Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg (1583–1631) was the
Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1622 to 1631.
Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg was born in Heinsheim, which is today a district of
Bad Rappenau
Bad Rappenau (; South Franconian: ''Rappene'') is a city municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated about northwest of Heilbronn.
Geography
Bad Rappenau is situated in the northeastern ...
, on September 23, 1583, the son of Johann Heinrich von Ehrenberg (d. 1584).
[ Article on German Wikipedia]
Profile from catholic-hierarchy.org
/ref> His mother was the sister of Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, who was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1573 to 1617 and led the massive witch-hunt of Wurzburg alongside his son.[ Article on German Wikipedia]
The cathedral chapter of Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Wür ...
elected him to be Prince-Bishop of Würzburg on February 6, 1623, with Pope Urban VIII confirming his appointment on March 19, 1624.
As bishop, von Ehrenberg was a fierce supporter of the Counter-Reformation and supported re-Catholicization throughout his territories. He also oversaw the Würzburg witch trial
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
s, a massive 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 his bishopric from 1626 to 1631, during which time some 900 alleged witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
es were burned at the stake
Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
.[RAPLEY, ROBERT. Witch Hunts: From Salem to Guantanamo Bay. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt819pr. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.]
He died on July 16, 1631.Profile from catholic-hierarchy.org
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrenberg, Philipp Adolf von
1583 births
1631 deaths
Prince-Bishops of Würzburg