[May 20] Hieronymus, archbishop of Salzburg

True Name: Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula
Parents: Rudolf Wenzel Joseph Colloredo, count of Wallsee and Melz

Date of Birth: 31 May 1732

Predecessor: Sigismund III

Reign: 1772 – 1812

Summary: A younger son of an official of the Holy Roman Empire, it was unlikely Hieronymus would rise high in any position. He was brought up in a strict Catholic household and was educated at Theresianum Academy in Vienna. He later studied philosophy at the University of Vienna and theology at the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome. After many years of schooling and teaching, Hieronymus was granted the archbishopric of Salzburg in the winter of 1771 in the 13th round of balloting by the German cardinals. Salzburg served as the chief archbishopric of Germany during this time, and Hieronymus remained loyal to the Holy Roman and Austrian emperors throughout his reign.

Despite the independence of Salzburg from other secular lords in the region, Hieronymus followed the path of Austria in most policies. He made Catholicism in his state mimic certain aspects of the Protestant movement. He banned witch-burnings and other Catholic superstitions. He also allowed some preaching and hymns in German, which branded him as a "secret Lutheran" by some Catholic leaders. When the Napoleonic Wars began, French troops occupied Salzburg and Hieronymus fled. Salzburg was secularized in 1803 and Hieronymus resigned his post as head of state. Salzburg became a part of Austria in 1806 and then Bavaria in 1809. In 1816, it was returned to Austria which remains its home country today. Hieronymus retained his head of the diocese until 1812, though he never returned to Salzburg.

Date of Death: 20 May 1812

Successor: Sigismund IV

Other Monarch Deaths:

Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria (685)

John XXI, pope of Rome (1277)

Ashikaha Yoshiharu, shogun of Japan (1550)

John II, king of Jerusalem (1285)

Osman II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1622)

Wladislaus IV, king of Poland (1648)