Stephan Alexander Würdtwein (1719 – 11 April 1796) was a German theologian,

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

, and historian, particularly of the Catholic Church and of the history of the city of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Education and career

Würdtwein was born in

Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald. ...

, the third son of Ferdinand Kasimir Würdtwein, a civil servant in the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), 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 hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

, and his wife Magdalene (née Marklein). He attended the school of

Amorbach Abbey Amorbach Abbey () was a Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine Princely abbeys and imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire, imperial abbey of the Holy Roman Empire located at Amorbach. It was later the residence of the rulers of the short-lived Princi ...

and then the Jesuit Kronberg-Gymnasium Aschaffenburg. He studied philosophy, theology, and

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

from 1738 to 1743, while living in the seminary. He attained his bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy and studied

Thomism Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed ques ...

. Next he studied canon law and dogma at the Catholic seminary in Mainz, and was ordained a priest on 18 July 1745. After serving as a chaplain in Bingen in 1746-1747, he was given a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

in Werbach. By 1750 he had returned to Mainz, where he studied religious law at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

until 1752. He died in

Ladenburg Ladenburg () is a town in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies on the right bank of the river Neckar, northwest of Heidelberg and east of Mannheim. The town's history goes back to the Celtic and Roman Ages, when it was called L ...

Career in the Electorate of Mainz

Würdtwein served under archbishops Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein,

Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim (12 November 1707 – 11 June 1774) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1763 to 1774 and Prince-Bishop of Worms from 1768 to 1774, in which capacities he was notable for introducing reforms ...

, and

Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal Friedrich Karl Joseph Reichsfreiherr von Erthal (3 January 1719 – 25 July 1802) was prince-elector and Archbishopric of Mainz, archbishop of Mainz from 18 July 1774 to 4 July 1802, shortly before the end of the archbishopric in the ''Reichsdepu ...

, the last

prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

and archbishop of the old Mainz electorate and of the

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

. Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein, also from Amorbach, offered Würdtwein a position as tutor to his nephew, Philipp Karl, and then as

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

at the Stift St. Maria ad Gradus, where from 1762 to 1783 he also served as

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 * Dean Sw ...

. On the basis of his extensive study of canon law, he was honored in 1758 as ''geistlicher Rat'' and given a position on the

Vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

's council, the central power of the electorate. In 1767 he was promoted to the position of ''Fiskalis maior'', a position in which he oversaw religious and moral life and ensured that religious guidelines were followed. In 1770 he became

judicial vicar In the Roman Catholic Church, a judicial vicar or episcopal official () is an officer of the diocese who has ordinary power to judge cases in the diocesan ecclesiastical court. Although the diocesan bishop can reserve certain cases to himself, ...

, the highest position in the Electorate besides the vicar general. His expertise was sought particularly in matters of

marriage law Marriage law is the body of legal specifications and requirements and other laws that regulate the initiation, continuation, and validity of marriages, an aspect of family law, that determine the validity of a marriage, and which vary consider ...

and church law. In 1783 he became

and provicar of the Worms diocese, and later that year

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Heliopolis in Augustamnica''.

Scholarly work and honors

Würdtwein is considered a trailblazer in the source study of ecclesiastical and German history. Because the archives of the Electorate of Mainz were dispersed and partly destroyed, his publications are of great importance to ''

Germania Sacra Germania Sacra (Latin for "Sacred/Holy Germania/Germany") is a long-term research project into German History of the Roman Catholic Church, church history from its beginnings through the Reformation in the 16th century to German mediatisation in ...

''. He was respected during his lifetime as a scholar and writer during his lifetime, and was recognized by being chosen as an extraordinary member of the Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften in 1765 (he became an honorary member in 1784), as a member of the Akademie gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften in Erfurt (1776), and as a member of the

Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

in Munich (1781).

References

External links

Nachweise von On-line archive
at the University of Freiburg

at Regionalgeschichte Rheinland-Pfalz
"Würdtwein, Stephan Alexander / 1722-1796"
in the ''Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank''
"Würdtwein, Stephan Alexander"
in the Hessian Regional History Information System (LAGIS)
University of Heidelberg online historical resources: ''Monasticon Wormatiense'', Heid.Hs.130
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurdtwein, Stephan Alexander 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences 1719 births 1796 deaths Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni