WEISS, Johann Baptist. – Priest, historian, b. at Ettenheim (Baden) 17 June 1820, d. at Graz 1 March 1899.
From 1846 a privatdocent at the University of Freiburg in Br., and later editor of the Freiburger Zeitung, he was forced in 1852 to relinquish his chair for having supported Bishop Vicari in the struggle against the encroachments of the Baden government. From 1853 to 1891 he was professor at the University of Graz. He is especially renowned for his monumental Weltgeschichte (22 vols., Vienna and Graz 1859–98, continued after the Congress of Vienna by R. V. Kralik), one of the few works that treat the entire development of universal history from a Catholic standpoint. The final volumes are particularly noteworthy. Other works: Geschichte Alfreds des Grossen (Schaffhausen 1852); Maria Theresia und der österreichische Erbfolgekrieg (Vienna 1863).