Albert Of Brandenburg (Cardinal)
| Albert of Brandenburg | |
|---|---|
 Portrait du cardinal Albert de Brandebourg par Lucas Cranach l'Ancien . | |
| Biography | |
| Birth | 28 June 1490 to Clln on the Spree |
| Deaths | 24 September 1545 in Martinsburg in Mainz |
| Priestly Ordination | 4 April 1513 |
| Bishop of the Catholic Church | |
| Episcopal | 31 August 1513 |
| Episcopal functions | Archbishop of Magdeburg (1513) Archbishop of Mainz (1514) |
| Cardinal of the Catholic Church | |
| Created cardinal | 24 March 1518 by Pope Leo X |
| Title | Archbishop of Mainz |
| Other functions | |
| Role | Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Halberstadt |
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| (In) Record at catholic-hierarchy.org | |
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Albert of Brandenburg (born 28 June 1490 at Clln on the Spree , today a district of Berlin and died on 24 September 1545 in the castle of Martinsburg at Mainz ), it should not be confused with the Grand Master the Teutonic Order Albert of Brandenburg , archbishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
As a supporter of the traffic of indulgences and the highest-ranking dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg was one of the most powerful and most popular adversaries of Martin Luther.
Summary |
Prince of the House of Hohenzollern , Albert was the youngest son and seventh child of the Elector John Cicero of Brandenburg and Margaret of Baden.
He was first co- Margrave of Brandenburg (under the name of Albert IV), with his brother Joachim I and these two princes in 1506 founded the Viadrina University in Frankfurt-Oder. Albert was educated there and then decided to take holy orders and in 1513, aged only 23, he became (still under the name of Albert IV) archbishop of Magdeburg and (as Albert V) Apostolic Administrator for the vacant diocese of Halberstadt. The following year he became Archbishop of Mainz and as such, Bishop Metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Mainz , Elector and lord of the Electorate of Mainz , arch-chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Finally in 1518 he was named cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, against canon law.
He administered his diocese different from his home in Moritzburg in Halle from 1514 until his dismissal February 21, 1541. As a prince of the Electorate of Mainz , he provided the Council of State of the Principality of Hofrat specific prerogatives, for if its predecessor, the voter Jakob von Liebenstein (1504-1508) had decreed in 1505 although the first known settlement, it was not until 1522 that the elector Albert put up a permanent council (resp. formal) and thus gave to the assembled advisors a stable form. It consisted of thirteen members, nine of whom were appointed at the discretion of the voter, namely: the Master of Requests, the Chancellor, Marshal, the two emissaries of the chapter, two lawyers and two representatives of the nobility. In 1541, a new regulation was prepared for the council and chancery, which also clarifies the responsibilities between the central and territorial administrations. The college consisted of aristocrats and scholars.
In 1517, in order to clear the debt he owed to Fugger to pay the pallium (see Simony ), Albert of Brandenburg to financial Rhine conceded half the income of new traffic indulgence granted by Leo X. Shady maneuvers his agent in Magdeburg, the Dominican Johann Tetzel , gave Luther the matter of his 95 theses. So Albert, although he favorist the humanism and in 1515 he had called to his court Halle poet Ulrich von Hutten , found himself immediately in the camp opposed to the Reformation.
Initially puzzled by the ideas of reformers, Albert tried to cope with the "evangelical" (in German, means Evangelisch Protestants in general) and suggested considering a general reform of the Church on the occasion of a council. He brought to the cathedral of Mainz preachers Wolfgang Fabricius Capito Kpfel and Hedio Caspar , who held sermons humanist and favorable to the Reformation, and were appreciated by the faithful. The nuncio papal Aleander , when in 1520 he went to Mainz to burn Luther's writings, narrowly escaped lynching.
Finally, Albert took sides against the Reformation, whose ideas actually undermine his authority. In 1523 , Hedio as Capito before him, had to leave Mainz. Then, July 19, 1525, Cardinal Albert took part in the creation of the league against Lutheran of Dessau. Martin Luther, who founded the early high hopes for the conversion of Cardinal Albert, soon found that no further compromise was possible. In June 1528, Albert had no other choice but to conclude with the Landgrave Philip of Hesse the Hitzkirchen Treaty , by which the electorate of Mainz finally abandoned his religious tutelage of Hesse.
In 1530, Cardinal Albert still called from Augsburg to peace between Christians and the sacred union against the invading Ottoman , then in 1534 he proposed with the Duke George of Saxony Protestant princes to conclude the Treaty Kada with the King Romans Ferdinand I. Finally in 1538, with his brother Joachim, he led the league in Halle against the League of Schmalkalden. This initiative, combined with the execution without trial of Hans von Schnitz Luther inspired one of his most acerbic philippics against the Cardinal Albert.
Albert of Brandenburg wanted to concede the religious freedom to his subjects of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg cons remission of debts he owed them, when he was expelled from his castle of Moritzburg (near Halle), where he served for 27 years, upon which he exhorted the emperor to suppress the Protestants, and was the first of the German princes to bring the Jesuits (the order had been established in 1540) on his land, to Mainz , where he had retired. He was the instigator of the ambiguous Recess empire states Protestants at the Diet of Speyer in 1544 and spent the interim agreements with the Catholic princes to the imminent war.
Despite the persistence of Protestant supporters within its walls, and Mainz diocese should remain Catholics. The ecclesiastical chapter of Mainz and elected in the person of Sebastian von Heusenstamm defending Catholicism as a new prince-archbishop.
The patron
Albert of Brandenburg was a patron of the arts and sciences. At Halle , he ordered the construction of two churches in the spare style, the impressive St. Mary's Church and " cathedral of Halle - Halle named although not strictly speaking seat of a diocese. For interior decoration of the cathedral, he charged Lucas Cranach to manufacture 16 altars with 142 painted panels, to be delivered in five years: it was the largest order for a painter in the history of the Church of Germany. Albert then asked Matthias Grnewald paint the altar triptych of "Saint Erasmus and Saint Maurice", and finally it subsidizes Hans Baldung. Thus the appearance of the city of Halle is still today steeped orders of Archbishop Albert: just mention the most beautiful cemetery European Renaissance still visible, Stadtgottesacker , and the castle- Moritzburg fort, which he put under the protection of St. Maurice at the consecration of the archdiocese. His hope of founding a university in Halle confessional never materialized. It converts the remaining buildings of the bishop in a bishop's residence, the Neue Residenz. Albert adds enormously Hallesches Heiltum, sacred treasure of Halle and collection of relics that he had received from his predecessor in the bishopric. When in 1541 he fled the city, he took with him several of his works of art. Thus, several paintings by Cranach and calendar- shrine (with a holy relic associated with each of the liturgical calendar) came into possession of the Church of St. Peter and Alexander of Aschaffenburg , but most of the treasures carried away by Albert in his flight were to disappear during a fire.
Albert saw his work as patron of a work for the salvation of his soul , but yet financed by the sale of indulgences Family In Germany there is abundant literature on the loves of Albert Cardinal: while some authors have speculated about the identity of his concubines , others believe he has been on quasi-marital relationship with Elizabeth "Leys" Schtz then with the widow Agnes Pless (nee Strauss) in Frankfurt. With Elizabeth Leys he had a daughter, Anna, he married his secretary Joachim Kirchner. This would in turn have a son she named Albrecht. D'Agnes Pless, a negotiating wealthy, he said the mother superior of a convent of Beguine , which he founded in the valley Schntal near Aschaffenburg. Albert made no secret of its bonds and presumed Elizabeth Leys is even shown some paintings by Cranach: so it would be the adulteress the Gospel according to John , and the Cardinal a man who ostensibly care empty hands while the crowd around him brandishing stones and began to stone the sinner. Two portraits by Cranach and his partner Albert represent the guise of St. Martin and St. Ursula. Albert was also the godfather of Maurice de Saxe (1521-1553) , who grew up in the court of Cardinal at Moritzburg Castle in Halle. References
Bibliography
Preceded by Albert of Brandenburg (Cardinal) Followed by Uriel von Gemmingen Archbishop of Mainz
(1514-1545) Sebastian von Heusenstamm
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