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 continued until his death in 1812 as archbishop of Salzburg, but bereft of temporal power.

Life

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.

Accession

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."