Gerard van Groesbeeck

Gerard van Groesbeeck

Gerard van Groesbeeck (* 1517 at Curingen Castle near Hasselt ; † December 23, 1580 ) was a cardinal of the Roman Church .

Life

He came from the Low German family of the Barons von Groesbeek, who were wealthy in the Duchy of Geldern . Name variants are Gérard de Groesbeeck , Geeraard Van Groesbeek and Gérard de Groisbeck ; the surname is also found as Groëbeck and Grousbroeck .

First he was cathedral capitular in Aachen , later capitular and dean of the cathedral monastery in Liège . From March 1562 coadjutor of Bishop Robert de Berghes , he was elected administrator of the Diocese of Liège on April 11, 1564 . On June 5 of the same year the election of the cathedral chapter as Bishop of Liège took place, which was confirmed by the Pope on February 23, 1565. He was ordained bishop on May 20, 1565 in the Herckenrode Abbey by Gregorius Silvius OP , auxiliary bishop in Liège.

He was known to fight extremely hard against the Protestantism spreading from the neighboring Netherlands . So he let u. a. put down the uprisings in Hasselt, Maaseik and Maastricht in 1567. In 1576 he was elected prince abbot of Malmedy and Stablo .

Pope Gregory XIII appointed him cardinal priest in the consistory of February 21, 1578 , but van Groesbeeck never traveled to Rome to receive the cardinal's hat and the titular church .

He died the day before Christmas Eve 1580 and was buried in Liège Cathedral.

Web links

• Groesbeeck, Gerard van. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed May 24, 2017.
• Entry on Gerard Cardinal van Groesbeeck on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on July 30, 2017.

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert II of Berghes	Prince-Bishop of Liège 1563–1580	Ernst of Bavaria
Christoph von Manderscheid-Kayl	Prince Abbot of Malmedy and Stablo 1576–1580	Ernst of Bavaria