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[German Version] (Adrian: May 23, 1609, Rotterdam – Sep 12, 1669, Wiesbaden; Peter: 1610, Rotterdam – Dec 21, 1675, Cologne), theological controversialists and bishops. After completion of their legal studies in Angers, in 1641 the nuncio Fabio Chigo persuaded them to go to the confessionally unstable duchy of Jülich-Berg. Adrian went to Cologne in 1645, where he became a canon of the cathedral in 1647, officialis in 1648, and auxiliary bishop in 1661. Peter was appointed auditor of the nunciature. In 1658 Johann Philipp v. Schönborn brought him to Mainz as a…

[German Version] (Reinaldus; 1595, Treviso – 1671, Rome), theologian, historian, from 1680 Oratorian, between 1650 and 1656 superior general. He continued¶ the 12-volume Annales ecclesiastici of the Oratorian C. Baronius with nine further volumes, bringing it up to 1564 (Rome, 1676f.; his ninth vol., vol. XXI of the Annales, appeared posthumously). The quality of his work is superior to that of his predecessors. Thus Catholics could put forward a work equal in value to the Protestant Magdeburg Centuries. Rolf Decot Bibliography Annales ecclesiastici, ed. G.D. Mansi, 15 vols.,…

[German Version] (Oct 28, 1510, Gandia, Spain – Oct 1, 1572, Rome), third general of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Francis came from a highly situated family of Spanish nobility (great-grandchild of Pope Alexander VI and King Ferdinand of Aragon). In 1539–43 he was viceroy of Catalonia, 1543–50 duke of Gandia. After the death of his wife (eight children), he became a Jesuit in 1546, renounced his worldly rights in 1551, became a priest, and used his fortune on behalf of the Collegium Romanum (se…

[German Version] (1550, Cordoba – May 19, 1610, Granada), Jesuit (from 1567) moral theologian. His three-volume treatment of marriage became a standard work, although its open and detailed description drew censure. He anticipated the modern view that not every instance of marital intercourse need be intended for procreation. Jansenists accused him of laxism. Rolf Decot Bibliography Works include: Disputationum de sancto matrimonii sacramento... libri 10, 3 vols., 1602–1605 Opus morale in praecepta Decalogi, 2 vols., 1613–1621 On Sanchez: BCJ 7, 1896, 530–537, suppl. no.…

[German Version] The Congress of Ems was a meeting of deputies representing the archbishops of Mainz (Friedrich Karl Joseph, Freiherr v. Erthal), Cologne (Max Franz of Austria), Trier (Klemens Wenceslaus of Saxony), and Salzburg (H. Graf Colloredo). They met at Bad Ems from Jul 25 to Aug 25, 1786, to decide on joint action by the German metropolitans against jurisdictional interference by the Roman Curi…

[German Version] (born in South Tyrol – Dec 23, 1572, Heidelberg), theologian, preacher, convert to Protestantism. Around 1555 he was active in Würzburg as a preacher on current controversies for the bishop. His reading of the works of Melanchthon led him to Reformation theology. In 1560 he converted to Lutheranism in Tübingen and became a pastor in Calw. Frederick III of the Electoral Palatine appointed him to serve as a Reformed pastor and superintendent in Kaiserslauten and after 1567 in Ladenb…

[German Version] (Aug 6, 1745, Würzburg – Aug 30, 1831, Würzburg), ordained priest in 1769; professor of dogmatics and history of dogma in Würzburg from 1773 to 1809 (temporarily removed from office in 1803 following secularization); canon at the Hauck Stift in 1774; cathedral canon in 1821; in 1829 Bavarian privy counselor. Oberthür was the author of theological handbooks and encyclopedias; he also wrote on local history and edited patristic texts. Not strikingly speculative as a thinker, he was …

[German Version] (Jan 2, 1549, Lippstadt – Feb 16, 1615, Cologne), Catholic priest, Bible translator, and psalmist. After studying in Wittenberg, he converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism in 1572. He served as a parish priest in Kaiserswerth (1576–1583) and Cologne (1583–1594); he also taught at the Laurentianum in Cologne (1592–1611) and served as rector of the university (1610–1612). He promoted the Counter-Reformation in many catechetical works. A revised version of his Bible translation (pr…

[German Version] (Dec 12, 1634, Cochem – Sep 10, 1712, Waghäusel), Capuchin (1653), theologian, and popular writer. After ordination to the priesthood (1657/1658), Martin taught in the order's houses of studies, served as a pastor and a official visitor in the dioceses of Mainz (1682–1685) and Trier (1698/1699), and occasionally as a domestic missionary in Passau, Linz, and Prague. He was one of the most important writers of popular religious literature and an exponent of passion piety. His explanation of the mass ( Meßerklärung, 1695; ET: Cochem's Explanation of the Holy Sacrifi…

[German Version] (Jan 16, 1655, Soulage – Dec 21, 1741, Paris), Order of St. Benedict (1676), member of the Maurists (Congrégation de S. Maur), theologian and editor of patristic texts. Born into a noble family of southern France and already introduced to scholarly life as a child, he served in the military from 1672 to 1674. After joining the Benedictine congregation of the Maurists, he lived in various monasteries before coming to Paris in 1687 in order to contribute to the congregation's publications, especially the editions of the Greek church fathers ( Athanasius, 3 vols., 1698). …

[German Version] (Peter Kanis until c. 1547; May 8, 1521, Nijmegen – Dec 21, 1597, Fribourg, ¶ Switzerland) contributed to the renewal of the Catholic Church after the Reformation. Residing in Cologne from 1535 onward, he became the first German Jesuit in 1543. He turned to Charles V of Germany for support against the reforming attempt of the archbishop of Cologne (Hermann of Wied). After a brief stay at the Council of Trent and the continuation of his Jesuit training in Rome …

[German Version] (Feb 19, 1552, Vienna, Austria – Sep 18, 1630, Wiener Neustadt, Austria), was reared a Protestant and converted to Catholicism under the influence of the Jesuits. He was cathedral provost and chancellor of the university in Vienna (1579), Passau official for Lower Austria (1580), administrator of the diocese of Wiener Neustadt (1588–1630), bishop of Vienna (1598/1602–1630), and cardinal (1615). From 1590, he was active under Emperor Rudolph II in the Counter-Reformation, and joine…

[German Version] (Ger. Görz) is an archdiocese, a city and province in Friaul, Italy; mentioned after 1001 as a duchy of the reeves of the patriarchate of Aquileia. Around 1500, the duchy came into the possession of the Habsburgs. Gorizia's ecclesiastical affiliation with Venetian Aquileia led to tensions with Austria until Pope Benedict XIV, under pressure from Maria Theresia, dissolved Aquileia and established the archdioceses of Udine for the Venetian segment and Gorizia for the Austrian segmen…

[German Version] 1. Johannes (1502/1503, Nidda – Jan 25, 1583, Nidda), Reformer in Hesse, pastor in Nidda from 1526, from 1541 to 1580 also superintendent of Alsfeld. Throughout his life, Pistorius devoted himself to introducing and consolidating the Reformation in the church of Hesse. In 1538/1539 he participated in drawing up the Ziegenhain order of discipline and the Kassel church order, as well as a proposal – comparatively benign – on how to treat the Jews in Hesse. At the behest of landgrave P…

[German Version] (Mar 1549, Medina del Campe, Castile – May 24, 1603, Naples), SJ (1565), and besides his disciple, Adam Tanner, the most important post-Tridentine theologian in Germany. He studied in Salamanca (1566–1568 and 1571/72) and Valladolid (1569–1571), and was professor of dogmatics and controversial theology in Dillingen from 1573. He was in Ingolstadt from 1575 to 1592, and in Rome from 1597 to 1602, where he defended L. de Molina in the dispute over grace. He commented on all the impo…

[German Version] (Jan 18, 1743, Amboise, Département Indre-et-Loire – Oct 13, 1803, Paris), French theosophist (Theosophy). After study-¶ ing law and pursuing a military career, in 1771 he got to know Martinez de Pasqualis (1715–1799) in Bordeaux, who introduced him to mystical Freemasonry (Freemasons). This group of “Martinists,” with its center in Lyon, practiced a mysticism drawn from kabbalistic sources (Kabbalah: II), in which magical and theurgic rites played a role. In his travels he encountered other myst…

[German Version] ( Jan 11, 1638, Copenhagen – Dec 5, 1686, Schwerin) studied languages, anatomy, and mathematics in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Leiden. His anatomical discoveries soon gained him the reputation as a scientist. In 1666 he was appointed physician to the court in Florence, where he converted to Catholicism. Discoveries during various expeditions placed him amongthe founders of scientific geology, paleontology, and crystallography. After ordination to the priesthood in 1675, he was appo…

[German Version] (Oct 12, 1559, Riom – Oct 7, 1651, Paris), French Jesuit (1576). From 1581 to 1590 he taught in Pont-à-Mousson and Paris (where Francis of Sales was one of his students). From 1590 to 1608 he served as secretary to C. Aquaviva, the superior general of the Jesuits, in Rome, where he also worked with C. Baronius. In 1617 he was appointed rector of the Collège de Clermont in Paris. From 1637 to 1643 he was the confessor of Louis XIII. He wrote scholarly works on history and the history of dogma. He distinguished ¶ between Dionysius of Paris and Dionysius Areopagita, wrote on p…

[German Version] (Mar 27, 1562, Markdorf – Jan 18, 1625, Ingolstadt), SJ (1679), a controversial theologian. He taught initially at the Jesuit gymnasia in Freiburg, Switzerland and Ingolstadt; after 1589, he was professor of philosophy, then of scholastic theology (1592–1605) and moral theology in Ingolstadt (1610–1615). After the departure of his teacher Gregory of Valencia, he was the leader of the Jesuits in Bavaria and adviser to the dukes (i.e. the Bavarian elector). He harshly persecuted all…

[German Version] (Sep 16, 1730, Lohr – Feb 14, 1795, Würzburg) was the pro-reform prince-bishop of Würzburg and Bamberg. Under the bishop of Würzburg, Adam Friedrich v. Seinsheim, he became president of the secular administration of the diocese in 1763. In 1767 Joseph II called him to visit the Imperial Supreme Court in Wetzlar and in 1775 the continuing Reichstag at Regensburg. …