Friedrich Karl Joseph Reichsfreiherr von Erthal (3 January 1719 – 25 July 1802) was prince-elector

Prince-elector

The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...

 and archbishop of Mainz

Archbishopric of Mainz

The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...

 from 18 July 1774 to 4 July 1802, shortly before the end of the archbishopric in the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss.

Erthal was born in Lohr am Main.

His younger brother, Franz Ludwig von Erthal

Franz Ludwig von Erthal

Franz Ludwig von Erthal was the prince-bishop of Würzburg and Bamberg from 1779 until his death. He was buried at the Würzburg Cathedral.-External links:*...

, was the prince-bishop

Prince-Bishop

A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...

 of Würzburg and Bamberg.

Election

Erthal's predecessor, archbishop Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim

Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim

Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1763 to 1774 and Bishop of Worms from 1768 to 1774, in which capacities he was notable for introducing reforms inspired by the Enlightenment.-Biography:...

, had introduced some ideas of the Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

, and had been a popular figure. After his death, the Domkapitel

Chapter (religion)

Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....

was split in two fractions, one representing the openness to reform of the Enlightenment, the larger one advocating immediate restoration

Restoration

Restoration may refer to:-Historical examples :* Kemmu Restoration * Restoration * Portuguese Restoration War...

. Directly after the death of archbishop Emmerich Joseph, Friedrich von Erthal, then Domkustos, was charged with reducing the influence of the Enlightenment in the schools and monasteries of the archbishopric. After his election on 18 July 1774, and his election as Bishop of Worms

Bishopric of Worms

The Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times...

, he assigned many opponents of the Enlightenment to important positions.

Both the papal nuncio

Nuncio

Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...

 and the emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

 had expected Erthal's election to improve relationships with the Archbishopric. However, Erthal, in his position as Archchancellor

Archchancellor

An archchancellor or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries....

 wanted to have an important role in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 himself, opposing the dynastical tendencies of the Emperor. In 1785, he even joined the Prussian-led mostly Protestant Fürstenbund

Fürstenbund

The Fürstenbund was a union of German minor princes in the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed in 1785 under the leadership of Frederick II of Prussia, to oppose the ambition of Emperor Joseph II to add Bavaria to the Habsburg domains....

, a coalition of princes organized to oppose Joseph's scheme to exchange Bavaria for Belgium.

Relationship to the Enlightenment

Erthal did not pursue his opposition to the enlightenment for very long, reinstating the modern government of his predecessor in 1777. After 1781, Erthal's politics were dominated by the Enlightenment. The universities of Mainz and Erfurt

University of Erfurt

The University of Erfurt is a public university located in Erfurt, Germany. Originally founded in 1379, the university was closed in 1816 for the next 177 years...

 were reformed according to new ideas, and a hymnal in German language was published. He became one of the most notable supporters of free-thought in theology and of Febronianism

Febronianism

Febronianism was a powerful movement within the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, in the latter part of the 18th century, directed towards the nationalizing of Catholicism, the restriction of the power of the papacy in favor of that of the episcopate, and the reunion of the dissident churches with...

 in the government of the Church. Georg Forster

Georg Forster

Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...

, a Protestant, became his librarian and William Heinse, another Protestant, and author of the lascivious romance "Ardinghello", was his official reader. Erthal suppressed the Carthusian monastery and two nunneries at Mainz and used their revenues to meet the expenses of the university, in which he appointed numerous Protestants and free-thinkers as professors. Notorious unbelievers such as Felix Anthony Blau and others were invited to the university in 1784 to supplant the Jesuits in the faculty of theology.

Theological position

As a spiritual ruler, Erthal was guided by the principles of Febronianism. In union with the Archbishops Max Franz of Cologne, Clemens Wenzeslaus of Trier, and Hieronymus Joseph of Salzburg he convoked the Congress of Ems

Congress of Ems

The Congress of Ems was a meeting set up by German and Austrian Catholic archbishops, and held in August 1786 in Bad Ems, near Koblenz. Its object was to protest against papal interference in the exercise of episcopal powers, and to fix the future relations between the participating bishops and the...

 at which twenty-three antipapal articles, known as the "Punctuation of Ems", were drawn up and signed by the plenipotentiaries of the four archbishops on 25 August 1786. The purpose of the Punctuation was to lower the papal dignity to a merely honorary primacy and to make the pope a primus inter pares, with practically no authority over the territories of the archbishops. In order to increase his political influence he joined (25 October 1785) the Confederation of Princes which was established by King Frederick the Great. In 1787 he apparently receded from the schismatic position of the Punctuation of Ems and applied to Rome for a renewal of his quinquennial faculties and for the approbation of his new coadjutor, Karl Theodor von Dalberg. Somewhat later, however, he resumed his opposition to papal authority and continued to adhere to the Punctuation even after the other archbishops had rejected it.

End of the archbishopric

His opposition was made futile by the revolutionary wars: The troops of General Custine

Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine

Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine was a French general. Born in Metz, he began his military career as a captain in the Seven Years' War, where he learned to admire the modern military organisation of Prussia....

 occupied Mainz on October 21, 1792; Mainz capitulated without a fight. Erthal fled to Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...

 for the time of the republican government in Mainz

Republic of Mainz

The Republic of Mainz was the first democratic state on the current German territory and was centered in Mainz. A product of the French Revolutionary Wars, it lasted from March to July 1793.-Context:...

.

By the treaty of Campo Formio

Treaty of Campo Formio

The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...

 in 1797 Erthal was deprived of his possessions west of the Rhine and by the Concordat of 1801 he lost also spiritual jurisdiction over that part of his diocese. The negotiations concerning the reimbursement of Erthal for the loss of his territory west of the Rhine were not yet completed when he died, and was succeeded by Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg

Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg

Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...

.