Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg, Thaddäus, Count of

TRAUTTMANSDORFF-WEINSBERG, Thaddäus, Count of. - Cardinal, b. 28 May 1761 at Graz (Styria, diocese of Seckau), d. at Vienna on 10 Jan. 1819.

A descendant of an ancient family closely bound to the Habsburgs since the 13th century and invested with the titles of counts of the Empire in 1623 and of magnates of Hungary in the early 18th century, the young Thaddäus, on the recommendation of Cardinal Herzan, was received in 1780 into the German College in Rome, whence he passed in 1782 to the general seminary of Pavia, established by Joseph II. A restless spirit, and close to Tamburini, he became a supporter of Josephinism. In 1783 there appeared at Pavia under his name a writing by Tamburini, De tolerantia ecclesiastica et civili, which is a eulogy of the Emperor's religious policy. Moreover, in the dedication to Joseph II, T. takes pride, as a pupil, in the teaching of the Jansenists Zola and Tamburini. The work caused a great stir, was combated by Cuccagni with two writings, and a few months before the Emperor's death (18 Sept. 1789) was placed on the Index. Having left Pavia, T. was ordained (1784) priest at Graz. He then exercised his ministry at Holleschau, in Moravia. In 1794 Francis II nominated him bishop of Königgrätz, but the Holy See did not accept his nomination because of the anti-Catholic doctrines propagated in the aforementioned volume. T. justified himself by alleging that he had contributed only to the printing costs of the work by allowing it to bear his name, and, after having sent a written retraction to Rome, was preconized bishop in 1795 and showed such zeal in governance as to be promoted, in 1811, after the resignation of Archduke Rainer as coadjutor with the right of succession, to the archbishopric of Olmütz. On the Emperor's proposal he was created cardinal by Pius

VII in the Consistory of 23 Sept. 1816, but he received neither the title nor the hat because he never went to Rome.

Silvio Furlani