Count Hieronymus von Colloredo

Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (31 May 1732 – 20 May 1812) was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 to 1772 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1771 until 1803, when the prince-archbishopric was secularized. After secularization, Colloredo fled to Vienna and remained the non-resident archbishop of Salzburg, bereft of temporal power, until his death in 1812.

He was born in Vienna, Austria, the second son of Count Rudolf Wenzel Joseph Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (1706-1788), a high-ranking Imperial official. Hieronymus was brought up in a strict religious household, and since his health did not allow him to pursue a military career, he was educated at the Theresianum Academy in Vienna, and studied philosophy at the University of Vienna and theology at the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome.

The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg fell vacant in December 1771, and (with considerable pressure from the Imperial court in Vienna), Colloredo, who had been Prince-Bishop of Gurk since 1761, was elected Prince-Archbishop on 14 March 1772 on the 13th ballot. According to Clive, "it was an unpopular choice in Salzburg whose citizens remained cool to him until the end." Clive continues, "he was extremely autocratic and his dictatorial attitude at times provoked the hostility of the cathedral chapter and of civic officials."

During his thirty years as ruler of Salzburg, Colloredo implemented reforms similar to those carried out in the Austrian Empire under Joseph II; see Josephinism. According to Halliwell, he "was ultimately successful in his main aims, but the struggle was a perpetual one ... Colloredo had to establish like-minded people in each institution – ecclesiastical, educational, legal, medical, fiscal, administrative and publicistic – and persuade the reluctant populace to change its entire mentality." Halliwell adds that Colloredo "attracted European-wide admiration for his efforts."

Colloredo also resembled Joseph II in moving the Roman Catholic religion within his domains in a direction similar to Protestantism. Halliwell writes: "Pilgrimages and superstitious practices were banned, processions were restricted, church decoration was limited, musical settings of the Mass were shortened and sacred German hymns introduced ... These changes led to deep resentment, and Colloredo and the architect of the pastoral letter [that implemented the policy], Johann Michael Bönike, were called 'secret Lutherans'.

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