Adolph III, Archbishop of Cologne

ADOLFO III, archbishop of COLONIA. — Born in 1511, he died at the Schauenburg castle, from which family he descended, at Brühl in 1556. First a canon of Colonia, then of Magonza, and coadjutor to the archbishop of this archdiocese, Ermanno de Wied, he was called to succeed him when the latter was deposed by Paolo III. He found the country infested with the Lutheran heresy, to which his predecessor had opened the doors, and endeavored to extirpate it by 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 and zealous prelate, sincerely devoted to Rome.