HEFELE, KARL JOSEPH VON. - Bishop and Church historian, b. 15 March 1809 at Unterkochen (Württemberg), d. at Rottenburg on 5 June 1893. For 32 years professor of Church history, patrology and Christian archaeology at the University of Tübingen (the influence of G. A. Möhler on H. is evident), he was called to Rome as consultor of the preparatory Commission of the Vatican Council. Bishop of Rottenburg in 1869 (elected on 22 Nov., consecrated on 29 Dec.), he took part in the same Council and was one of the most eminent representatives of the anti-infallibilist minority (cf. his work Causa Honorii Papae, Naples and Tübingen 1870); he did not take part in the session of 18 July 1870, in which the decree was approved. He was also the last of the German bishops to publish the Vatican decrees (10 Apr. 1871).

As a scholar he is remembered for a Geschichte der Einführung des Christentums im südwestlichen Deutschland (Tübingen 1837); a work on Card. Ximenes: Kard. Ximenes und die kirchlichen Zustände Spaniens am Ende des 15. und am Anfang des 16. Jahrhunderts (ibid. 1844) and the fundamental Canciliengeschichte (7 vols., ibid. 1855-74), an unfinished work, the continuation of which has been being prepared by J. Hergenröther (vols. VIII-IX, ibid. 1887-90), as well as the French version extensively annotated by H. Leclercq (for now up to the Council of Trent).

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Hurter, V, coll. 1653-55; J. F. Schulte, Der Althatholicismus, Freiburg im Br. 1887, pp. 215-36; A. Knöpfler, Zur Rechtfertigung des Bischofs H., in Histor. Jahrbuch, 30 (1909), pp. 584-87; S. Lösch, Briefe des jungen J. H. (1834-46), in Theolog. Quartalschrift, 119 (1938), pp. 3-59; A. Hagen, H. und das Vatikanische Konzil. ibid., 123 (1942), pp. 225-32; id., Die Unterwerfung des Bischof H. unter das Vatikanum, ibid., 124 (1943), pp. 1-40.

Silvio Furlani

@incollection{ec6_hefele_karl_joseph_von, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {Hefele, karl joseph von}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1385--1386}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/hefele-karl-joseph-von} }

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Hefele, Karl Joseph von

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