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 ERTHAL

526

ERWIN

principalities on a firm basis. Von Erthal is the author of a work in German, refuting the revolutionary prin- ciples of his age, which is entitled: "Ueber den herr- schenden Geist dieser Zeiten und tiber das Verhalten des rechtschaffenen Christen bei denselben" (Wurz- burg, 1793). Some of his sermons were collected and published after his death (Bamberg, 1797).

Leitschuh, Franz Ludwig von Erthal, Furslbischof von Barn- berg und Wiirzbiirg, Herzog von Franken (Bamberg. 1S941; Earlier biographies were written by Sprenke (W urzburg, 1826), Bern-hard (Tubingen, 1S32), Rothladf (Bamberg, 1865), MoLLEK (Passau, 1880).

Michael Ott.

Erthal, Friedrich Karl Joseph, Freiherr von, last Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, b. 3 Jan., 1719, at Mainz; d. 25 July, 1S02, at Aschaffenburg. He was an unworthy brother of Franz Ludwig, the Prince- Bishop of Bamberg and Wurzburg. received his educa- tion at Reims, heitl prebends in Bamberg and Mainz at an early age, became canon at the cathedral of Mainz in 1753, rector of the university in 1754, presi- dent of the Aulic Council m 1758, and custos of the cathedral in 1768. From 1769-177-4 he was plenipo- tentiary of the Electorate of Mainz at the imperial court of Vienna. On 18 July, 1774, he succeeded the deceased von Breidbach-Biirresheim as Elector and Archbishop of Mainz and eight days later as Prince- Bishop of Worms. He was ordained priest on 11 Sept., 1774, and received episcopal consecration the following year on 14 May. At the beginning of his reign it appeared as if he would try to stem the tide of rationalism which had swept over the Church of Mainz during the weak rule of von Breidbach-Bur- resheim. One of his first acts as bishop was the dis- missal of the free-thinking councillors of his prede- cessor. Soon, however, he became one of the most notable supporters of free-thought in theology and of Febronianism in the government of the Church. George Forster, a Protestant, became his librarian and William Heinse, another Protestant, and author of the 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 ap- pointed numerous Protestants and free-thinkers as professors. Notorious unbelievers such as Anthony Blau and others were invited to the university in 1784 to supplant the Jesuits in the faculty of theology.

As a spiritual ruler, Erthal was guided by the prin- ciples of Febronianism. In union with the Arch- bishops Max Franz of Cologne, Clemens Wenzeslaus of Trier, and Hieronymus Joseph of Salzburg he con- voked the Congress of Ems at which twenty-three antipapal articles, known as the " Punctation of Ems ' ', were drawn up and signed by the plenipotentiaries of the four archbishops on 25 August, 1786. The pur- pose of the Punctation 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 in- crease his political influence he joined (25 October, 1785) the Confederation of Princes which was estab- lished by King Frederick the Great. In 1787 he ap- parently receded from the schismatic position of the Punctation 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 Punctation even after the other archbishops had re- jected it. Ilis opposition was made futile by the rev- olutionary wars which raged in his electorate from 1792-1801. By the treaty of Campo-I'ormio in 1797 Erthal was deprived of his possessions west of the Rhine and by the Concordat of 1801 he lost also spirit- ual 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.

FuEDNER, Gedachtnissrede auf Friedrich Karl Joseph (Frankfort, 1802); Bruck, Die rationalist. Bestrebungen tm kath. Deutschland (Mainz, 1865); Idem, Gesch. der kath. Kirche in Deutschland im neunzehnten jahrh. (Mainz, 1902), I, 9 sqq. et passim; Bockenheimer, Kurmairz im Fiirstenbunde (Mainz, 1905); Idem, Die Restauration der Maimer Hochschule (Mainz. 1885); Hennes, ErzbischoU von Maim (Mainz. 1879), 327 sqq.; Senner, Der Dom zu Mainz (.Mainz, 1827), III, 230 sqq.

Michael Ott.

Erwin o£ Steinbach, one of the architects of the Strasburg cathedral, date of birth unknown; d. at Strasburg, 17 January, 1318. According to a tradition which arose in a later age he was called Erwin of Stein- bach, and a monument has been erected to him in the village of Steinbach near Baden-Baden. Two of his sons, Erwin and Johannes, after them his grandson Gerlach, from 1341-71 and, up to 1382, another scion of the family named Kuntze, were also superintending architects. Hence they w'ere heads of the Strasburg guild of stone-masons, the influence of which extended as far as Bavaria, Austria, and the borders of Italy. No written account exists as to the training for his work which the elder Erwin received. It must, how- ever, be taken for granted that he had proved his abilities as a master-builder in other places before he was entrusted with the construction of the fagade of the cathedral of Strasburg about the year 1277. His work on the cathedral shows the influence of the French Gothic. When Erwin took charge of the con- struction the cathedral was completed except the porch of the tower, and reflected in its parts the devel- opment of architectural styles from the first quarter of the eleventh century. As a matter of fact, the west front was now built by three masters, of whom one was Erwin. At the same time a part of the nave that had been badly damaged by fire in 1298 had to be repaired. Three plans of the fagade are still in existence; accord- ing to Dehio the best design belongs to Erwin, to whom it is customary to ascribe the entire construction. Eichborn, it is true, has tried to prove that Erwin drew the weakest of the three plans. In any case the tliree master-architects by their joint work deserve the praise that, especially since Goethe, has been assigned to Erwin alone; they are not responsible, however, for the ungraceful central screen of the third story be- tween the towers, nor for the pinnacle of the north tower. This front offers a happy combination of hori- zontal members in the French style with the German principle of daring height. The rose-window, also French in design and placed in the central one of the nine fields, gives a welcome point of rest to the eye. The somewhat peculiar ornamentation consists of a double tracery of bars and geometrical designs which covers the fagade hke a net dividing and filling the large surfaces. By the novelty and the daring of the new style the individual members of this facade are in marked contrast to the older parts of the building; the front, moreover, is connected directly with the body of the cathedral. The ornamental sculpture of the build- ing, which is richer than that ordinarily found in Ger- man cathedrals, is attributed to Erwin's workshop, from which came also the monument to Conrad of Lichtcnberg in the chapel of St. John. In this chapel the early Gothic forms correspond to the carving in the chapter-hall. Erwin's last work was the construc- tion of the beautiful chapel of the Blessed Virgin. The legend of the woman sculptor, Savina, who, it is as- serted, was a daughter of Erwin, rests on a mistaken interpretation of the words of a scroll. The inscrip- tions referring to Erwin^ which along with tradition are our only sources of mformation, have also given rise to various doubts.

WoLTMANN, Geschichte der deiitschen Kunst im Elsass (Leip- zig, 1876), v-vi and Supplement; Idem, Repertorium fitr Kunst- wi.isenschajt (1876), I; Kraiis. ibid.; Idem in Kunstehrmlk, XI; Idem, Kunst und Allertum in Elsaas-Lothringen (1877)i