perform defensive tasks. This included the defense of the territory, the position of contingents in the Imperial Army and executions at the district level . The Elector's troops were also included in the Wittelsbach dynastic policy. In the treaty text of the Wittelsbach House Union with Bavaria, the Palatinate and Trier from 1724, he committed himself to the provision of 3,000 men on horseback and 7,000 men on foot in the event of a defense.

Clemens August distinguished himself militarily during the War of the Polish Succession , when he committed himself to arm his army under a subsidy treaty with France. In a camp near Plittersdorf he pulled together newly established regiments and turned the swearing in of the troops into a courtly feast, although the Bavarian Wittelsbachers originally planned secrecy. The electoral Cologne estates then refused to pay any tax. At the end of August 1734 desertions spread among the new troops because of the lack of pay. The Plittersdorf camp finally had to be closed in October 1734. In the Reich and in Vienna, Clemens August's attempt at armament aroused astonishment, as he was not, at least officially, able to submit his contingent to the Imperial Army for the war against France beforehand. The elector's gambling game was sanctioned with billeting by the imperial army.

territory	Armament in the summer of 1734
Electorate of Cologne	6000 men
Principality of Münster	5000 men
Principality of Paderborn	819 infantry men and a company of invalids
Principality of Osnabrück	800 men
Principality of Hildesheim	500 men

The training of soldiers under Clemens August was based on the leading military powers of the Holy Roman Empire. Since 1730, training has been carried out in all territories of the personal union based on the model of the imperial drill regulations. After the War of the Austrian Succession, the Prussian drill regulations quickly spread throughout Europe. In Münster and Kurköln, training according to the Prussian drill regulations has been taking place since 1752. The contemporary judgment on the troops of the Cologne Elector was neutral to positive: the French Marshal Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise classified two Münster regiments as good and three Elector Cologne regiments as mediocre during the Seven Years' War.

Church politics

Copper engraving of the fireworks for the 900th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of St. Liborius to Paderborn in 1736

Clemens August certainly showed zeal for his religious tasks. He celebrated masses, took part in spiritual exercises, ordained priests and bishops. Personally, he was shaped by baroque piety. The veneration of saints and Mary played a major role. He went on pilgrimages to Kevelaer , Telgte , Altötting or Loreto . In addition to piety, however, the joy of representation also played a role. Furthermore, the elector sought contact with the Franciscan Maria Crescentia Höss and maintained an exchange of letters with her, which, among other things, concerned the salvation of his confidante von Roll who was killed in the duel. The relationship with the Pope was more factual than cordial. He was undoubtedly not a role model for the clergy: he had no problems celebrating lavish festivals immediately after religious ceremonies and he did not take celibacy very seriously.

In church politics he gave his auxiliary bishops and church authorities largely a free hand. In the Archdiocese of Cologne there was hardly any correspondence between the archbishop and vicar general. Court theologians from the Jesuit order played an important role. At the time of his episcopate, the Cologne seminary was rebuilt in 1738 . This was named after him the Seminarium Clementinum . A new provision was that everyone who aspired to a priesthood had to attend a seminary for one year. Numerous churches in the archbishopric benefited from the archbishop's patronage.

Even if he spent some time in Münster every year , the actual church administration was carried out by local forces. He founded the Clemens Hospital in Münster . In Clemenswerth near Sögel he founded a Capuchin monastery also for missions in the Protestant Netherlands.

As in the other monasteries, Clemens August had to sign an election surrender in Paderborn before taking office, which essentially confirmed the rights of the cathedral chapter to the sovereign. In Paderborn, too, he left the spiritual administration to an auxiliary bishop and the vicar general. He donated various church items. On his recommendation, his court builder Franz Heinrich Roth built the Jesuit church in Büren . Clemens August exerted a great influence on the occupation of the cathedral protectors in Paderborn. In order to create a counterweight to the local nobility , he preferred Rhenish aristocrats. A highlight of his tenure was the festivities for the 900th anniversary of the translation of the bones of St. Liborius from Le Mans to Paderborn in 1736 .

Clemens August only visited Hildesheim a few times. There he had the baroque redesign of the Mariendom continued. He had some churches in the diocese and also the - for his circumstances modest - bishop's residence rebuilt. In Osnabrück, too, his effectiveness was limited primarily to his patronage for church institutions.

As Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Clemens August had a small staff of knights and officials at his disposal in Bonn and mostly ruled the affairs of the order from a distance. He had Mergentheim Castle rebuilt splendidly.

Clemens August was until the publication of the bull of excommunication In eminenti apostolatus specula by Pope Clemens XII. Freemason in 1738 . During his reign the first Masonic Lodge was built in Bonn (→ Freemasonry in Bonn ).

Internal politics

Clemens August as a falconer (painting by Peter Jakob Horemans )

When he came to power in Kurköln, Clemens August followed the policy of his predecessor Joseph Clemens and confirmed his policy order for the Duchy of Westphalia (1723) .

Clemens August was hardly interested in domestic politics. Often he didn't bother about it for months and it was difficult to get the necessary signatures from him. In this area, too, he usually gave his subordinates a free hand, but sometimes intervened in business. There were therefore no noteworthy reforms. After all, a secret council was set up in the Paderborn bishopric to head the secular administration. Apart from the effects of the Seven Years' War, the economic situation for his subjects was by no means bad. Various sections of the population benefited in particular from the orders of the court and from the princely building policy. In Bonn alone, more than 1,400 workers were employed in 1754.

Even if not driven by himself, the electoral influence at least partially increased. In the Duchy of Westphalia, politics was aimed at strengthening sovereign influence. The previously largely independent government of Landdrost and councilors was subordinated to the Hofrat in Bonn. Calling the imperial courts was now prohibited. The court councilor in Bonn became the highest appellate authority. This extended the Privilegium de non appellando valid for the Rhineland to the Duchy. Basically only the estates remained an independent force.

Under the rule of Clemens August there were a number of innovations in the area of ​​law enforcement. Traditionally, local administrations and land militias occasionally conducted patrols and were called in during arrests. In 1751, the first paramilitary police unit was set up in the Electorate of Cologne with a hussar company and carried out visitations on a permanent basis. Financing came from the estates.

Court life

Court in front of the Chinese pavilion at Schloss Brühl

Compared to his predecessor, Josef Clemens, Clemens August had significantly more funds available for keeping his court due to the accumulation of his lands. The size of the Bonn court grew from 592 offices in 1723 to 1,275 offices in 1759. After his death, the number of court offices was drastically reduced to 674. The splendor of the Electoral Cologne court shifted from Josef Clemens to Clemens August from daily ceremonies based on the model of Louis XIV to festivals, balls, theater and music performances and hunting. Outside observers, such as the French ambassador Abbé de Guébriand, found the Electoral Cologne court ceremony to be comparatively informal. Under the rule of Clemens August there was a tendency towards smaller, more intimate societies. The stage of aristocratic court life, palace buildings, were accordingly mostly pleasure and hunting palaces .

In spite of the loss of importance of the ceremony, life at the Kurkölner Hof was judged by contemporaries to be extremely expensive. It can be divided into audience-related, splendid representation and more intimate amusements. The group of participants expanded at larger court festivities, such as masked balls and theater performances, and no longer exclusively included the nobility, but increasingly also the upper class. A ceremony that still took place regularly was the public dining of the elector on special holidays. Honorable people were allowed to watch from the gallery of the dining room of the Bonn or Brühl palace as Clemens August was served by the owners of high court offices. For this, the court orchestra played table music.

At the head of the court was the Obristland steward. Among them there were the staffs of the chief steward, the chief chamberlain, the chief marshal and the chief stableman. In terms of size and splendor, it was the most splendid courtyard in north-west Germany. With this display of splendor, Clemens August drew aristocrats from all over Europe to his court, at which the country nobility was also well represented. On a symbolic level he competed with princes to whom he was inferior in terms of real means of power. The effort Clemens August undertook was shown, for example, when the emperor was elected in 1742. He traveled with an entourage of 1,600 people with 750 horses, while his brother, the future emperor, only had 1,293 people and 405 horses. The cost of running the lavish court was so high that it exceeded the financial capabilities of the electoral territories, so that Clemens August was solely dependent on foreign subsidies, which he received for political support from changing parties.

There were, for a spiritual ruler, extremely splendid balls and parties. Plays, operas and comedies were shown at his court. For this purpose he recruited German, but also French and Italian ensembles. The members of the court also often performed plays, and Clemens August himself sometimes performed. The elector also played the viola da gamba . After 1746 the former Plettenberger Hof , once a gift from Clemens August to Ferdinand von Plettenberg , who was later exiled by him , served as a guest house for diplomats at the electoral court and was also used for lavish festivities.

Distinguished ladies played an important role at court. Many of these tried to pursue their own interests or served as agents of foreign princes. The elector had numerous affairs. These included relationships with Countess Seinsheim, the Princess of Nassau-Siegen and Luise von Brandt. He also had relationships with less high-ranking women. He fathered his daughter Anna Maria with the Bonn harpist Mechthild Brion, who was later ennobled (Anna Maria zu Löwenfeld (1735–1783)). Anna Maria later married an illegitimate son ( Franz Ludwig Graf von Holnstein (1723–1780)) of his brother Charles VII Albrecht .

Another passion of Clemens August was hunting. His preferred areas were the Kottenforst near Bonn, the area around Uerdingen and Arnsberg , the Hümmling and the area around the Paderborn residence Schloss Neuhaus . All types of hunting were practiced, including parforce hunts , duck shooting and falconry . Allegedly to make amends for an injury he inflicted on the client while hunting, he helped finance the construction of Schwarzenraben Castle . With the Ordre de la Clemence (seat: Saint Venantius Chapel ) he even founded his own hunting order.

Patron and builder

Augustusburg Palace, view from the east into the main courtyard

Clemenswerth Castle - main building

The stage for court life in particular was formed by the castles newly built or rebuilt by the elector. With his broad education and his trained sense of art, he sometimes loaned high-ranking artists from his father or his brother Karl Albrecht, who ruled the empire, and was able to encourage them to perform particularly well. The builders and artists he sponsored included Johann Balthasar Neumann , François de Cuvilliés the Elder , Johann Conrad Schlaun and George Desmarées .

New buildings were the castles Augustusburg and Falkenlust in Brühl , the hunting lodge Entenfang in Wesseling was wrongly ascribed to him for a long time, the Clemenswerth Palace in Sögel in the Emsland region , the no longer preserved Herzogsfreude Palace in Kottenforst near Bonn and the only partially realized Liebenburg Palace after the castle was demolished Liebenburg . His passion for hunting is also expressed in these buildings. In Hildesheim he had the dilapidated prince-bishop's palace replaced by a new building. The St. Michael Church in Berg am Laim was built under his direction . He inherited the buildings he expanded and built in Bonn, the Bonn residence and the Clemensruhe pleasure palace (" Poppelsdorfer Schloss ") from his predecessor and uncle Joseph Clemens. He also had Poppelsdorfer Allee laid out here. From 1729/30 onwards, Clemens August had his residence in the Duchy of Westphalia , Schloss Arnsberg , representative of Johann Conrad Schlaun's renovation. He also had the first section of the Münster'schen Canal built between 1724 and 1730, which was to connect Münster with the Netherlands .

Death and burial

Clemens August died on February 6, 1761 during the Seven Years' War in the Electorate of Trier at Philippsburg Castle in the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress . With him ended the uninterrupted rule of the Wittelsbachers over the Electorate of Cologne since the 16th century. In his will, Clemens August only considered his successor on the Kurstuhl and the Electoral Cologne court chamber, but not his nephew, the Bavarian Elector. Maximilian III Joseph then tried to challenge the will before the Reich Chamber of Commerce, but failed on January 23, 1767. The sudden vacancy of five of the most important spiritual territories in the north-west of the empire also had far-reaching political consequences, especially since no coadjutor was elected or elected during the lifetime of Clemens August so that the succession was open. Pope Clement XIII. on March 11, 1761 refused to approve the election of Clemens August's brother Johann Theodor as Archbishop of Cologne and justified this with his scandalous, unspiritual way of life. The Wittelsbach government over Kurköln, which had existed since 1583, ended forever.

His tomb, shared by the Bavarian electors of Cologne, is located above the burial site of his body in the crypt of Cologne Cathedral on the north wall of the Kreuz- or Liebfrauenkapelle, in which the Shrine of the Three Kings was kept until the 20th century . In accordance with the multiple burials of princes customary at the time, however, his heart was brought to Altötting in the Gnadenkapelle there, while the entrails in St. Remigius in Bonn and the brain, eyes and tongue in Bonn's Capuchin Crypt found their final resting place.

meaning

Poppelsdorfer Schloss, avenue side

There can be no doubt that he was personally firmly rooted in Catholicism and willing to carry out his spiritual duties. The same applies to his duties as sovereign. However, he was often unsure of his political decisions and wavered between a pro-French and a pro-Habsburg direction. He was heavily dependent on advisers, favorites and the foreign powers behind them. Older research in particular has described him as weak, unstable, lacking in character and, overall, politically incapable. Even if he was not politically gifted and was dependent on advisors, the harsh judgments are now somewhat relativized.

The fluctuations in his politics reflect, among other things, the structural weakness of his power. Although these territories formed a fairly closed association spatially, they were politically very different. The influences of the estates, especially the cathedral chapters , remained great. Even if he tried to expand the power of the sovereign, for example in the Duchy of Westphalia, his rule remained far removed from contemporary absolutism and he remained dependent on the estates, especially with regard to tax permits.

One way out of this financial and political limitation was the acceptance of subsidies from foreign powers. The King of France in particular was generous - even the Prussian kings accepted such subsidies. Due to the size and location of his lands, Clemens August was therefore courted by France, the Netherlands, Great Britain-Hanover and Prussia.

He was dependent on these outside funds because the income from his territories was too low to cover the high costs of his buildings and court. The amount of the promised funds played an important role in the change of alliances. In this respect, Clemens August's policy was in a certain sense rational. Overriding principles, be it the interests of the empire or even the nation, played no role for him. This hardly distinguished him from other rulers of the time.

There was no army to speak of. His troops were too weak even for defense, so that Clemens August had to rely on alliances to keep his countries out of the wars and to secure his rule. Unlike his predecessors, Clemens August did not invest in building fortresses or maintaining soldiers. Rather, he even reduced the size of the electorate's army in order to spend more money on his court. Recognizing his military weakness, he led a swing policy between the powers and concentrated entirely on the expansion of his castles and the keeping of court. The high debts forced his successors to pursue tough austerity measures. This explains the transfiguration of his time in retrospect: "With Clemens August you wore blue and white, there you lived like in the Paradeis."

title

Clemens August's castle coat of arms at the Ruthe brewery in Sarstedt , Ruthe district

Clemens August Archbishop of Cöllen, of the Holy Roman Empire through Italy Ertzkanzler and Elector legatus natus of the Holy Apostolic See in Rome, Administrator of the Hochmeistererthumbs in Prussia, Master of the German Order in German and Welsh countries, Bishop of Paderborn, Hildesheim, Münster and Osnabrück, in Upper and Lower Bavaria, also the Upper Palatinate in Westphalia and in Engern Hertzog, Count Palatine near the Rhine, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg , Burgrave of Stromberg , Count Pyrmont, Lord of Borkeln , Werth , Freudenthal and Eulenberg . The county of Arnsberg and some other territories were not mentioned in the title matter for reasons that are not known.

reception

Clemens August Memorial in Brühl

On the occasion of Clemens August's 300th birthday, the exhibition Der Riss im Himmel - Clemens August and his epoch was shown in 2000 in Bonn, Cologne, Jülich, Brühl and Miel .

In 2011 Tilman Röhrig published a historical novel about Clemens August with the title Der Sonnenfürst .

Pedigree

Pedigree of Clemens August von Bayern
Great-great-grandparents	Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria (1548–1626) ⚭ 1568 Renata of Lorraine (1544–1602)	Emperor Ferdinand II. (1578–1637) ⚭ 1600 Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574–1616)	Duke Karl Emanuel I of Savoy (1562–1630) ⚭ 1585 Katharina Michaela of Spain (1567–1597)	King Henry IV of France (1553–1610) ⚭ 1600 Maria de 'Medici (1575–1642)	Marek Sobieski (1548 / 50–1605) ⚭ Jadwiga Snopkowska (1556 / 59–1588 / 89)	Jan Daniłowicz (1570–1628) ⚭ Zofia Żółkiewska (1590–1634)	Antoine de La Grange d'Arquien ⚭ Anne d'Ancienville	Baptiste de La Châtre of Bruillebault ⚭ Gabrielle Lamy
Great grandparents	Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria ⚭ 1635 Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1610–1665)		Duke Viktor Amadeus I of Savoy (1587–1637) ⚭ 1619 Christina of France (1606–1663)		Jakub Sobieski (1590–1646) ⚭ 1627 Zofia Teofillia Daniłowicz (1607–1661)		Henri Albert de La Grange d'Arquien (1613–1707) ⚭ Françoise de la Châtre
Grandparents	Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (1636–1679) ⚭ 1652 Henriette Adelheid of Savoy (1636–1676)				King John III Sobieski of Poland (1629–1696) ⚭ 1665 Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien (1641–1716)
parents	Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726) ⚭ 1695 Therese Kunigunde of Poland (1676–1730)
Clemens August of Bavaria

swell

• Christian soul treasure Extraordinary prayers. Prayer book for Elector Clemens August. Reprint of the book engraved in copper from 1729 with an afterword by Wilfried Hansmann and Gisbert Knopp (Die bibliophilen Taschenbücher, 214), Dortmund 1980.
• The Court Travel Journal of Elector Clemens August of Cologne 1719–1745 (on-site appointments, 12), ed. by Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger , Siegburg 2000.
• Maria Crescentia Hoess. Letters to Clemens August von Cologne , ed. by Karl Pörnbacher, Lindenberg i. Allgäu 2013.
• Your churf. Pass to Cölln / Bischoffen to Munster [et] c. Munster War Exercitia [...], Signatum Brüll [Brühl] June 12th, 1730. Clement August Digital copy of the ULB Munster

literature

Lexicon article

• Max Braubach:  Clemens August, Duke of Bavaria. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 282 ( digitized version ).
• Leonhard Ennen:  Clemens August . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 302-309.
• Ingrid Münch:  Clemens August of Bavaria. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-038-7 , Sp. 25-31.
• Josef Niesen : Bonn Personal Lexicon. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Bouvier, Bonn 2008, ISBN 978-3-416-03180-6 .
• Andreas Rutz: Clemens August von Bayern (1700–1761), Elector and Archbishop of Cologne (1723–1761) Entry in the portal Rhenish History . (2013)
• Josef Staber: Church history of the diocese of Regensburg . Regensburg 1966, p. 153.

Monographs and Articles

• Boeselager, Dela by : Capella Clementina. Elector Clemens August and the coronation of Emperor Charles VII (Studies on Cologne Cathedral, 8), Cologne 2001.
• Braubach, Max : Austrian diplomacy at the court of Elector Clemens August of Cologne 1740–1756. In: Annals of the Historisches Verein für den Niederrhein 111 (1927), pp. 1–80; 112 (1928), pp. 1-70; 114: 87-136 (1929); 116, pp. 87-135 (1930).
• Braubach, Max : Kurköln miniatures , Münster 1954.
• Braun, Bettina: Princeps et episcopus. Studies on the function and self-image of the north-west German prince-bishops after the Peace of Westphalia (publications by the Institute for European History Mainz, 230), Göttingen [u. a.] 2013.
• Grote, Herbert: The Politics of Kurköln in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735) , Gummersbach 1932.
• Hanschmidt, Alwin : A greeting regulation of the Cologne Elector Clemens August von Bayern for the garrison guards in Bonn, Münster and Paderborn from the year 1724. In: Westfalen 65 (1987), pp. 138-141.
• Hansmann, Wilfried: Elector Clemens August in the architectural and pictorial language of his Augustusburg Palace in Brühl. In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine 219 (2016), pp. 201–220.
• Hausberger, Karl: History of the Diocese of Regensburg , Vol. 2: From the Baroque to the Present , Regensburg 1989, pp. 21–24.
• Hausmanns, Barbara: In the eternal search for fame and beauty. Princely patronage in the 18th century: the example of Clemens August, Elector of Cologne, Prince-Bishop of Münster, Paderborn, Osnabrück and Liège. In: Westfälische Forschungen - Journal of the Westphalian Institute for Regional History of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe 55 (2005), pp. 135–168 .
• Hinz, Wencke: "Le monsieur de cinq églises". Clemens August von Bayern: Rule through representation. In: Susanne Tauss (Hrsg.): Rule - Life - Represent: Residences in the Principality of Osnabrück 1600–1800. Contributions to the scientific conference from September 13 to 15, 2012 in Osnabrück Castle (Kulturregion Osnabrück, 30), Regensburg 2014, pp. 273–284.
• Huesmann, Mechtild / Kurz, Lothar: "Arcus ante portam Monasterii". The design of an honor gate for Prince-Bishop Clemens August in front of the Bentlage Monastery from 1720. In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 163 (2013), pp. 157–163 .
• Britta Kägler : The trip to Rome of Princes Philipp Moritz and Clemens August of Bavaria (1716-1719). From the diaries of Urban Heckenstaller and Maximilian von Schurff. In: Rainald Becker , Dieter J. Weiß (ed.), Bavarian Romans - Roman Bavaria. Life stories from pre- and early modern times (Bavarian State History and European Regional History, Vol. 2) , St. Ottilien 2016, pp. 297-320.
• Krischer, André: “A necessary piece of the ambassades”. On the political rationality of the diplomatic ceremony in Elector Clemens August. In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine 205 (2002), pp. 161-200.
• Reiff, Michael: Good Bavarian and good Cologne. The Wittelsbach brothers Karl Albrecht (Karl VII.) And Clemens August in the context of dynastic power politics. In: Yearbook of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg 4 (2001–2002), pp. 29–50.
• Riepe, Juliane: "Essential to the reputation and magnificence of such a high-ranking prince": Ceremonial and Italian Opera at the Court of Clemens August Elector of Cologne, and other German Courts. In: Melania Bucciarelli, Norbert Dubowy, Reinhard Strohm (eds.): Italian Opera in Central Europe (Musical Life in Europe 1600–1900. Circulation, Institutions, Representation), Volume I: Institutions and Ceremonies, Berlin 2006, p. 147– 175.
• Sandgathe, Günter: A hunting year in the Arnsberg Forest at the time of Elector Clemens August. In: Westphalia - Hefte für Geschichte, Kunst und Volkskunde 45 2/3 (1967), pp. 189–192 .
• Sandgathe, Günter: Hunting and politics at the court camp of Elector Clemens August in the Duchy of Westphalia (1724–1761). In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 136 (1986), pp. 335-389 .
• Schlöder, Christian: Bonn in the 18th century. The population of a spiritual residence city ​​(city and society, 5), Cologne a. a. 2014.
• Schmid, Josef: "La cross et la pourpre". François Louis de Neubourg, Clément Auguste de Bavière: the "Reich Church Policy" of Wittelsbach et la relativité de l'approche dynastique. In: Rainer Babel, Guido Braun, Thomas Nicklas (eds.): Bourbon and Wittelsbach. Recent research on the history of dynasties (series of publications by the Vereinigung zur Erforschung der Neueren Geschichte, 33), Münster 2010, pp. 489–508.
• Sommer, Karl: The election of Duke Clemens August of Bavaria as Bishop of Münster and Paderborn (1719) as coadjutor with the right of succession in the Archbishopric of Cöln (1722), as Bishop of Hildesheim and Osnabrück (1724 and 1728) , Münster 1908 .
• Winterling, Aloys : The court of the electors of Cologne 1688–1794. A case study on the importance of 'absolutist' court rulings (publications by the Historisches Verein für den Niederrhein, in particular the Old Archdiocese of Cologne, 15), Bonn 1986.
• Miersch, Martin: The image of the Electeur soleil. Rococo ruler's iconography using the example of Cologne Elector and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Clemens August (1700–1761) , Marburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-7708-1305-6 .

Exhibition catalogs

• Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century. Exhibition in Augustusburg Palace in Brühl 1961 , Cologne 1961.
• Clemens August. Prince-bishop, hunter, patron. A cultural-historical exhibition on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Schloss Clemenswerth , Bramsche 1987.
• Frank Günter Zehnder, Werner Schäfer (ed.): The crack in the sky. Clemens August and his epoch. (Exhibition catalog) Bonn-Brühl-Cologne-Jülich-Miel 2000. ISBN 3-7701-5001-5 .

Web links

Commons : Clemens August I. von Bayern  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Clemens August von Bayern  - Quotes

• Literature by and about Clemens August von Bayern in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Clemens August von Bayern  in the German Digital Library
• Entry on Clemens August Maria von Bayern on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Stadtmuseum Münster: Baroque splendor under Prince-Bishop Clemens August of Bavaria
• (Digitized) court and address calendar of ecclesiastical territories of the 18th century. in the Internet portal Westphalian history of the LWL

References and comments

1. ↑ The older literature sometimes speaks of August 17, 1700, but this is his baptism day.
2. ^ Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, André Krischer: The Court Travel Journal of Elector Clemens August of Cologne 1719–1745 . Rheinlandia, Siegburg 2000, ISBN 3-931509-92-3 .
3. ↑ Wolfgang Seegrün : Clemens August von Bayern: Priest, Bishop, Politician . In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , vol. 60 (1988), pp. 15–32, here p. 18.
4. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 18.
5. ^ Eduard Hegel : Clemens August as a prince of the church . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 24.
6. ↑ Wolfgang Seegrün: Clemens August von Bayern: Priest, Bishop, Politician . In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , vol. 60 (1988), pp. 15–32, here p. 17.
7. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 18-19.
8. ↑ Wolfgang Seegrün: Clemens August von Bayern: Priest, Bishop, Politician . In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , vol. 60 (1988), pp. 15–32, here p. 21.
9. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 90.
10. ^ Rudolf Lill , Erwin Sandmann: Constitution and Administration of the Electorate and Archdiocese of Cologne . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 50-51.
11. ^ Peter Claus Hartmann: Money as an Instrument of European Power Politics in the Age of Mercantilism. Studies on the financial and political relationships of the Wittelsbach territories of Kurbayern, Kurpfalz and Kurköln with France and the Kaiser from 1715 to 1740 (= Studies on Bavarian Constitutional and Social History, Vol. 8). Munich 1978.
12. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning. In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century. Cologne 1961, pp. 19-20.
13. ^ ^{A b} Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 20.
14. ^ Constantin Becker: The experiences of the electoral Cologne troops in the association of the Reichsarmee during the Seven Years' War . In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine , vol. 91 (1911), pp. 63-108.
15. ^ Sven Externbrink: Friedrich the Great, Maria Theresa and the Old Empire. Image of Germany and French diplomacy in the Seven Years' War . Berlin 2006, p. 144. Paderborn's tax revenue in peacetime only amounted to around 70,000 Reichstaler per year. Wolfgang Burgdorf: "The elector of Cologne should be declared a secular elector, married, and the cure determined on his descendants" ... ". Clemens August, the Seven Years' War and the consequences . In: Frank Günther Zehnder (ed. ): In the interplay of forces. Political developments of the 17th and 18th centuries in Kurköln (= Der Riss im Himmel, Vol. 2). Cologne 1999, pp. 23–42, here p. 27.
16. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 20-21.
17. ↑ German history in sources and representations , ed. by Helmut Neuhaus. Stuttgart 1997, 176–184 [edition of the contract text of the Wittelsbach House Union], here p. 183.
18. ^ Winterling: Court of the Electors of Cologne . Pp. 60-61.
19. ^ Herbert Grote: The politics of Kurköln in the Polish War of Succession (1733-35) . Gummersbach 1932, p. 46.
20. ^ Franz Mürmann: The military system of the former Hochstift Paderborn since the end of the Thirty Years' War . Münster 1938 (dissertation University of Münster).
21. ^ Jutta Novosadtko: Standing Army in the Ständestaat. The coexistence of the military and civilian population in the Principality of Münster 1650–1803 (= research on regional history, vol. 59). Schöningh, Paderborn 2011, pp. 45–47, 260. The assessment of Marshal Soubise: Ibid., P. 264.
22. ^ Eduard Hegel: Clemens August as a prince of the church . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 24-25.
23. ^ Alois Schröer , Hans Hermann Breuer: Bishop of Münster . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 25-27.
24. ^ Wilhelm Tack: Bishop of Paderborn . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 27-31.
25. ^ Konrad Algermissen: Bishop of Hildesheim . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 31-33.
26. ^ Hans Hermann Breuer: Bishop of Osnabrück . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 34.
27. ^ Georg Siegmund Graf Adelmann: The German Knight Order at the time of Clemens August. His activity as Grand Master . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 186-189.
28. ^ Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner: International Freemasons Lexicon . Almathea-Verlag Munich 1980, reprint from 1932, ISBN 3-85002-038-X .
29. ^ Wilhelm Tack: Bishop of Paderborn . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 28.
30. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 21.
31. ^ Harm Klueting: The Electoral Cologne Duchy of Westphalia as spiritual territory in the 16th and 18th centuries . In the S. (Ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia , Vol. 1: The Electorate of Cologne from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803 . Münster 2009, p. 473.
32. ^ Karl Härter: Electoral Cologne Policey legislation during the government of Elector Clemens August . In: Frank Günther Zehnder (Ed.): In the interplay of forces. Political developments of the 17th and 18th centuries in Kurköln (= The crack in the sky, vol. 2). Cologne 1999, pp. 226-227.
33. ^ Christian Schlöder: Bonn in the 18th century. The population of a spiritual residence city ​​(= city and society, vol. 5). Cologne u. a. 2014, p. 84, table 8.
34. ↑ Winterling: Court of the Electors of Cologne , pp. 132-133.
35. ^ Winterling: Court of the Electors of Cologne , p. 141.
36. ^ Winterling: Court of the Electors of Cologne , pp. 136f.
37. ^ Hermann Fillitz: The imperial coronations of 1742 and 1747 . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 203.
38. ^ Rudolf Lill, Erwin Sandmann: Constitution and Administration of the Electorate and Archdiocese of Cologne . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 49-50.
39. ↑ Max Braubach: Women at the Kurkölnischer Hofe . In: Ders: Kurköln miniatures . Münster 1954, pp. 169-234, here pp. 186-219.
40. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, pp. 21-22.
41. ^ Wilhelm Kohl : The Diocese of Münster , Volume 3 (= Germania sacra. The Dioceses of the Church Province of Cologne. NF, Vol. 37.3). de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017592-4 , p. 703 ( digitized version ).
42. ^ Max Braubach: Elector Clemens August. Life and meaning . In: Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century . Cologne 1961, p. 17.
43. ↑ Since the 17th century, the short form "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" has also been used.
44. ^ Since 1170 at the Hochstift Münster.
45. ↑ Due to the claims of the Prince Diocese of Paderborn on the property of the Count of Pyrmont, who died out in 1494.
46. ↑ Quoted from Bettina Braun: Pastoral Bishop or absolutist Prince . The prince-bishops in the late phase of the Old Kingdom between claim and reality. In: Bettina Braun, Frank Göttmann, Michael Ströhmer (ed.): Spiritual states in the northwest of the Old Kingdom . sh-Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-89498-140-7 , ISSN  0944-8365 (Paderborn Contributions to History 13). Pp. 87-88.

predecessor	Office	successor
?	Provost of Altötting 1718–1722	Moritz Adolph of Saxony-Zeitz
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria	Prince-Bishop of Regensburg 1716–1719	Johann Theodor of Bavaria
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria	Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim 1724–1761	Friedrich Wilhelm von Westphalen
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria	Elector and Archbishop of Cologne , Arch Chancellor for Italy and Duke of Westphalia 1723–1761	Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels
Franz Arnold von Wolff-Metternich to the canal	Prince-Bishop of Münster 1719–1761	Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels
Franz Arnold von Wolff-Metternich to the canal	Prince-Bishop of Paderborn 1719–1761	Wilhelm Anton von der Asseburg
Ernst August II of Hanover	Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück 1728–1761	Friedrich August of Great Britain
Franz Ludwig of the Palatinate	Grand Master of the Teutonic Order 1732–1761	Charles Alexander of Lorraine