Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg

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Portrait of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Matthäus Cardinal Lang von Wellenburg:
Master of the Danube School 1529
( Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna )

Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (* 1468 in Augsburg as Matthäus Lang ; † March 30, 1540 in Salzburg ) was a Salzburg archbishop and cardinal as well as an important clergyman of the Catholic Church . He also became known as a fanatical persecutor of Protestant Christians, especially the Anabaptists . The bourgeois Lang acquired Wellenburg Castle in 1507 and was named Lang von Wellenburg after his elevation to the nobility .

biography

Education

Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg studied in Ingolstadt and obtained his Baccalaureus there in 1486 . He obtained his master's degree in Tübingen in 1490 and studied in Vienna from 1493 . He obtained his legal license in 1494.

Early career and coadjutor in Salzburg

Originally a secretary and in the diplomatic service of Maximilian I , he was soon able to secure extensive benefices . In 1498 he and his family were raised to the personal nobility. From 1500 to 1513 he was pastor of the double parish Gars - Eggenburg (his sister Regina von Haselpach lived in Eggenburg). Lang became Prince-Bishop of Gurk on October 5, 1505 (until 1522), Bishop of Cartagena on September 30, 1510 , and Archbishop of Salzburg on June 8, 1519 , where he had been coadjutor since 1512 . Despite his numerous ecclesiastical dignities, the cleric Lang was ordained a priest only on the occasion of his assumption of office as Archbishop of Salzburg on September 24, 1519, and the following day he was ordained bishop by Philipp von der Pfalz , Bishop of Freising ; Co- consecrators were Berthold Pürstinger , Bishop of Chiemsee , and Leonhard Pewerl , Bishop of Lavant . He had a decisive influence on the election of Charles V as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Already on March 10, 1511 Matthew was by Pope Julius II. To cardinal in pectore been told what the consistory was announced on 24 November 1512. The Pope appointed him cardinal priest with the titular church pro hac vice (actually a titled deaconry ) Sant'Angelo in Pescheria . As a cardinal he took part in the conclave of 1534, in which Pope Paul III. was chosen. Lang von Wellenburg was elevated to Cardinal Bishop of Albano on February 26, 1535 .

Lang was friends with the astronomer Georg Tannstetter , who taught in Vienna , who dedicated several books to him, which were printed between 1515 and 1519. They probably met each other at Maximilian's court, perhaps their origins from the same region had a connecting effect.

Lang von Wellenburg as Archbishop of Salzburg

Matthäus Lang ,
portrayed by Albrecht Dürer (1522)
Coat of arms of Matthäus Lang (woodcut 1510)

As Archbishop of Salzburg he was able to assert himself in 1523 in the largely bloodless "Latin War" against the city of Salzburg, which insisted on its old rights. In 1525/1526 the Salzburg peasants' revolt against the archbishop took place. The Hohenwerfen Fortress and the city of Hallein were occupied by the rebels after the outbreak of hostilities in May 1525, and the Hohensalzburg Fortress was besieged. On August 31, 1525 there was a peace treaty with the rebellious peasants, but Lang immediately broke it. The rebellious Salzburg peasants, tradesmen and miners, supported by the Tyrolean peasant leader Michael Gaismair since the spring of 1526 , still fought successfully in May and June 1526 against several advancing army of the Swabian League . Finally they were defeated on July 2, 1526 in the Battle of Radstadt .

Lang von Wellenburg, who loved pomp and splendor, was forced to thrift by the devastation of the war. In the following years in Salzburg he endeavored to create a new civil servant state and comprehensive state legislation. The disputes over several centuries over the legal position of the Salzburg possessions in Styria were decided by the recession of Vienna in favor of the Habsburgs as rulers of Styria, although the economic position of the ducal archbishopric as landlord was not diminished.

Bishop Lang von Wellenburg sought the violent suppression of the Reformation , which spread rapidly in all parts of the Salzburg region. He died in Salzburg on March 30, 1540.

literature

Web links

Commons : Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Dopsch , Hans Spatzenegger (ed.): History of Salzburg. Urban and countryside. Volume 2: Modern Times and Contemporary History. Volume 1. Pustet, Salzburg 1988, ISBN 3-7025-0243-2 , p. 12.
  2. ^ Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer : Humanism between court and university. Georg Tannstetter (Collimitius) and his scientific environment in Vienna in the early 16th century (= writings from the archives of the University of Vienna. Vol. 8). WUV-Universitäts-Verlag, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-85114-256-X , p. 81 f.
predecessor Office successor
Lorenzo Campeggi Cardinal Bishop of Albano
1535–1540 		Francesco Cornaro
Leonhard von Keutschach Archbishop of Salzburg
1519–1540 		Ernst of Bavaria
Martín Fernández de Angulo Saavedra y Lunavas Bishop of Cartagena
1510–1540 		Juan Martínez Silíceo
Raimund Peraudi Bishop of Gurk
1505–1522 		Hieronymus Balbi


personal data
SURNAME Lang von Wellenburg, Matthäus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Salzburg and Cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH 1468
PLACE OF BIRTH augsburg
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1540
Place of death Salzburg