FÜRSTENBERG, Wilhelm Egon von. - Cardinal, born 2 Dec. 1629, died in Paris 10 Apr. 1704.
Counsellor to the elected Archbishop of Cologne, Maximilian Henry, he worked, together with his brother Franz Egon, in favor of French expansion. Bishop of Metz (1663), of Strasbourg (1682), he was created cardinal by Innocent XI, under pressure from Louis XIV, on 2 Sept. 1686, with the title of S. Onofrio. Opposition from the Pope and Emperor Leopold prevented him in 1688 from succeeding Maximilian Henry. Placed under imperial ban and forced to retire to France, he received from Louis XIV the abbey of St-Germain-des-Prés.
BIBL.: M. Guarnacci, *Vitae et res gestae pontificum Romanorum et S.R.E. cardinalium*, I, Rome 1751, p. 233; Pastor, XIV, V. index; Ch. Gerin, *Le pape Innocent XI et l'élection de Cologne en 1688*, in *Revue des questions historiques*, 33 (1883), p. 75. Vittorio E. Giunella