LANG, MATTHÄUS. - Cardinal, b. in 1468 at Augsburg, from a decayed patrician family, d. on 30 March 1540 at Salzburg. He entered as secretary in the service of Emperor Frederick III, and was later a councillor of Maximilian.

Appointed bishop of Gurk in Carinthia on 6 Oct. 1501, he came to Italy in 1511 and had a large part in the negotiations that followed the League of Cambrai and the schismatic Council of Pisa. Julius II, who had created him cardinal in pectore on 10 March 1511, published him on 24 Nov. 1512, after the agreement with the Emperor. Meanwhile L. had succeeded in obtaining the coadjutorship with the right of succession to Salzburg (1 Oct. 1512), while retaining Gurk, and on 3 Dec. he had sworn obedience in the name of Maximilian. Leo X favored him with benefices and consecrated him on 17 Dec. 1513. He returned to Germany in 1514, viewed with disfavor by the Italians because of his arrogance. He became archbishop on 15 June 1519. As the Protestant movement spread through Germany, he proceeded to carry out ecclesiastical reforms with the Synod of Mühldorf (1522) and took severe measures against the Lutheran preachers, measures that led to the peasants' revolt in the Salzburg region.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: A. Schopf, Ein Diplomat Kaiser Maximilians, M. L., Vienna 1882; Pastor, III-V, passim; H. Jedin, Storia del Concilio di Trento, I, Italian trans., Brescia 1949, see index. Silvio Turiani

@incollection{ec7_lang_matthaus, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {Lang, matthäus}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {890--891}, 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/lang-matthaus} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Lang, Matthäus

About this entry