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Franz Wilhelm Wartenberg was born on 1 March 1593 in München, Bayern, Heiliges Römisches Reich, son of Ferdinand von Bayern (1550–1608) and the common Maria Pettenbeck (~1573–~1619).[1]
Between 1601 to 1604 Franz Wilhelm attended the St. Ignatius Jesuit College in Ingolstadt.[2] During this time, in 1602, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire raised Franz' father and their entire family to the rank of Count of Wartenberg. The Counts of Wartenberg is a noble house of the Holy Roman Empire that branched from the House of Wittelsbach. Their name was chosen after the dominion of Wartenberg in Upper Bavaria.
Franz Wilhelm's siblings, who all held the title of a Count or Countess of Wartenberg, were:
Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg was still a boy when he became the provost of the collegiate church of Altöttingen in 1604.[2] In 1611, he attended the University of Perugia. In 1614 he received the lower orders from Cardinal Robert Bellarmin.[3]
In 1608 Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg graduated from the Jesuit Grammar School in Munich and then studied philosophy, theology and canon law at the Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe[4] in Rome.[2]
In 1614, his cousin, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, named him president of the Clergy Privy Council (Geistlicher Rat) in Munich,[2] and in 1619, he became President of the Bavarian Privy Council.[2] It was at this time that the conflict which would later become known as the Thirty Years War had already started and Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg played a key role on the side of the catholic.
Franz Wilhelm's influence and power continued to increase when he moved to the Bonn court of the Elector of Cologne, where his cousin, Ferdinand of Bavaria[5], was a leading representative of the Counter-Reformation and authoritative promoter of witch trials in Northwest Germany. Franz Wilhelm was put in charge of the governmental affairs of his cousin Elector Ferdinand in 1621. Until 1640 he determined politics here as Prime Minister of the Electorate of Cologne.[3]
After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Osnabrück was not a pleasant sight and was heavily indebted, with debts exceeding 5 million talers. The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück had been gifted to Gustaf Gustavsson by the Swedish Queen. In exchange for its transfer back to Bishop Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg, Gustavson was supposed to receive 80,000 talers, which had to be paid in four annual instalments. Since Gustavson was only obliged to leave after the full repayment of the debt, the Osnabrück government offered to pay 85,000 talers immediately when he left instantly. In October 1649, Bishop Franz Wilhelm held a Landtag (=assembly) under the tree Hohe Linde near the Oesede Monastery, where it was decided that every person over the age of 12 in the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück had to pay a double head tax.[6] This affected not only the cathedral provost, monks, nuns and priests but also farmers and peasants.[6] The October 10, 1649 decree did not spare even the poor and homeless.[6] After receiving his compensation, Gustavsson and the Swedes left the diocese on 30 November 1650.
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Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück (1650): Osnabrugensis episcopatus. Auctore Joanne Gigante. |
Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg died between 7 and 8 a.m. on Thursday 1 December 1661 in Regensburg, Heiliges Römisches Reich, aged 68.[7] On 2 December 1661 the corpse was brought to Michaelis-chapel for public prayers and remembrance.[7] On 14 December 1661, the corpse was put into a tin casket, and the memorial service was held in Regensburg Cathedral the very next day.[7] Afterwards, the corpse was brought to Altötting where Wartenberg's body was buried under the choir on 22 December 1661[8] , his heart was buried under the entrance from the outer nave of the chapel into St Mary's chapel and the entrails were buried in the cloister of the Franciscan church in Stadtamhof.[7]
What do we know about the death/burial of Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg?
Wikidata: Item Q84750, de:Wikipedia
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Categories: München, Bayern | Ingolstadt, Bayern | Altötting, Bayern | Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen | Osnabrück, Niedersachsen | Bishops of Osnabrück | Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, Sovereigns | Peace of Westphalia, Electorates Envoys | Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen | Regensburg, Bayern | Notables