Charles of Austria, Bishop of Wroclaw
Archduke Charles of Austria called the Posthumous, Karl Joseph of Austria (* August 7, 1590 in Graz, † 27 or December 28, 1624 in Madrid) was Prince-Bishop of Breslau, Bishop of Brixen, and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. 1621 gave him his brother Ferdinand II the County of Glatz as a fief of the crown of Bohemia.
Life
Karl's father was Archduke Charles II from the Styrian line of the Habsburgs, his mother was Maria of Bavaria, daughter of Duke Albrecht V, his brothers were Emperor Ferdinand II and Leopold Bishop of Strasbourg and Passau.
Since Karl was only born two months after the death of his father, he is also known as Charles the Posthumous. Even as a child he was intended for the clerical profession, and received canonries in Passau, Salzburg, Trent and Brixen. His upbringing and education led to the later bishop of Seckau, James I Eberlein.
On July 7, 1608 Archduke Charles was elected Bishop of Breslau. On his entry into the city on December 14, 1608, he was accompanied by Bishop George Lavanter Stobeus. Johann Jakob von Lamberg, Bishop of Gurk, stood him as tutor advice. 1613, he was elected Bishop of Brixen postulated for an administrator was appointed, as Karl had chosen the Silesian Neisse their permanent residence.
Charles ordination could only take place in 1615 and consecrated bishop until 1619, since he had not yet reached the canonical age at the previous bishop elections. Also in 1619 he became the successor of his deceased cousin Archduke Maximilian, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.
The political and religious conditions, the vorfand the devout Karl when he took office in Wroclaw, were not very encouraging. Emperor Rudolf II, also a cousin of Charles, had 1609 the Protestant princes and estates of Silesia granted a royal charter in which the equality of religions was set, whereas Charles protested in vain. In addition, the provincial team for Silesia was not, as hitherto usual, Karl transferred as Bishop of Breslau, but the Duke Adam Wenzel von Teschen.
After the Silesians had recognized the Protestant Elector Frederick of the Palatinate after the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War, Karl felt in Neisse no longer safe, and fled first to his brother, the Polish King Sigismund Vasa, and subsequently in his diocese of Brixen. After the Battle of White Mountain, he returned to Neisse, where he founded in 1622 a Jesuit high school. Already on October 1, 1621, his brother gave him Emperor Ferdinand II, which belongs to Bohemia county Glatz as a fief of the crown of Bohemia, although it was still stood on the side of the rebels and the imperial troops resisted. She was captured by the Imperial and handed over in November 1622 by Karl to the new Governor Philipp Rudolf von Liechtenstein - Kastelkorn, who received the homage of the estates was only on October 28, 1622. As before, in the principality of Neisse Karl headed now recatholicisation also in the county of Glatz. The Lutheran preachers and teachers were expelled, punished nobility, cities and the free judges. The Protestants of the territories under him had nurmehr emigrate the election or to become a Catholic.
1624 Karl traveled at the invitation of Philip IV in Madrid, who intended to appoint him Viceroy of Portugal. After his arrival in Madrid, he fell ill and died in late December of the year.
His body was his heart in the monastery Escorial, - according to his wish - buried in a gold capsule in the Neisser Jesuit church, where it is annually awarded on his name, November 4th during the fair.