Friedrich von Wirsberg

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Depiction of the Prince-Bishop on his epitaph in the Würzburg Cathedral
Epitaph in the Würzburg Cathedral
Prince-Bishop's coat of arms on a coin from 1569

Friedrich von Wirsberg (born November 16, 1507 in Glashütten , † November 10, 1573 at Marienberg Fortress in Würzburg ) was Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1558 until his death . Wirsberg's predecessor in office was Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt , who was Prince-Bishop in Würzburg from 1544 until his assassination in 1558. Friedrich von Wirsberg was the founder of the first grammar school in Würzburg.

origin

Friedrich von Wirsberg came from the Upper Franconian noble family of Wirsberg , who lived in the area of Kulmbach . His ancestors in glassworks were impoverished, parts of the family were notorious as robber barons. A few years after Friedrich's death, the Wirsberg property in Glashütten passed to the von Lüschwitz family in 1581 . A memorial stone of unknown age with an inscription on the former Glashüttener Castle commemorates the bishop.

Taking office during feuding times

Friedrich von Wirsberg took office at a very eventful time: In order to strengthen his position and enforce the return of his possessions, Wilhelm von Grumbach tried to seize the predecessor Bishop Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt . Wilhelm and his servant and his closest confidante Kretzer pulled three times against the bishop, twice in vain. In the third assassination attempt in April 1558, Melchior von Zobel was killed with his court lords Fuchs von Winfurt and Carl von Wenkheim . The killers escaped. Grumbach protested his innocence in this crime, but nobody believed him, and he fled to France , like Albrecht Alcibiades, who was also involved in the feud, of Brandenburg-Kulmbach . Friedrich von Wirsberg, as the newly appointed successor to Melchior Zobel, took on the pursuit of the perpetrators with great energy. Kretzer was caught on the French border and hanged himself before he could be tried.

Activities during his tenure

The Agnetenkloster Würzburg , founded in 1250, was abolished in 1560 by Prince-Bishop Friedrich von Wirsberg. Jesuits received the building in 1567 .

Veitshöchheim municipal coat of arms

The coat of arms of St. Vitus , patron saint of Veitshöchheim , was assigned to the community on July 26, 1563 by Prince-Bishop Friedrich von Wirsberg.

Friedrich Bernbeck (1511–1570), mayor and designer of the Reformation in Kitzingen , represented the interests of the city of Kitzingen towards the Würzburg bishops Friedrich von Wirsberg and his predecessor.

In 1560 Wirsberg had the Jews expelled from Würzburg and other cities of the bishopric. According to Arno Herzig : Jewish history in Germany , Wirsberg and his successor Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn were the only prince-bishops in the German Empire of that era who took such anti-Jewish steps.

In order to spread education and knowledge about the Catholic faith, he opened the pedagogy (a forerunner of today's Wirsberg-Gymnasium ) on April 28, 1561 , which as an educational institution in connection with a Jesuit college founded in 1567 provided both university-like education, but also the Catholic church reform should support.

He was buried in the Würzburg Cathedral . His epitaph in the nave of the cathedral longhouse was created in 1574 by the Eichstatt sculptor Wilhelm Sarder. After the death of Friedrich von Wirsberg, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn was elected as the new prince-bishop on December 1, 1573 , whose most important undertakings included church reform and the implementation of the Counter-Reformation in the Würzburg monastery and the establishment of the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg , which was later named after him .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see also Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523
  2. ↑ See inscription under http://www.glashuetten.de/?page_id=20
  3. ↑ Cf. also Clara Englander: The Becoming of the Würzburg College of the Societas Jesu (Prince-Bishop Wirsberg and Doctor of the Church Canisius). In: Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblätter Volume 14/15, 1952/53 (Herbipolis Jubilans), pp. 519-535.
  4. ↑ Peter Baumgart : The Julius University of Würzburg as a type of university foundation in the denominational age. In: Peter Baumgart (Ed.): Four hundred years of the University of Würzburg. A commemorative publication. Degener & Co. (Gerhard Gessner), Neustadt an der Aisch 1982 (= sources and contributions to the history of the University of Würzburg. Volume 6), ISBN 3-7686-9062-8 , pp. 3–29; here: pp. 7-14.
  5. ↑ Ernst-Günter Krenig: Collgium Fridericianum. Establishment of the grammar school system under Prince-Bishop Friedrich von Wirsberg. In: Living tradition. Festschrift 400 years of the humanistic high school in Würzburg. 1961, pp. 1-22.
  6. ↑ See also Georg Joseph Keller: The founding of the grammar school in Würzburg by Prince-Bishop Friedrich von Wirsberg. Thein, Würzburg 1859 (= program of the [old] grammar school in Würzburg. 1849/50. )
  7. ↑ Stefan Kummer : Architecture and fine arts from the beginnings of the Renaissance to the end of the Baroque. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes; Volume 2: From the Peasants' War in 1525 to the transition to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1814. Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1477-8 , pp. 576–678 and 942–952, here: pp. 582 f.
  8. ↑ See also Hans Eugen Specker: The reform activities of the Würzburg prince-bishops Friedrich von Wirsberg (1558–1573) and Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn (1573–1617). In: Würzburg diocesan history sheets. Volume 27, 1965, pp. 29-125. (Simultaneously abbreviated reprint of the Philosophical Dissertation Tübingen 1963).

Web links

Commons : Friedrich von Wirsberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Melchior Zobel from Giebelstadt Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
1558–1573 		Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich von Wirsberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
DATE OF BIRTH November 16, 1507
PLACE OF BIRTH Glassworks (Upper Franconia)
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1573
Place of death Wurzburg