Joseph Clemens of Bavaria (german: Joseph Clemens von Bayern) (5 December 1671 – 12 November 1723) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1688 to 1723.

Biography

The third son of

Ferdinand Maria Ferdinand Maria (31 October 1636 – 26 May 1679) was a Wittelsbach ruler of Electorate of Bavaria, Bavaria and an elector (''prince-elector, Kurfürst'') of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679. Electoral Prince of Bavaria He was born in M ...

of Bavaria and his wife, Henrietta Adelaide of

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

, Joseph Clemens was designated by his parents for a life in the church. He became

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

in 1688 after the death of

Maximilian Henry of Bavaria Maximilian Henry of Bavaria (german: Maximilian Heinrich von Bayern: 8 October 1621 – 3 June 1688) was the third son and fourth child of Albert VI, landgrave of Leuchtenberg and his wife, Mechthilde von Leuchtenberg. In 1650, he was named Ar ...

, and his appointment to that post by

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...

was one cause of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

. He later also served as Prince-Bishop of Liège, of

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, of Freising and of Hildesheim. As did his brother Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, Joseph Clemens allied with France during the War of Spanish Succession and was forced to flee his residence Bonn in 1702 and found refuge at the French court. Joseph Clemens was put under the ban of the Empire and deprived of his lands in 1706. The war between France and the Empire was finally ended in 1714 with the Treaty of Baden, which restored Joseph Clemens. He died in Bonn, and was buried at the Cologne Cathedral. Joseph Clemens was succeeded by his nephew Clemens August of Bavaria.

Bibliography

*Alessandro Cont, ''La Chiesa dei principi. Le relazioni tra ''Reichskirche'', dinastie sovrane tedesche e stati italiani (1688–1763)'', preface of Elisabeth Garms-Cornides, Trento, Provincia autonoma di Trento, 2018, pp. 19–55, https://www.academia.edu/38170694/La_Chiesa_dei_principi._Le_relazioni_tra_Reichskirche_dinastie_sovrane_tedesche_e_stati_italiani_1688-1763_prefazione_di_Elisabeth_Garms-Cornides_Trento_Provincia_autonoma_di_Trento_2018 {{Authority control 1671 births 1723 deaths Archbishop-Electors of Cologne House of Wittelsbach 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Burials at Cologne Cathedral Prince-Bishops of Liège Prince-Bishops of Hildesheim Nobility from Munich Roman Catholic Prince-Bishops of Freising 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria