**HERGENRÖTHER**, Josep. - Cardinal, theologian, and Church historian, born in Würzburg on 15 Sept. 1824, died in the Cistercian monastery of Mehrerau (Bregenz, Austria) on 3 Oct. 1890. After completing his studies in his homeland and at Rome in the German College, he earned his doctorate in theology at Munich in 1850 with the work *Die Lehre der göttlichen Dreieinigkeit nach dem hl. Gregor von Nazianz* (Regensburg 1850); the following year he obtained his habilitation with the thesis *De catholica Ecclesiae primordiis recentiorum protestantium systemata* (ibid. 1851). From 1852 he served as professor of ecclesiastical history and canon law at Würzburg. Pius IX invited him to Rome in 1867 to serve as a consultant in the preparation of the First Vatican Council and on the Commission *de ecclesiastica disciplina*. Leo XIII, in recognition of his merits, created him cardinal in 1879, appointing him Prefect of the Pontifical Archive, which he succeeded in opening to all scholars, thereby greatly advancing historical studies.
His works are numerous and the fruit of extensive research and deep reflection. His *Photius, Patriarch von Konstantinopel* (ibid. 1867–69), with the appendix *Monumenta graeca ad Photium eiusque historiam spectantia* (ibid. 1869), was warmly received for its profound scholarship and clear objectivity. In opposition to his former teacher I. Döllinger, he vigorously defended papal primacy and the prerogative of infallibility in *Anti-Famms* (Freiburg im Br. 1870), *Die Irrthümer von mehr als vierhundert Bischöfen und ihr theologischer Censor* (ibid. 1870), and *Katholische Kirche und christlicher Staat* (2 vols., ibid. 1872), in which he expounds, in eighteen well-harmonized dissertations, the development of the papacy and its relations with various political structures over the centuries. He was thus well prepared to compose his *Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchengeschichte* (2 vols., ibid. 1876–78; a third volume was added in the 2nd ed. [ibid. 1880] of sources and documents, which in the 3rd ed. were incorporated as footnotes [ibid. 1883–86]). This work, structured according to the scheme of external history, internal history, constitution, worship, and literature, marked an important milestone in ecclesiastical historiography from the outset and was highly esteemed for its vast firsthand information, lucid and orderly presentation, and judicious handling of theological controversies. It remains in use today in the revised edition by J. P. Kirsch (3 vols., ibid. 1902–1909; Italian trans. by Fr. E. Rosa [7 vols., Florence 1904–11], which he later supplemented with an index, bringing the narrative up to the election of Pius XI [ibid. 1923]; 5th ed., 4 vols., ibid. 1911–17). Besides many other articles and studies scattered in various journals, noteworthy are: *Über Marienverehrung in den ersten zehn Jahrhunderten* (Münster 1870); *Athanasius der Grosse* (Cologne 1877); *Piemontes Unterhandlungen mit dem Hl. Stuhl im 18. Jahrhundert* (Würzburg 1877); and *Card. Maury, ein Lebensbild* (ibid. 1878).
In 1877, Hergenröther was entrusted with directing and editing the 2nd edition of the *Wetzer und Welte's Kirchenlexikon*, which he carried forward to the 6th volume (Freiburg im Br. 1882–89); the work was continued from the 7th to the 12th volume by F. Kaulen. Unfinished remained the edition of the *Regesten Leos X.* (8 fascicles, Freiburg im Br. 1884–91) and the continuation of K. J. Hefele’s *Conciliengeschichte*, of which only vols. 8 and 9 were published (from the Council of Basel to 1536, ibid. 1887–89).
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