Zbynko Berka from Duba and Leipa

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Coat of arms Zbynko Berka von Duba and Leipa, Archbishop of Prague

Zbynko Berka von Duba and Leipa (Czech: Zbyněk Berka z Dubé a Lipé ; * 1551 Dřevenice near Jičín ; † March 6, 1606 ) was Archbishop of Prague and Cardinal .

Origin and career

Zbynko came from a Bohemian-Moravian aristocratic family, whose members belonged to the Catholic denomination and held various royal offices. His parents were Zdeněk Berka von Dubá auf Dřevenice, Oberstlandrichter von Bohemia, and Katharina, geb. von Haugwitz and Biskupitz. Zbynko attended Jesuit schools in Prague and Olomouc and obtained a theological license from the University of Cracow . In 1574 he was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of Prague Anton Brus von Müglitz and in the same year became provost of the Vyšehrad chapter. In the next few years he received canons in Salzburg, Prague and Altbunzlau as well as the provosts of Olmütz, Altötting, Regensburg and Leitmeritz. Pope Gregory XIII appointed him secret chamberlain in 1578 and later apostolic protonotary . In 1582 he became the administrator of the underage Regensburg Bishop Philipp Wilhelm of Bavaria .

Archbishop of Prague

After the death of Archbishop of Prague Martin Medek von Müglitz in 1590, several candidates applied for the successor. Among them are such prominent ones as Christoph Popel von Lobkowitz, President of the Appeal Court, who did not have a priestly ordination, and the Strahov Abbot Jan Lohelius . On December 14, 1592, Emperor Rudolf II nominated Zbynko Berka von Duba and Leipa, and the papal approval was delayed until June 21, 1593 because Zbynko wanted to keep his lucrative benefices . In addition, he should undertake to make important decisions only in coordination with the nuncio and the Jesuit provincial and also to revoke it before the nuncio Cesare Specciano because of his alleged membership of Utraquism in his youth. Despite the tensions with the nuncio, which continued, he was ordained bishop on October 10, 1593 . As Archbishop of Prague, he was also Grand Master of the Lords of the Cross with the Red Star .

Through his brothers, who held the highest positions, Zbynko had excellent connections to the Bohemian and Moravian provincial governments. In addition, Colonel Chancellor Zdeněk Adalbert Popel von Lobkowitz was his uncle. He was also on good terms with the influential, counter - Reformation -minded Bishop Franz Xaver von Dietrichstein from Olomouc, and he also sought advice from Archbishop Melchior Klesl from Vienna .

During his tenure, he promoted re-Catholicization and intended to strengthen archbishopric power through subordination of the Utraquists , the filling of priestly posts in the royal cities, the supervision of schools and universities and also through book censorship. Since the state government was led by non-Catholics until 1599, he could not get his way with these plans. However, he succeeded in placing the Altutraquists under his jurisdiction , and in 1596 he handed over the Prague Utraquist Emmaus Monastery to a Catholic Benedictine , whom he appointed abbot. Around 1600 he occupied the parishes of the royal manors , over which he received full spiritual power from the emperor in 1602, with Catholic priests. When Jaroslav Bořita von Martinitz carried out a rigorous recatholicization on his manors, Zbynko received the order from the emperor to proceed in a similar way on the royal estates. As early as 1599, the emperor gave him the censorship of books. In 1605 he convened a diocesan synod , at which the Trent decrees were made known and their implementation was discussed. In addition, resolutions were passed on the theological education of the clergy and the censorship of books from 1599 was tightened. His official and vicar general Georg Barthold Pontanus von Breitenberg and the Strahov abbot Jan Lohelius , who was also the visitor general of the Premonstratensians , were important helpers of his measures . In his efforts for the Catholic renewal, Zbynko used abbots of his choice in the monastery reform against the will of the nuncio and the monks. Because of their services to the re-Catholicization, he promoted the Jesuits and for this purpose also handed over the buildings and properties of the dissolved Augustinian canon in Glatz to them in 1597 . In 1603 he was made imperial prince . Shortly before his death on March 6, 1606 Pope named him Paul V. to Cardinal . On October 10, 1606, Karl von Lamberg succeeded him as Archbishop in Prague.

literature

predecessor Office successor
Martin Medek from Müglitz Archbishop of Prague
1593–1606 		Karl Freiherr von Lamberg
personal data
SURNAME Berka from Duba and Leipa, Zbynko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zbyněk Berka z Dubé a Lipé
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Prague
DATE OF BIRTH 1551
PLACE OF BIRTH Dřevenice near Jičín
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1606