TRAUTMANSDORF-WEINSBERG, THADDÄUS, count. — Cardinal, born on 28 May 1761 at Graz (Styria, diocese of Seckau), died at Vienna on 10 January 1819.
Descended from an ancient family closely connected with the Habsburgs since the 13th century and granted the titles of Counts of the Empire in 1623 and of magnates of Hungary at the beginning of the 18th century, the young Thaddäus, upon the presentation of Cardinal Herzan, was admitted in 1780 to the German College in Rome, from which he moved in 1782 to the General Seminary of Pavia, established by Joseph II. Of restless temperament, he became, alongside Tamburini, a supporter of Josephinism. In 1783, a work by Tamburini, De tolerantia ecclesiastica et civili, appeared at Pavia under his name; it is a eulogy of the Emperor’s religious policy. Moreover, in the dedication to Joseph II, T. as a pupil takes pride in the instruction he received from the Jansenists Zola and Tamburini. The work caused a great stir; Cuccagni opposed it with two writings, and a few months before the Emperor’s death (18 September 1789) it was placed on the Index. After leaving Pavia, T. was ordained a priest (1784) at Graz. He then exercised his ministry at Holleschau, in Moravia. In 1794 Francis II appointed him bishop of Königgrätz, but the Holy See did not accept his appointment because of the anti-Catholic doctrines disseminated in the aforementioned volume. T. justified himself by claiming that he had merely contributed to the printing costs of the work, allowing it to bear his name; and, after having a written retraction sent to Rome, he was preconized bishop in 1795. He demonstrated such zeal in governing the diocese that in 1811, following the resignation of Archduke Ranieri, he was promoted to coadjutor with the right of succession to the archbishopric of Olmütz. At the Emperor’s proposal, he was created cardinal by Pius
