Johann Philipp von Schönborn

Johann Philipp von Schönborn

Engraving of Johann Philipp von Schönborn

Three generations of the House of Schönborn. Johann Philipp, second from left, front row.

Mainz Cathedral, Matthaeus Merian, 1633

Johann Philipp von Schönborn (6 August 1605 – 12 February 1673) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz (1647–1673), the Bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the Bishop of Worms (1663–1673).

Life

Johann Philipp was born in Laubuseschbach (modern Hesse) to Georg von Schönborn, a petty nobleman at the employ of the Lutheran counts von Wied.^[1] In 1621, after it had been ascertained that he possessed the minimum quarters of nobility required, he was admitted as a minor canon (domizellar) by the cathedral chapter of Würzburg, and in 1625 by the cathedral chapter of Mainz as well.^[2] In 1626, he received consecration in Mainz. He became a cathedral canon of Würzburg in 1629 and of Worms in 1630. He was elected prince-bishop of Würzburg on 8 September 1642 and archbishop-elector of Mainz on 19 November 1647.

In 1642 he abolished the 1434 law banning beer brewing in Würzburg, and founded his own brewery.^[3]

He died in Würzburg in 1673 and was interred in Mainz Cathedral.

Legacy

Johann Philipp was the first of six members of the Schönborn family who, in the course of more than three generations, were to rule over eight of the most prestigious ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire,^[4] giving the name Schönbornzeit to an era (1642–1756) sometimes nostalgically remembered in the popular conscience as an era of prosperity. Today, the term Schönbornzeit denotes a particular style of Rhenish and Franconian baroque.^[5] His contemporaries gave him the honorable titles of "The Wise", "The German Solomon", and "The Cato of Germany".^[6]

References

1. Franck Lafage, Les comtes Schönborn, 1642–1756, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008, vol. 1, p. 27.
2. Only noblemen were admitted as canons at most cathedral chapters. One needed 16 nobility quarters to become a cathedral canon at Mainz. Lafage, p. 28
3. www.germanbeerinstitute.com
4. Johann Philipp (1605–1673, Würzburg, Mainz, Worms); Lothar Franz (1655–1729, Mainz, Bamberg); Johann Philipp Franz (1673–1724, Würzburg); Friedrich Karl (1674–1746, Würzburg, Bamberg); Damian Hugo (1676–1743, Spires, Constance); Franz Georg (1682–1756, Worms, Trier, Ellwangen). Lafage, p. 16.
5. Lafage, p. 14.
6.  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Schönborn". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.