Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg
Catholic cardinal (1629-1704)
Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (2 December 1629 – 10 April 1704) was a German count and later prince of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was a clergyman who became bishop of Strasbourg, and was heavily involved in European politics after the Thirty Years' War. He worked for the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Louis XIV of France at the same time, and was arrested and tried for treason for convincing the Elector to fight on the opposite side of a war from the Empire.
Early life
Wilhelm was a younger son of Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and Anna Maria of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. His father died in the Thirty Years' War in 1635, when Wilhelm was young. Starting in 1637, Wilhelm attended the Dreikönigsgymnasium Gymnasium with his elder brother, Franz Egon. There they met Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria and formed friendships that would shape all their careers. Wilhelm then went on to study in Leuven in 1643, and after that to study theology in Rome in 1646, where he was presented to Pope Innocent X.
Career
In 1648, Wilhelm was made subdeacon in the cathedral chapter at Cologne, and the following year joined Franz as a member of the Archbishop-Elector's privy council. In 1650, when their friend Maximilian inherited the role of Archbishop-Elector, Wilhelm and Franz gained significant influence in the court. In 1651, Cardinal Mazarin stayed in Cologne as a safe haven during the Fronde.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q70876. VIAF identifies the subject as 76391951. The Library of Congress control number is n85355504. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1629, 1704, 1635 and 1637.
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