Johann IV of Osnabrück

Johann von Hoya

Count Johann VIII von Hoya zu Stolzenau (born April 18, 1529 in Viborg ; † April 5, 1574 at Ahaus Castle ) was Prince-Bishop Johann IV of Osnabrück from 1553 , and from 1566 as Johann III. Prince-Bishop of Münster and since 1568 as Johann II. Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn .

Family and education

His father was Count John VII ("the arguable") von Hoya , who was in Swedish and Luebian military service as field bishop and governor and fell in the count's feud in 1534 . His mother Margarete was the sister of King Gustav I of Sweden. He remained unmarried and was the last of his line.

He probably received his early training in Sweden , Reval and Danzig . In 1547 the sub-county of Stolzenau was assigned to him. Then he went to Paris , where he was warmly received by Henry II at the royal court. When the war between France and the empire broke out, he went - referred to as a cleric from Minden - to Italy and studied law . He was an educated man and is said to have spoken seven languages. A problem for an intellectual career was his departure from the Wasa house , as this was sometimes not considered to be knightly and therefore not eligible for a foundation . Attempts to secure the position of Archbishop of Cologne for him are said to have failed.

Hoya therefore initially decided on a career in the Reich justice system. In 1553, Emperor Charles V appointed him as assessor at the Imperial Court of Justice .

bishop

Epitaph for Bishop Johann von Hoya in Münster Cathedral

In Osnabrück he was given the post of canon and the cathedral chapter elected him bishop, which the Pope confirmed a year later. However, between 1555 and 1557 he was President of the Imperial Court of Justice. As a result of the payment of 29,000 guilders pressed from the Diocese of Osnabrück by Philipp Magnus von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , von Hoya was forced to sell the dominions of Stolzenau and Steyerberg to Count Albrecht von Hoya in 1562 . Since he became more and more dependent on the estates due to the economic emergency, he concluded a protection treaty with Philip II of Spain in 1555 and in 1560 took on the obligation to defend England against Scotland in return for money. In the bishopric of Osnabrück he issued new official regulations in 1556 and fief rights in 1561.

His attitude towards Protestantism was seen as too compliant. Indeed, in military conflicts he tended to support the Protestant side. A commission made up of several cardinals and the Jesuit Petrus Canisius visited Hoya in 1565 to confirm his Catholic stance. Hoya tried unsuccessfully from 1561 to found a Jesuit college in Osnabrück. However, he managed to keep the cathedral school Catholic. In 1570 he recognized the resolutions of the Council of Trento for the Diocese of Osnabrück . He was also elected Bishop of Münster in 1566. Thereupon he recognized the Trent Creed and received orders. As a result of the election, he de jure lost his office as bishop in Osnabrück, but in fact remained Prince-Bishop there as an administrator. In 1568 he was also elected Bishop of Paderborn. Due to the ban on the accumulation of offices after the Council of Trent, he was officially only the administrator of the prince-bishopric there.

In the election surrender in Munster, he promised to take vigorous action against church grievances, sects and religious innovations. There can be no doubt about the goal of adhering to it, but the improvement of the government and the reform of the judiciary were the more important concerns for him in the two new foundations.

At the urging of the Münster cathedral chapter and after a papal warning, he had a general church visit carried out in 1571. The situation in Paderborn was determined by its proximity to the Protestant Hesse. His policy there tried to avoid conflicts with the neighbor. This led to the suspicion that Johann von Hoya let the Protestants have their way.

All in all, he endeavored to fundamentally reform the church administration. But with regard to a defense of Catholicism in the Diocese of Osnabrück, his successes were limited.

literature

• Heinrich Detmer:  Johann, Count of Hoya . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 246-250.
• Richard Doebner:  Johann IV., Bishop of Osnabrück . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, p. 278.
• Wolfgang Seegrün:  Hoya, Johann IV. Von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-428-00190-7 , p. 666 ( digitized version ).
• Wilhelm Kohl: The dioceses of the church province Cologne. The diocese of Münster 7.3: The diocese . Berlin, 2003 ISBN 978-3-11-017592-9 (Germania Sacra NF. Vol 37.3)
• Franz-Josef Jakobi: Reformer in times of upheaval: Prince-Bishop Johann von Hoya (1566–1574), Domdechant Gottfried von Raesfeld (1569–1586) and the Principality of Münster in the post-Tridentine period. In: Westphalia, booklets for history, art and folklore. 83 Vol. (2005); Pp. 138-151; Münster 2008. p. 586ff.
• Elisabeth Kloosterhuis: Prince-Bishop Johann von Hoya and the penetration of imperial justice in the prince-bishops of Münster, Osnabrück and Paderborn between 1566 and 1574. In: Westfälische Zeitschrift . 142. 1992, pp. 57-117.
• Monique Weis: Diplomatic correspondence in difficult times. Prince-Bishop Johann von Hoya and the Spanish Netherlands (1566–1574). In: Westphalian magazine. 154. 2004, pp. 53-69.

Web links

Commons : Johann II. Von Hoya  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on catholic-hierarchy.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ on strengthening the imperial justice system by von Hoya in the Westphalian region cf. Kloosterhuis 1992.

predecessor	Office	successor
Bernhard von Raesfeld	Bishop of Münster 1566–1574	Johann Wilhelm von Jülich-Kleve
Franz von Waldeck	Bishop of Osnabrück 1553–1574	Heinrich II of Saxe-Lauenburg
Rembert von Kerssenbrock	Bishop of Paderborn 1568–1574	Salentin of Isenburg