Johann Anton I. Knebel von Katzenelnbogen

Coat of arms of the Eichstätt prince-bishop at the former Eichstätt Notre Dame monastery, dated 1713

Johann Anton I. Knebel von Katzenelnbogen , also: Knebel von Cazenelenbogen (born October 19, 1646 in Mainz , † April 27, 1725 in Eichstätt ) was Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt .

Origin and education

He came from the Middle Rhine noble family of the Knebel von Katzenelnbogen , which in 1710, during the reign of Johann Anton I in Eichstatt , was elevated to the status of imperial baron. His father was Johann Philipp Knebel von Katzenelnbogen (* November 5, 1588, † around 1659), his mother Anna Maria Sidonia von Graerodt (* around 1615, † September 21, 1697).

Johann Anton studied in Mainz, from 1663 to 1667 on Germanicum in Rome theology . In 1668 he stayed in Bourges to continue his legal studies .

The Canon

In 1663 he received his first canonical at the Knights' Monastery of St. Burkard in Würzburg ( resignation 1685). Under the Eichstätter Bishop Marquard II. Schenk von Castell he was admitted to the Eichstätter cathedral chapter on June 21, 1667 and in 1672 he was made the capitular. Marquard and his episcopal successor entrusted him several times with political missions; Johann Anton stayed several times at the emperor's court and took part in the Franconian district council . In 1682 he also became canon in Augsburg (resignation in favor of his nephew in 1712), where he also held a secret council position. In 1688 he became cathedral dean in Eichstätt ; In 1690 he resigned from office because he did not want to accept the priesthood obligation . In 1699 he received the dignity of cantor from the bishop of Eichstatt and was appointed to the secret council .

The prince-bishop

West facade of the Eichstätter Dom

Epitaph for the heart of the Eichstätter Prince-Bishop Johann Anton I. Knebel von Katzenelnbogen in Eichstätter Cathedral

When the Mainz cathedral provost Ferdinand Freiherr von Leyen , elected by the Eichstätter cathedral chapter after the death of Bishop Johann Martin von Eyb , refused to accept the election, Johann Anton was elected on February 9, 1705. He was ordained a priest on June 1, 1705 and a bishop on May 23, 1706. He, who had already bought luxury objects, works of art and curiosities abroad as a canon, also continued the luxurious life as bishop, but gave his vicar general a free hand in spiritual matters. As a prince he promoted court music very much and otherwise proved to be an absolutist prince. The corruption system that ruled under him led to financial mismanagement and resulted in the cathedral chapter filing a formal complaint against him with the Reichshofrat in 1718 . The bishop increased the court library by 500 volumes by buying up the former library of the Munich doctor Johann Scheifler († 1671).

The splendid buildings erected under Johann Anton in Eichstätt have been preserved to this day. From 1714 to 1718 he had the late Baroque west facade of the cathedral built by Gabriel de Gabrieli at his own expense and donated a Johannes Nepomuk chapel in the crypt of the Willibald choir. Under him, the St. Peter's Church was redesigned by the Dominicans and the Guardian Angel Church was furnished in a baroque style; His coat of arms reminds of many other historical buildings that the buildings were built or renewed under him. He promoted the education of girls by bringing Congregational Sisters de Notre Dame du Sacré Cœur to the royal seat in 1711 and ensuring that they had their own monastery with church.

As an admirer of Mary, he introduced the rosary in the Eichstätts parish church, the "Collegiata", and in 1720 financed the construction of a wooden Marienkapelle on the Frauenberg above Eichstätts, where he prayed regularly. He allowed the mendicant orders new settlements in his diocese; so the Capuchins came to Berching and the Franciscans (OFM) to Spalt and Beilngries . Abuses in the parishes should prevent or stop the visitation of his vicar general.

The bishop died in his residence, the Willibaldsburg , as a result of strokes and was buried in the crypt he had built below the Nepomuk chapel in Eichstätt Cathedral. His last wish, to donate his fortune to the poor, could only partially be fulfilled, as servants had already embezzled the majority.

literature

• Documentation on the renovation of the former Notre Dame monastery church in Eichstätt and on the establishment of the Altmühltal Nature Park information center . In: Collective sheet Historischer Verein Eichstätt 81/82 (1988/89). Eichstätt 1989. pp. 11-14.
• Klaus Kreitmeir: The bishops of Eichstätt . Publishing house of the church newspaper. Eichstätt 1992. pp. 82f.
• Claudia Grund: The cathedral at Eichstätt . Art publishing house Josef Fink. Lindenberg 2007. ISBN 978-3-89870-293-5 .
• Peter Zürcher: The bishopric elections in the prince-bishopric of Eichstätt from 1636 to 1790. Election events in the mirror domkapitelscher, dynastic and imperial state and imperial church politics (dissertation Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, 2004/2005). Munich: Verlag CH Beck, 2008 (series of publications on Bavarian national history; 155). ISBN 978-3-406-10770-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Franz Xaver Buchner: The diocese of Eichstätt. Volume 1, Brönner & Däntler, Eichstätt 1937, p. 207 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Johann Anton I. Knebel von Katzenelnbogen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on Johann Anton I. Knebel von Katzenelnbogen on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Epitaph and coat of arms after Dr. Bernhard Peter

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Martin von Eyb	Bishop of Eichstätt 1705 - 1725	Franz Ludwig Freiherr Schenk von Castell