Christoph von Stadion (1478–1543) was

Prince-Bishop of Augsburg The Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg (german: Fürstbistum Augsburg; Hochstift Augsburg) was one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, and belonged to the Swabian Circle. It should not be confused with the larger diocese of Augsburg, ...

from 1517 to 1543.

Biography

Christoph von Stadion was born in

Schelklingen Schelklingen is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Ehingen, and 20 km west of Ulm. Schelklingen and 82% of its territory form part of the Swabian Jura Biosphere Reserve. ...

in mid-March 1478, the son of Nikolaus von Stadion (d. 1507) and his wife Agatha von Gültlingen (d. 1504).Profile from www.bautz.de/bbkl
/ref> In 1490, he began his studies at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1491 and a master's in 1494. He then studied at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

, moving on to the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

in 1497. Finally, he studied at the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara ( it, Università degli Studi di Ferrara) is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 5 ...

, from which he received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in law. He became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

in the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

Augsburg Cathedral The Cathedral of Augsburg (German: ''Dom Mariä Heimsuchung'') is a Roman Catholic church in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, founded in the 11th century in Romanesque style, but with 14th-century Gothic additions. Together with the Basilica of St. U ...

in September 1506. In 1515, he was elected

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the cathedral chapter. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1515. In March 1517, shortly before the death of

Heinrich von Lichtenau Heinrich von Lichtenau (1444–1517) was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from 1505 to 1517. Biography Heinrich von Lichtenau was born in Mindelheim in 1444. He was ordained as a priest in Augsburg in 1484. The cathedral chapter of Augsburg Cathe ...

, the cathedral chapter elected him

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

, a selection confirmed by

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

on April 20, 1517, shortly after the death of Heinrich von Lichtenau. Christoph von Stadion was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Gabriel von Eyb In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

Bishop of Eichstätt A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, on July 5, 1517. He held a

canonical visitation In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to car ...

in the bishopric of Augsburg in 1518 and 1523. In the wake of the papal bull ''

Exsurge Domine () is a papal bull promulgated on 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo X. It was written in response to the teachings of Martin Luther which opposed the views of the Church. It censured forty-one propositions extracted from Luther's ''Ninety-five Theses'' ...

'' (1520), he moved to suppress the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in the bishopric, particularly after 1522. He was unable, however, to halt the spread of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

ideas in Augsburg. As a result, he sought to chart a middle course with the Reformers, supporting moderation at the 1530

Diet of Augsburg The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...

. He was unable to prevent the expulsion of the Catholic clergy from the city of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

in 1537. He died in the Monastery of St. Egidien in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

on April 15, 1543, and was buried in the parish church in

Dillingen an der Donau Dillingen or Dillingen an der Donau (Dillingen at the Danube) is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative center of the district of Dillingen. Besides the town of Dillingen proper, the municipality encompasses the villages ...

CoA Augsburg bishops Heinrich von Lichtenau Christoph von Stadion

Selected works

* 1517: ''Statuta diocesana Reverendissimi in christo patris et domini domini Christophori Episcopi Augustensis in celebratione Sinodi feria tercia post Galli Anno domini Millesimi quingentesimi decimiseptimi publicata''. Auguste 1517 (Complete text PDF http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00001964/image_1 with coat of arms of the bishop on image 3: Bishopric Augsburg und family of Stadion). * 1518: ''Synodalrede''. (Complete text PDF http://www.mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10366045-1). * 1537: ''Warhaffte verantwurtung (...)''. (Complete text PDF http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0002/bsb00025024/image_1).

Bibliography

* Freyberg-Eisenberg, Max Freiherr von (1884): ''Genealogische Geschichte des Geschlechtes der Freiherrn von Freyberg, nach urkundlichen Quellen zusammengestellt von Max Freiherrn von Freyberg-Eisenberg''. Extended and improved ed. by Franz Rothenbacher. Mannheim: Selbstverlag, 2011. * Hermelink, Heinrich (1906), ''Die Matrikeln der Universität Tübingen''. vol. 1: ''Die Matrikeln von 1477–1600''. Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...

(immatriculation no. 49 of April 22, 1490 "Cristoferus de Stadion"; later "Chr. Stadion de Schelklingen"). * * Jesse, Horst (1980), Christoph von Stadion, Bischof zu Augsburg während der Reformationszeit 1517–1544. ''Zeitschrift für bayerische Kirchengeschichte'' vol. 49: pp. 86–122. * Schlechter, Armin (2010), Neue Beiträge zur südwestdeutschen Buch- und Bibliotheksgeschichte um 1500. ''Zeitschrift für Württembergische Landesgeschichte'' vol. 69, pp. 195–221. * Schübelin, Eugen (1906), Zwei berühmte Schelklinger. In: ''Blätter des Schwäbischen Albvereins'' vol. 18: cols. 173–180 (about Christoph von Stadion and Konrad von Bemelberg). * Schwarzmaier, Hansmartin, Jörg Martin, and Wilfried Schöntag (eds.) (2007), ''Aus dem Archiv der Grafen von Stadion: Urkunden und Amtsbücher des Gräflich von Schönborn'schen Archivs Oberstadion''. Konstanz and Eggingen: Edition Isele (=Documenta Suevica, vol. 14). * Schwennicke, Detlev (ed.) (1981), ''

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for thos ...

''. New Series vol. IV. ''Standesherrliche Häuser I''. Marburg: J. A. Stargardt, tables 156–160 (Die (Grafen von) Stadion). * Stiefenhofer, Dominikus (1880), ''Chronik der gräflichen Familie von Stadion''. Oberstadion: typoscript, pp. 42ff. * Zapf, Georg Wilhelm (1799), ''Christoph von Stadion, Bischof von Augsburg: Eine Geschichte aus den Zeiten der Reformation''. Zürich: Orell, Füßli (Complete text PDF http://www.mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10310009-1) * Zoepfl, Friedrich (1959), Bischof Christoph von Stadion (1478–1543). In: Götz Freiherr von Pölnitz (ed.), ''Lebensbilder aus dem Bayerischen Schwaben''. vol. 7, pp. 125–160. Munich: Max Hueber. * Zoepfl, Friedrich (1969), ''Das Bistum Augsburg und seine Bischöfe im Reformationsjahrhundert''. Munich: Schnell & Steiner; Augsburg: Winfried-Werk, pp. 1–172 (=Geschichte des Bistums Augsburg und seiner Bischöfe, vol. II).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christoph of Stadion 1478 births 1543 deaths People from Alb-Donau-Kreis Roman Catholic bishops of Augsburg Prince-bishops in the Holy Roman Empire University of Tübingen alumni University of Freiburg alumni University of Bologna alumni University of Ferrara alumni History of Augsburg