Johann Lohelius (1549 – November 2, 1622), better known as Johann Lohel, was the

archbishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bis ...

from September 18, 1612 until his death.

Early life

Born in 1549 in a poor family, Johann was piously brought up. At fifteen he was engaged as a domestic in the Norbertine

Teplá Abbey Teplá Abbey ( cs, Klášter Teplá; german: Stift Tepl) is a Premonstratensian abbey in Teplá in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It is included in the Archdiocese of Prague. History Teplá Abbey was founded in 1193 by the bles ...

(german: Tepl), but was allowed to follow the classes in the abbey school; he soon surpassed his fellow students, and in 1573 received the

Norbertine The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

habit. After a two-years

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, Lohelius went to study

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. He was ordained in 1576 and was recalled to the abbey. He gave a course of sermons at Tepl, with whom he reconverted many

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

back to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In 1579 he became

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of Mount Sion Abbey, at Strahov. The abbot and he strove, with some success, to lift the abbey out of the unfortunate state into which it had fallen. Lohelius was soon called back to Tepl. However, he was in 1583 allowed to resume the office of prior of Strahov.

Archbishop of Prague

Lohelius was elected

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the

Strahov Monastery Strahov Monastery ( cs, Strahovský klášter) is a Premonstratensians, Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov (district of Prague), Strahov, P ...

in 1586. With him a new era of progress and prosperity began on the Abbey of Strahov, which was in decline when he became its abbot. The emperor and the magnates of Bohemia generously assisted him in restoring the church and abbey buildings. The abbot-general, John Despruets, named him his vicar-general and visitor of the circles of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Bohemia,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In 1604 he was consecrated

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 ...

of Sebaste in partibus, as auxiliary to the

. During the illness of archbishop Karel Graf von Lamberk,

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 ...

appointed Lohelius coadjutor in May 1612. At the death of von Lamberg on 18 September 1612, Lohelius became archbishop of Prague. He crowned Ferdinand II (future Emperor) as King of Bohemia (29 June 1617),

Exile, return and death

In 1609 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 ...

of Bohemia were granted freedom of religion by the ''Letter of Majesty'' issued by

Emperor Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

. This strengthened them and, after having gained the upper hand in Prague, they began persecuting the clergy and expelled many priests, regular and secular. The cathedral, property of the Crown (as part of the Royal Castle ) and not of the Church, was altered to suit the

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

worship; the altars were demolished, and the paintings and statues destroyed in December 1619. Lohelius had to take refuge in

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

, where he remained until November 1620. After the

battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

, the archbishop and his chapter, as well as the Jesuits and other religious, returned to Prague. The cathedral, cleansed and refurnished, was again consecrated on 28 February 1621. Lohelius died soon after, of a slow fever on November 2, 1622; he was buried in the church of Strahov.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohelius, Johann 1549 births 1622 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Prague 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire