EHRLE, FRANZ. - Cardinal, distinguished medievalist, prefect of the Vatican Library, b. at Iany (Württemberg) on 17 Oct. 1845, d. in Rome on 31 March 1934. Having entered the Society of Jesus (1861), he studied in Germany and in England (1873-77), where he was ordained a priest and then assigned to ministry in Liverpool.
In 1878 he joined the editorial staff of Stimmen aus Maria Laach (later Stimmen der Zeit) and moved to Belgium, beginning his literary activity there. He intended to write the history of scholasticism, a project later realized only through several notable contributions. In the decade 1880-90 he worked intensively in Rome and in other cultural centers both in Italy and abroad. Together with Deutsche he published the Archiv für Literatur und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters (7 vols., Berlin-Freiburg im Br. 1885-1900, of which the last three were almost exclusively by E. alone), a veritable mine of medieval erudition. In 1890, after publishing the first volume of the History of the papal library, he entered the Council of the Vatican Library, of which he was later (1891-1914) prefect. In that position his genius as an organizer and as a bold and fortunate innovator shone forth. To him are due the complete reorganization, the modern equipment, as well as the enrichment of the Vaticana, which became a center of attraction for scholars from all over the world. He himself described, in part, his work and his experience in the Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, 33 (1916), pp. 197-227; see also ibid., 8 (1891), pp. 504-10; Die Überführung der gedruckten Bücher der Vaticana aus dem Appartamento Borgia in die neue Leonische Bibliothek und ihre Neuordnung, 15 (1898), pp. 17-33 (Italian trans. in Rivista delle biblioteche e degli archivi, 9 [1898], pp. 5-11, 19-25; 16 (1899), pp. 533-38; 26 (1900), pp. 245-63). His initiatives included the printed catalogues of the manuscripts of the Vatican Library, the great photographic editions in which the most distinguished codices of that same library have been reproduced, from the Virgilius Vaticanus and Romanus to the Greek Bible of the 4th century; from the Greek Ptolemy of the Urbino collection to the Roll of Joshua and the De Republica of Cicero; the institute for the restoration of codices. In 1914 he was succeeded by A. Ratti, called to the Vaticana on his proposal as early as 1911. When the latter ascended to the Chair of St. Peter (Pius XI) in 1922, he created him cardinal of St. Caesareus, appointing him in 1929 librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church. On the occasion of E.'s eightieth birthday the Vatican Library, with the collaboration of 82 scholars from all over the world, published the Miscellanea F. E., in 5 vols. plus an Album with an account of his life and the list of his works. Pius XI presented it to him at a solemn gathering on 24 Nov. 1924. E. was an honorary doctor of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Münster in West, Munich, Cologne, Tübingen and Louvain, as well as a member of many academies.
He was extremely active and prolific into his latest years; all his works and contributions are valuable both for their content and for their method and the judiciousness of their judgments. Among the principal ones should be remembered: Bibliotheca theologiae et philosophiae scholasticae selecta, in collaboration with others (Paris 1885-94, 5 vols.); Historia Bibliothecae Romanorum Pontificum tum Bonifatianae tum Avenionensis (Rome 1890); Gli affreschi del Pinturicchio nell'appartamento Borgia nel Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, in collaboration with E. Stevenson (ibid. 1887); I più antichi statuti della Facoltà teologica di Bologna (ibid. 1932). To him is also due the drafting of the "Forma di regolamento per la custodia e l'uso degli archivi e delle biblioteche ecclesiastiche" sent by the Secretariat of State to the bishops of Italy on 30 Sept. 1902 (Rome 1902). He was a contributor for very many years to the Stimmen der Zeit; notable among others are his articles on the Roman question: Benedikt XV. und die Lösung der römischen Frage, 91 (1916), pp. 505-35; Die römische Frage, 92 (1916), pp. 79-94; Weitere Erörterungen zur römischen Frage, ibid., pp. 481-94. Especially precious is the contribution made by E. to the topography of the Vatican area. A first topographical study is the one entitled Ricerche su alcune antiche chiese del Borgo di S. Pietro, in Atti della Pont. accad. rom. di archeologia (2nd series, 10 [1910], pp. 1-43); later followed by L'oratorio di S. Pietro sul sito della antica «Scuola dei Franchi», in Oratorio di S. Pietro (Rome 1924, pp. 25-34); there follows then the treatment Dalle carte e dai disegni di Virgilio Spada dai cond. Vaticani latini 11257-58, in Memorie (ibid., 1 [1928], pp. 1-97).
For the history of the city of Rome and of its transformations from the Renaissance onward, his introductions to the major plans of Rome of the 16th-17th centuries reproduced under the care of the Vatican Library, namely Roma al tempo di Giulio III, La pianta di Roma di Leonardo Bufalini del 1551 (Rome 1911); Roma prima di Sisto V, La pianta di Roma Du Pérac-Lefrény del 1577 (ibid. 1908); Roma al tempo di Clemente VIII, La pianta di Roma di Antonio Tempesta del 1593 (Vatican City 1932); Roma al tempo di Urbano VIII, La pianta di Roma Maggi-Maupin-Losi del 1625 (Rome 1915); Roma al tempo di Clemente X, La pianta di Roma di Giambattista Valda del 1676 (Vatican City 1931); Roma al tempo di Benedetto XIV, La pianta di Roma di Giambattista Nolli del 1742 (ibid. 1932); La grande veduta Maggi Mascardi (1615) del tempo di Palazzo Vaticano (Rome 1911).
Finally he began, in collaboration with H. Eager, the history of the Vatican Palace: "Der vaticanische Palast in seiner Entwicklung bis zur Mitte des XV. Jahrhunderts", I, Vatican City 1935.