Lothar von Metternich

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Lothar von Metternich (copper engraving by Balthasar Moncornet , 1659)
All Saints Altar - Lothar von Metternich's grave altar in Trier Cathedral
Lothar von Metternich on his grave altar

Lothar von Metternich (born August 31, 1551 at Vettelhoven Castle in Grafschaft , † September 17, 1623 in Koblenz ) was elector and archbishop of Trier from 1599 to 1623 .

family

His parents were Johann (Hans) von Metternich (1500–1562), Herr zu Vettelhoven and bailiff von Saffenberg , and his fourth wife, Katharina von der Leyen zu Adendorf (1528–1567), from the von der Leyen house . He also had an older sister Anna Katharina von Metternich (1548–1572), who was married to Johann Ludwig Hausmann von Namedy , and a younger brother, Johann Dietrich von Metternich (1553–1625). His half-brother Bernhard von Metternich from his father's second marriage to Katharina von Deinsberg took over the paternal inheritance in 1566, followed by Lothar's step-brother Dam Quad von Landskron , the eldest son from Katharina's first marriage to Hermann Quad von Landskron. Through his mother, Lothar von Metternich was a nephew of the Archbishop of Trier and Elector Johann VI. von der Leyen , his third predecessor in the later office of archbishop. He was the great-great-great- uncle of the famous Chancellor Prince Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich- Winneburg.

biography

The linguistically gifted man received first-class and comprehensive training from the Jesuits , which was followed by studies at the universities in Cologne from 1567 to 1577, in Perugia from 1577 to 1579 and in Padua from 1579 from 1581, as well as educational trips to Italy and France . He was fluent in Flemish , French , Italian and Latin . In 1570 he became a candidate for the canonical (Domizellar), 1575 cathedral capitular and 1590 cathedral cholaster of Trier cathedral . In April 1599 the incumbent Archbishop Johann von Schönenberg appointed him his coadjutor. After his death on May 1, the Trier cathedral chapter elected him the new archbishop on June 7, 1599, and he was ordained priest on June 13, 1599 by the papal nuncio in the probation house of the Jesuits in Trier. The consecration as bishop took place on July 30, 1599 in the Church of St. Florin in Koblenz. His secular insignia (the regalia ) were awarded to him in 1600 by Emperor Rudolf II , after which he became head of the secular rule of the Electorate of Trier .

His most urgent measure was the financial consolidation of the economically and financially weakened country through various new taxes and increased coinage . Due to the expensive entry into the league in 1610 and repeated costly military operations (such as the tax dispute with the Abbey of St. Maximin and Luxembourg in 1601), the expansion of the Ehrenbreitstein fortress since 1600 and the city ​​fortifications of Koblenz in 1611, his redevelopment measures were unsuccessful. He was intensely involved in imperial politics, was hardly absent from an important imperial assembly, took part in the imperial elections of Matthias in 1612 and Ferdinand II in 1619 and settled the dispute between the Union and the League. The devastating Thirty Years' War began during his term of office .

As supreme pastor and ecclesiastical leader he continued the ecclesiastical reform of its predecessor by promoting especially the Priesteraus- and further training and pastoral, parish missions , catechism classes and general education strengthened Jesuits, Capuchins , Franciscan (OFM) and of England sold Teaching sisters, the so-called "English Misses", participated. He also worked hard to provide the above-mentioned religious congregations with adequate accommodation, such as the new Jesuit college building, which was built from 1611 to 1614 next to the Jesuit church in Trier .

Lothar von Metternich was a highly intelligent and well-read man of a simple way of life, with friendly manners and high, strictest morality, which is said to have prompted Pope Paul V to call him the model of a bishop (Latin "exemplum espiscopi"). After a long illness, he died on September 17, 1623 and was buried as requested in the south aisle of Trier Cathedral by the “All Saints Altar”, which he had built as a grave altar by the sculptor Hans Ruprecht Hoffmann the Elder during his tenure in 1614 . In 1600 he also donated the altar carrying the cross in the Heimersheim parish church in memory of his parents.

literature

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predecessor Office successor
Johann VII of Schönenberg Elector Archbishop of Trier
1599–1623 		Philipp Christoph von Sötern
personal data
SURNAME Metternich, Lothar von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop and Elector of Trier
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1551
PLACE OF BIRTH Vettelhoven Castle, County
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1623
Place of death Koblenz