HERZAN und HARRAS, FRANZ, Count of. – Cardinal, born on 5 April 1735 in Prague, died on 1 June 1804 in Vienna. He studied in his native city under the Piarists and the Jesuits and in 1753 entered the German College in Rome. Returning to Bohemia five years later, he became vicar general in Breslau. Appointed by Maria Theresa as diplomatic representative of the imperial court in Parma, in 1771 he became auditor of the S. Tribunal of the Rota for the German nation in Rome.
Charged with ecclesiastical affairs at the Holy See in 1775, in 1779 he became plenipotentiary minister and pro-
HERZOGENBURG — Main façade of the abbey, built, according to the design of Giacomo Prandtaner, by Giuseppe Munggenast (1714–40); the bell tower is by Matteo Munggenast (1767).
…protector of the Empire at the Papal court. Created cardinal by Pius VI on 12 July 1779, he consistently showed himself devoted to the interests of the imperial court; in 1794 he unsuccessfully endeavoured to establish an anti-French alliance with the various Italian States. He represented the Emperor at the Conclave of Venice in 1800 with precise instructions to promote the election of Cardinal Mattei, who appeared favourable to the imperial designs on the legations. But the opposition of the cardinals favourable to the candidacy of Bellisomi instead led to the election of Chiaramonti. In vain H.
attempted to induce Pius VII to go to Vienna. From 1800 until his death he was bishop of Sabaria (Szombathely), in Hungary, a diocese which he administered with zeal and conscientiousness.