Nicholas II (Lorraine)

Nikolaus Franz, Duke of Lorraine

Coat of arms as a cardinal

Nikolaus Franz von Vaudémont (* December 6, 1609 - January 25, 1670 in Nancy ) was Bishop of Toul and Cardinal , and for a short time Duke of Lorraine and Bar . He was the younger son of Duke Franz II and Christine von Salm .

biography

Spiritual career I

Intended as a younger son for church service, he became bishop of Toul in 1624 (at the age of 13) and cardinal two years later.

Duke of Lorraine

His brother, Duke Charles IV , had allied himself with the emperor after taking office and supported Richelieu's opponents . France responded by occupying Lorraine in September 1633. Karl then considered it a viable option to resign as Duke of Lorraine (January 19, 1634) so ​​that his brother, who appeared unencumbered to the French, could ascend the throne.

Nikolaus Franz received permission from Karl to marry his cousin Claudia von Lothringen (the sister of his sister-in-law). In any case, the country should remain in the family and the danger of French claims being made to Lorraine through Claudia's marriage to a royal prince should be averted. As a bishop he granted himself a dispensation to marry, informed the Pope of the reasons for his resignation from the church offices and married on February 17, 1634 - against the will of the French king.

This and the hostile attitude of the people of Lorraine towards the occupation led the French to place the ducal family under house arrest in their castle. Nikolaus Franz and Claudia managed to escape on April 1, 1634. They fled to Franche-Comté , Italy , came to Munich in August 1636 and finally settled with his aunts in Vienna . In exile, from 1634, his brother Karl reappeared as Duke of Lorraine by mutual agreement and in 1641 even achieved temporary recognition by France.

Spiritual career II

After the death of his wife in 1648, Nikolaus Franz rejoined the clergy.

In 1654, after the arrest of his brother Karl in Brussels by the Spaniards, Nikolaus Franz placed himself at the head of an army in Lorraine. After Spain refused to participate in Charles's release, he and his son Karl Leopold entered French service in the Franco-Spanish War . Nikolaus Franz achieved through his military achievements ( dune battle 14 June 1658 near Dunkirk ) that his brother was released and reinstated as Duke of Lorraine in the Peace of the Pyrenees and as Duke of Bar in the Treaty of Vincennes .

progeny

He married his cousin Claudia of Lorraine (* 1612, † 1648), daughter of Duke Heinrich II and Margaret of Mantua on February 17, 1634 in Lunéville . Your children were:

• Ferdinand Philipp (* 1639; † 1659)
• Charles V (* 1643; † 1690), titular duke of Lorraine
• Anne Eleonore (* 1645; † 1646), buried in the duke's crypt in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna
• Anne Marie († young)
• Marie Anne Thérèse (* 1648; † 1661), Abbess of Remiremont

literature

• Rainer Babel:  Nikolaus Franz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 267 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Henry Bogdan: La Lorraine de ducs. Sept siècles d'histoire. Perrin, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-262-02113-9 .
• Georges Poull: La maison ducale de Lorraine devenue la Maison impériale et royale d'Autriche, de Hongrie et de Bohême. Presses Universitaires de Nancy, Nancy 1991, ISBN 2-86480-517-0 .

Web links

• Lorraine-Vaudémont, Nicolas François de. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed December 6, 2016.
• Entry on (Layman) Nicolas François de Lorraine-Vaudémont on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on December 6, 2016.
• Nicholas II in the Saarland biographies

predecessor	Office	successor
Charles IV	Duke of Lorraine 1634	Charles IV
Jean VII. Porcelet de Maillane	Bishop of Toul 1624–1634	Charles Chretien de Gournay