Franz Joseph Seedorf

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Anonymized book cover from Father Seedorf's collection of letters to Prince Friedrich Michael von Pfalz-Birkenfeld, 1748
The Mannheim Jesuit Church , to the left of it, connected to the electoral palace , the no longer existing Jesuit college (marked with the letter "A")

Franz Joseph Seedorf , actually Franz Joseph Fegeli (born December 31, 1691 in Freiburg im Üechtland , Switzerland ; † July 10, 1758 in Schwetzingen ) was a Jesuit priest , theology professor and controversial writer . As a confessor and counselor of conscience to two Palatinate electors, he had great influence at the Electoral Palatinate court.

Live and act

Father Seedorf was actually called Franz Joseph Fegeli and came from the Swiss town of Freiburg in Üechtland. He called himself Seedorf after the estate of his family . He joined in 1709 to Landsberg am Lech in the novitiate of the Jesuits and studied from 1712 at the University of Ingolstadt , where he worked from 1729 to 1732 as a professor of philosophy and theology.

Seedorf later belonged to the Jesuit College in Mannheim and, in 1736, when his predecessor Father Nikolaus Staudacher died , he was the confessor of Elector Karl III. Philip . After the ruler's death in 1742, the priest continued this task with his successor, Elector Karl Theodor . With this he was very familiar, since he had already worked as his tutor.

In the run-up to the conversion of Prince Friedrich Michael von Pfalz-Birkenfeld (1724–1767), Franz Joseph Seedorf addressed several long theological letters to him, which were also published as an apologetic book in Mannheim in 1748, shortly after the Wittelsbacher's change of faith . Because of the quality of their content, Bishop Andreas Räß (1794–1887), 120 years later, documented several of these letters in Volume X of his work The Converts since the Reformation . In this, Father Seedorf does not only refer to Catholic authors to refute Protestantism, but also cites Orthodox or ancient Oriental bishops and patriarchs; a quite unusual and revolutionary method for the time, which shows the intellectual open-mindedness of the author.

The first house built on today's Schlossplatz in Schwetzingen was built in 1748 by Franz Wilhelm Rabaliatti for Seedorf on behalf of the Elector . Today it is called "Palais Hirsch" and is used for art exhibitions, municipal council meetings and other events.

Here in Schwetzingen, Father Franz Joseph Seedorf died in 1758.

According to the newsletter of the Freemasons zu Neuwied from 1787, Seedorf is said to have been a member of the Mannheim Freemason Lodge Zur Einigkeit . However, there is no other evidence. Regardless of this, the Jesuit was very cosmopolitan and cultivated friendly contacts on all sides, including many members of the lodge.

Varia

In the historical story Die Kinder des Kesselflickers - A crime story from the old Electoral Palatinate (Wellhöver-Verlag, Mannheim, 2009, ISBN 978-3939540-36-6 ), by Volker Keller , Father Franz Joseph Seedorf takes one of the positive leading roles.

Works

  • Send letter about the controversial questions of faith: What are the most noble causes of movement, power of which the most lucid prince and Mr. Friderich Pfaltz-Graff bey Rhein, Hertzog in Bavaria, Graff zu Veldentz, Sponheim and Rappoltstein, Herr zu Hohenackh etc. etc. determined to reunite with the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church Mannheim, 1748, 711 pages (also published in French); Complete scan of the book

literature

  • Bernhard Duhr : History of the Jesuits in the countries of the German tongue. Volume 4. Herder, Freiburg 1928, page 362 ( excerpt from the source ).
  • Andreas Räß : The converts since the Reformation. Volume X. Herder, Freiburg 1871, pages 1-104.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard van Dülmen: A contribution to the history of the Catholic Enlightenment in Bavaria , Munich 1967; Excerpt from the source
  2. ^ Andreas Räß: The converts since the Reformation , Volume X, Herder Verlag, Freiburg, 1871, page 1
  3. ^ Website on the history of the Jesuits in Mannheim, with mention of Father Seedorf
  4. ↑ Friedrich Wilhelm Philipp von Ammon : Gallery of the most memorable people, which in the XVI., XVII. and XVIII. Centuries converted from the Protestant to the Catholic Church , Erlangen 1833, page 287 scan from the source
  5. ↑ Scans from the source
  6. ↑ Andreas Räß: The converts since the Reformation , Volume X, pages 16-18
  7. ^ Bernhard Duhr : History of the Jesuits in the countries of the German tongue , Volume 4, page 363; Excerpt from the source
  8. ^ Stefan Mörz: Enlightened absolutism in the Electoral Palatinate during the Mannheim reign of Elector Karl Theodor (1742-1777) , Kohlhammer Verlag 1991, page 78, ISBN 3170111868 ; Excerpt from the source
  9. ↑ Website on the author Volker Keller ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mannheim-schwarz-weiss.de
personal data
SURNAME Seedorf, Franz Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Jesuit priest, advisor to the Palatinate Elector
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1691
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Üechtland
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1758
Place of death Schwetzingen