Anton Franz Wolfradt, O.Cist.,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(9 July 1582,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

– 1 April 1639,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

and

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, Abbot of Wilhering then

Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys of ...

Prince-Bishop of Vienna The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna ( la, Archidioecesis Viennensis) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdioc ...

, and President of the Hofkammer.

Biography

Anton Wolfradt was the son of a tailor. He first began studying Philosophy at the

Collegium Germanicum The Collegio Teutonico (German College), historically often referred to by its Latin name Collegium Germanicum, is one of the Pontifical Colleges of Rome. The German College is the Pontifical College established for future ecclesiastics of German ...

in Rome in 1599. He entered the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

in 1601, and in 1604 made solemn profession at

Heiligenkreuz Abbey Heiligenkreuz Abbey (german: Stift Heiligenkreuz; en, Abbey of the Holy Cross) is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria. It is the olde ...

. He then studied Theology in Rome, graduated with a doctorate in Theology and was ordained a priest on 21 October 1607. In 1608 he taught at the Rein Abbey near

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and was consecutively from 1609 the

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

Gratwein Gratwein was a municipality of Austria, merged in 2015 to form Gratwein-Straßengel in the district of Graz-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''B ...

. By the recommendation of Cardinal Khlesl he was confirmed on 21 November 1612 to be Abbot of Wilhering in

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

. Since the monks of the Benedictine

Kremsmünster Abbey Kremsmünster Abbey (german: Stift Kremsmünster) is a Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster in Upper Austria. History The monastery was founded in 777 AD by Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria. According to the foundation legend, Tassilo founded the ...

chose him as their abbot,

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

allowed a transfer to the

Benedictine Order , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

and Wolfradt took to the new office on 15 December 1613. He began with the reform of the monastery and also took on the neighboring abbeys Schlierbach, Gleink and

Spital am Pyhrn Spital am Pyhrn is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Spital lies in the Traunviertel The Traunviertel (literally German for the ''Traun'' quarter or district) is an Austria ...

. Because of his skills in administrative and financial matters,

Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...

appointed him in 1620 to his council and in October 1623 President of the Court Chamber (german: Hofkammer). Together with the Imperial coin merchant Vinzenz Muschinger, he was commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand to counteract the coinage that had been created in the

Kipper und Wipper ''Kipper und Wipper'' (german: Kipper- und Wipperzeit, literally "Tipper and See-saw time") was a financial crisis during the start of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).rebellious farmers in Upper Austria and

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

. In 1628, Wolfradt, with Heinrich von Salburg-Falkenstein and Johann Spindler von Hofegg, served as the provisional governing body of Upper Austria, this was forfeited after eight years of negotiations with

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. The office of Hofkammer president, stressful due of the enormous debts of the Emperor, kept Wolfradt until 1630. In 1630, Cardinal Khlesl proposed him as

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

in Vienna. On 15 February 1631, the Emperor appointed him Bishop of Vienna; the Papal confirmation took place on May 26. On the 2nd of August, the Emperor raised him to the rank of Imperial prince, and the following day he was consecrated bishop. Neither Ferdinand II nor Ferdinand III had succeeded in their efforts to obtain the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

for Wolfradt. In 1633 he belonged, together with

Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg (156818 October 1634) was an Austrian statesman, a son of Seyfried von Eggenberg, Lord of Erbersdorf (1526-1594), and great-grandson of Balthasar Eggenberger (died 1493). He was a prominent member of the House of E ...

and

Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff Maximilian Freiherr von und zu Trauttmansdorff (23 May 1584, in Graz – 8 June 1650, in Vienna), (from 1623 Reichsgraf von und zu Trauttmansdorff) was an Austrian politician and diplomat of the Thirty Years' War era. His other titles included Fre ...

, to those who considered Wallenstein a conspirator and advised Ferdinand II to arrest him. As a bishop, he sought by religious instruction and preaching to achieve a reconciliation of the

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

with the Catholic faith. For this he promoted the

Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

both in Vienna and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. His motto, "If the Lord does not will it, there is no use," became very popular, a well-known Viennese song made use of this line. He is buried in the ''Katharinenkapelle'' of Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. The self-written epitaph reads: "In my life I was abbot, bishop, prince – now I am dust, shadow, nothing." In 1894 the Wolfrathplatz in Vienna-Hietzing was named after him.

Bibliography

* * Benedict Gsell: ''Beitrag zur Lebensgeschichte des Anton Wolfradt''. In: SMBO, 3, 1882, S. 334–345; 4 (1883), S. 41–48, 255–267. * Franz Loidl: ''Geschichte des Erzbistums Wien''. Herold, Wien 1983, . * Joseph Maurer, Alexander Hopf: ''Anton Wolfradt, Fürstbischof von Wien''. Wien 1894. * Günther von Probszt: '' Österreichische Münz- und Geldgeschichte. Von den Anfängen bis 1918''. Band 2., Böhlau, Wien / Leipzig, , S. 428. * Leonhard Scherg: ''Die Germaniker und die Reform des Zisterzienserordens''. In: ''Analecta Cisterciensia'', 53, 1997, S. 130–207. * Ernst Tomek: ''Kirchengeschichte Österreichs''. Tyrolia, Innsbruck, Wien, München, 1935–1959.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfradt, Anton 1582 births 1639 deaths Bishops of Vienna 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Austria Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum alumni Clergy from Cologne