Johann Christoph von Westerstetten (6 January 1563 - 28 July 1637) was Prince-bishop of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

, Bavaria, Germany, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

. He was a proponent of the Counter-Reformation. Johann Christoph von Westerstetten was born on 6 January 1563 at Wasseralfingen. He was ordained a Catholic priest in

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 ...

, Bavaria, on 11 August 1589. In 1603 he became provost in

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inhabitants. ...

. On 4 December 1612 he was selected Prince-bishop of Eichstätt. He was confirmed on 28 January 1613 and consecrated on 14 April 1613. Johann Christoph von Westerstetten is well known for the large number of witch trails conducted during his authority. Wolfgang Behringer, ''Hexen: Glaube, Verfolgung, Vermarktung''
C.H.Beck, 2000, , p. 56 In Ellwangen he began systematically persecuting witches and continued the

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

in Eichstätt. In 1611 and 1612 about 260 witches were executed in Ellwangen. Between 1613 and 1630 at least 199 witch trails and 176 executions (150 women and 26 men) were performed in the Prince-Bishopric of Eichstätt under his government. In 1630, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden landed in Germany and threatened to invade Bavaria. In 1631, Westerstetten came to the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt, perhaps seeking the protection of Duke Maximilian. His reason may equally have been that he was bishop of that town, and president of the

University of Ingolstadt The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...

. He never returned to Eichstätt. He died on 28 July 1637, aged 75.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westerstetten, Johann Christoph von 1563 births 1637 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Eichstätt