HERZAN and HARRAS, FRANZ, Count of. – Cardinal, born on 5 April 1735 in Prague, died on 19 June 1804 in Vienna. He studied in his native city with the Piarists and the Jesuits and in 1753 moved to the Collegio Germanico in Rome. After five years he returned to Bohemia, where he became vicar general in Breslau. Appointed by Maria Theresa as the diplomatic representative of the imperial court in Parma, he became in 1771 auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota for the German nation in Rome.
In 1775 he was entrusted with ecclesiastical affairs at the Holy See, and in 1779 he became plenipotentiary minister and protector of the Empire at the Pope’s side. Created cardinal by Pius VI on 12 July 1779, he consistently proved loyal to the interests of the imperial court; in 1794 he strove in vain to form an anti-French alliance among the various Italian states. He represented the Emperor at the Venetian conclave of 1800 with precise instructions to promote the election of Cardinal Mattei, who seemed favourable to imperial claims on the legations. However, the opposition of the cardinals favouring the candidacy of Bellisomi led instead to the election of Chiaramonti.