Wilhelm von Efferen (Bishop)

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Bishop Wilhelm von Efferen

Wilhelm von Efferen , often also Effern , (* 1563 ; † August 7, 1616 in Ladenburg ) was a noble German cleric and from 1604 to 1616 Prince-Bishop of Worms .

Origin and family

He came from the Lower Rhine noble family von Efferen, which in turn formed a line of the ancient Cologne patrician family of the Overstolz .

Wilhelm von Efferen was the son of his father of the same name Wilhelm von Efferen, court master of the Archbishop of Cologne and his second wife Anna von Metternich - Zievel . The father's brother was the Jülich bailiff Jerome of Efferen († 1552); both had the nobles Vinzenz von Efferen († 1518) and Johanna von Merode zu Schloßberg († 1532) as parents.

Live and act

Efferen studied a. a. at the University of Padua and was enrolled there in 1589 at the Faculty of Law.

His spiritual career began at St. Cassius Abbey in Bonn , where he was named as a canon in 1579 and served as a scholaster from 1596 to 1598 . In 1593 he appears as a canon in Wimpfen , which belongs to the diocese of Worms , and in 1594 as the dean there . In 1597 he became domicellar at the cathedral monastery of Worms through papal commission , and later also cathedral chapter . His brother Heinrich von Efferen († 1593) was cantor there.

Coat of arms of the von Efferen family
Grave of the bishop in Worms Cathedral

On August 17, 1604, Wilhelm von Efferen was elected Bishop of Worms . In doing so, he renounced his Bonn canon and his position as Wimpfen monastery dean. In a letter to Pope Paul V (June 24, 1605), Bishop Wilhelm reported on the dire state of his diocese, which was impoverished, territorially threatened by the surrounding states and severely damaged by the events of the Reformation. He therefore accepted the election with a heavy heart. The Pope confirmed Efferen in office on September 12, 1605 and waived the confirmation tax for his complaints.

In 1606 Wilhelm von Efferen was ordained a priest; on August 15, 1612, in the castle church Udenheim , together with the new Speyer Bishop Philipp Christoph von Sötern , the episcopal ordination. The consecration was carried out by the Mainz auxiliary bishop Stephan Weber (1539–1622).

Efferen's government was overshadowed by constant hostilities from the Electoral Palatinate and the city of Worms , both of which were in the camp of the Reformation. In 1608 the bishop's court in Worms was plundered. In 1615 the city of Worms expelled its Jewish fellow citizens, with Bishop Wilhelm standing in front of them to protect them and forbidding his officials to participate in the deportations across the Rhine initiated by the imperial city. Bishop Wilhelm von Efferen summoned Jesuits from Speyer to Worms in 1606 against the strongest resistance of the city administration . From 1608 they worked as regular pastors at Worms Cathedral , in 1609 a privilege of Emperor Rudolf II secured their activity in Worms and the bishop assigned them a house as their domicile. The city administration complained in 1611 to the Protestant Union , which asked Bishop Efferen to expel the Jesuits immediately. In this situation, the Worms shepherd found the support of the powerful Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria . The Jesuits stayed and in 1613 founded a college with a grammar school, which for decades became the most important educational institution for the Catholics in the area. From Worms, the Fathers also regularly supplied the villages and towns in the surrounding area. Through all these measures, Catholic life in Wormsgau gradually began to consolidate again, which can be traced back to the initiative of Bishop Efferen. The founding of the Worms Jesuit College was a special concern of the pastor, which he enforced with determination, against the Lutheran city council and against his own, hesitant, cathedral chapter. It was on the corner of today's Seminariumsgasse and Luginsland Street.

Wilhelm von Efferen died on August 7, 1616 in his residence in Ladenburg and was buried in the north transept of Worms Cathedral, in front of the Martin's altar donated by him.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogical page on the family
  2. ↑ To Auxiliary Bishop Stephan Weber
  3. ^ Rüdiger Fuchs: Die insschriften der Stadt Worms , Volume 2 of: Deutsche Insschriften, Mainzer Reihe , 1991, page 459; Scan from the source
  4. ↑ Donor inscription of the Martin Altar, 1611
predecessor Office successor
Philip II. Kratz von Scharfenstein Bishop of Worms
1604–1616 		Georg Friedrich von Greiffenclau on Vollrads
personal data
SURNAME Efferen, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilhelm von Effern
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Worms (1604–1616)
DATE OF BIRTH 1563
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1616
Place of death Ladenburg