Johann Philipp von Schönborn (6 August 1605 – 12 February 1673) was the

Archbishop-Elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The A ...

(1647–1673), the Bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the

Bishop of Worms The Prince-Bishopric of Worms, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Electorate of the ...

(1663–1673).

Life

Johann Philipp was born in his family's manor house at Laubuseschbach (present-day

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...

) to Georg von Schönborn, a minor nobleman at the employ of the Lutheran counts of Wied. The Schönborn family had knightly rank and was first mentioned in 1275. However, by the time Johann Philipp grew up, most branches of the family had extinguished, and in fact, he and his brother were the last sprouts of the family. Laubuseschbach, Schönbornscher Hof.JPG, Birth house in Laubuseschbach In 1621, after it had been ascertained that he possessed the minimum

quarters of nobility Quarters of nobility is an expression used in the bestowal of hereditary titles and refers to the number of generations in typically an ahnentafel in which noble status has been held by a family regardless of whether a title was actually in use by ...

required, he was admitted as a minor canon (domizellar) by 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. ...

of Wurzburg Cathedral, and in 1625 by the cathedral chapter of

Mainz Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Mainzer Dom nw.jpg , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt = , pushpin mapsize = , relief = , map caption = , iso regi ...

as well. In 1626, he received consecration in Mainz. He became a cathedral canon of Würzburg in 1629 and of Worms in 1630. He was elected prince-bishop of Wurzburg on 8 September 1642 and archbishop-elector of Mainz on 19 November 1647. His diplomatic skills made him an important mediator during the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

negotiations that ended 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 batt ...

in 1648. As a result, he was elected

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

in 1647, thus also ruler of the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

and

archchancellor An archchancellor ( la, archicancellarius, german: Erzkanzler) or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the wo ...

of the

Holy Roman empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. In 1663, he also received the prince-

bishopric of Worms The Prince-Bishopric of Worms, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Electorate of th ...

. He was an effective administrator of his principalities and was able to bring back economic recovery. He fortified the city of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

with the

Fortress of Mainz The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, under the term of the 1815 Peace of Paris, the control of Mainz passed to the German Confederation and became part of a chain of st ...

and

Mainz Citadel The Mainzer Zitadelle (Citadel of Mainz) is situated at the fringe of , near Mainz Römisches Theater station. The fortress was constructed in 1660 and was an important part of the Fortress Mainz. History The Jakobsberg hill, where the citadel ...

between 1655 and 1675. He also founded hospitals and high schools. His court was a center of German politics in the post-war era. He made his brother Philip Erwein (1607-1668) a

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

in the Electorate of Mainz, where the latter acquired the castles of Gaibach in 1650, of

Geisenheim Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as ''Weinstadt'' (“Wine Town”), ''Schulstadt'' (“School Town”), ''Domstadt'' (“Cathedral Town”) and ''Lindenst ...

in 1654, and of

Heusenstamm Heusenstamm () is a town of over 18,000 people in the Offenbach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Heusenstamm is one of 13 towns and communities in the Offenbach district. The town li ...

(where he built a new castle) in 1661. The family thus shifted its focus from its regions of origin (in modern

), which had become predominantly protestant, to the catholic ecclesiastical principalities of the empire, located in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

and on the Rhine. He died in Würzburg in 1673 and was interred in Mainz Cathedral.

Legacy

Johann Philipp was the first of six members of the Schönborn family who, in the course of more than three generations, were to rule over eight of the most prestigious ecclesiastical principalities of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, giving the name ''Schönbornzeit'' to an era (1642–1756), sometimes nostalgically remembered in the popular conscience as an era of prosperity. Today, the term ''Schönbornzeit'' denotes a particular style of Rhenish and Franconian baroque. His contemporaries gave him the honorable titles of "The Wise", "The German Solomon", and "The Cato of Germany".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonborn, Johann Philipp von 1605 births 1673 deaths People from Limburg-Weilburg Archbishop-Electors of Mainz Roman Catholic bishops of Worms Prince-Bishops of Würzburg 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Burials at Mainz Cathedral Dukes of Franconia Johann Philipp German people of the Thirty Years' War

Life

Legacy

Further reading

References