Karl Kaspar von der Leyen-Hohengeroldseck

Karl Kaspar, Reich Freiherr von der Leyen-Hohengeroldseck (December 18, 1618 - June 1, 1676) was Archbishop of Trier from 1652 - 1676.

Life

Charles Kaspar was made a coadjutor bishop on 11 June, 1650 and was elected the successor of the then 86 year old Archbishop Philipp Christoph von Sötern, but this was rejected as Philipp Christoph was the favoured candidate.

After the death of the Archbishop, Karl Kaspar started his reign on 12 March, 1652. The consequences of the recently ended Thirty Years' War presented the new archbishop with many hard tasks, for example, the population of the Erzstift had declined to approximately 300,000 people. His policy towards the Allies had destroyed many buildings, so he had to restore the country’s infrastructure, especially the justice and agriculture systems, to promote development. He also had to repair the fortresses Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein.

He founded an orphanage for boys, in Trier and endowed scholarships for the training of nobles’ sons to become priests

Charles Kaspar promoted, in particular, the members of his aristocratic house, Von der Leyen (House of the Leyens).

In 1654 he made his younger brother Damian Hartard von der Leyen the archbishop of Mainz and Provost and Archdeacon of
Karden, titles under the Archbishopric of Trier.

On the basis of his declining health, he had already named his successor, his nephew John Hugo of Orsbeck, by 1672. He died on 1 June 1676 in Fort Ehrenbreitstein.

External links

* [http://mdz.bib-bvb.de/digbib/lexika/adb/images/adb015/ Biography in the General Germans Biography]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bleyen.html Entry in Catholic Hierarchy]