ADOLFO III, ARCIVESCOVO DI COLONIA

ADOLF III, archbishop of Cologne. - Born in 1511, died in the castle of the Counts of Schauenburg, from whom he descended, at Brühl in 1556. He was first a canon of Cologne, then of Mainz, and coadjutor of the archbishop of that archdiocese, Hermann of Wied, whom he succeeded when the latter was deposed by Paul III. He found the country infested by Lutheran heresy, to which his predecessor had opened the door, and he worked to uproot it, convening an important council of suffragan bishops. He took part in the Council of Trent (1551) and, at his death, left the memory of a prudent, zealous, and sincerely Roman-devoted prelate.