Truchsess von Waldburg, Otto

TRUCHSESS VON WALDBURG, OTTO. - Cardinal and Bishop of Augsburg, b. at Scheer Castle near Sigmaringen, 25 February 1514, d. in Rome, 2 April 1573.

After his early studies at Tübingen, he came to Italy, where he attended the Universities of Pavia, Padua and Bologna. He soon became a canon of Augsburg and dean of the cathedral of Trent; having gone to Rome as a secret chamberlain of Paul III, he was appointed by him internuncio to the Congress of Nuremberg (1543) for the proclamation of the Council. In that same year he was elected Bishop of Augsburg and thus began to devote himself entirely to works of reform for his diocese. In December 1544 he was created cardinal with the title of St. Balbina, which he later exchanged for that of St. Sabina, to whose titular basilica he made notable restorations. In 1562 he was made Bishop of Albano and in 1570 he passed successively to the sees of Sabina and Palestrina. At the Council of Trent he had as his procurator the Jesuit Father Jajo, while he himself waged war together with the Duke of Bavaria against the Protestants, from whom he took away part of his diocese. At Dillingen - where in 1548 he held a Synod - he founded an Academy, later transformed into a university, entrusting it to the Jesuits, of whom he was always an enthusiastic admirer, calling himself a spiritual son of St. Ignatius. His attempt to found a college for them in Augsburg failed. In 1558 Ferdinand I proclaimed him protector of the Empire at the Holy See. He was present at the last phase of the Council of Trent, where he warmly advocated the establishment of seminaries.

T. was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable figures in the ecclesiastical world of his time, and was judged the most authoritative exponent of the policy of the Holy See in Germany. His piety, his zeal in the work of reform and for the conversion of heretics, together with his solicitude for the poor, earned him the affectionate esteem of his contemporaries, such as the cardinals Bellarmine, A. Farnese, Madruzzo, Osio, and of the most eminent figures of the Society of Jesus, among them St. Peter Canisius.

Antonio Cistellini

GEBHARD, his nephew, Archbishop of Cologne, b. at Scheer, 10 November 1547, d. at Strasbourg, 31 May 1601.

After thorough studies at German and foreign universities, rich in ample benefices, he was elected on 5 December 1577 Archbishop of Cologne by the party favourable to the Catholic Reform (his opponents supported the candidacy of Ernest of Bavaria, who obtained ten votes, while T. had twelve) and confirmed in 1580 by the Holy See, he soon showed himself favourable to the Protestants. Having married in 1583

Agnes of Mansfeld, he openly attempted to secularize the electorate of Cologne and to make it his own domain. Excommunicated and deposed by Gregory XIII on 1 April 1583, and with Ernest of Bavaria elected archbishop in his place by the Chapter, T. with the help of the Count Palatine John Casimir and of William of Orange sought to resist, but, repeatedly defeated, he had to leave Cologne and withdrew in 1589 to Strasbourg.

Silvio Furlani