Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg ( 10 November 1547 – 21 May 1601 ) was Archbishop - Elector of Cologne . After pursuing an ecclesiastical career , he won a close election in the Cathedral chapter of Cologne over Ernst of Bavaria . After his election , he fell in love with and later married Agnes von Mansfeld - Eisleben , a Protestant Canoness at the Abbey of Gerresheim . His conversion to Calvinism and announcement of religious parity in the Electorate triggered a war . On 19 December 1582 , a proclamation in his name established parity for Catholics and Calvinists in the Electorate of Cologne , causing a scandal in the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire , and after his marriage in February 1583 , he sought to convert the Electorate into a dynastic dignity . For the next six years , his supporters fought those of the Catholic cathedral chapter for the right to hold the electorship and the archdiocese in the so - called Cologne War or Seneschal War . After brutal fighting , plundering of villages , cities , and abbeys throughout the Electorate , Gebhard surrendered his claim on the electorate and retired to Strasbourg . He died there in 1601 and was buried in the Cathedral . Gehard ' s conversion and marriage was the first major test of the principle of ecclesiastical reservation established in the Peace of Augsburg , 1555 . His loss of the Electorate strengthened the Catholic counter reformation in the northern German states , gave the Jesuits a stronghold in Cologne , and expanded the Wittelsbach family influence in imperial politics . Family and early career . Gebhard was born in the Fürstenburg fortress of Heiligenberg , the second son of William , known as " the younger " , ( 6 March 1518 – 17 January 1566 ) , Freiherr and Seneschal of Waldburg and an Imperial Councilor , and his wife , Johanna v . Fürstenberg ( 1529 – 1589 ) . His family was an old Swabian house and he was descended from the " Jacobin " line of the House : Jakob I Truchseß von Waldburg , also known as the Golden Knight ( for his blond hair ) . The family owned extensive properties that bordered on the Abbey of Kempten and various Habsburg territories in present - day southwestern Bavaria ; In 1429 and 1463 , the three surviving sons of Johann II , Jakob , Everhard , and George , and their surviving sister Ursula , concluded a covenant of inheritance to protect the family property . In the future , they would occupy and own the property as one ; the inheritance of the daughters could not exceed 4000 gulden . They guaranteed each other the right of first refusal on potential property sales . Gebhard ' s grandfather had been a commander for the Swabian League army in 1531 ; a cousin of his grandfather , Jörg Truchsess von Waldburg , also known as Bauernjörg , had been a commander of the imperial army in the Peasant Wars ( 1525 ) . His uncle , Otto ( 1514 – 73 ) , was the bishop of Augsburg , later a Cardinal , and founded University of Dillingen in Augsburg . His younger brother , Karl ( 1548 – 1593 ) , trained for a military career ; a second younger brother , Ferdinand , died at the siege at ' s - Hertogenbosch in 1585 . As a younger son , Gebhard was prepared early for an ecclesiastical career . He received a broad , Humanist education , learned several languages , including Latin , Italian , French , and German , and studied history and theology . After studying at the universities of Dillingen , Ingolstadt , Perugia , Louvain and elsewhere , he began his ecclesiastical career in 1560 at Augsburg , serving as prebendary in the Cathedral church . His life at Augsburg caused some scandal ; Uncle Otto , the archbishop , petitioned the Duke of Bavaria to remonstrate with Gebhard about his conduct , which apparently led to some improvement in his behavior . In 1561 , he became a deacon at the cathedral in Cologne ( 1561 – 77 ) , a canon of St . Gereon in Köln ( 1562 – 67 ) , a canon in Strassburg ( 1567 ) , in Ellwangen ( 1567 – 83 ) , and in Würzburg ( 1569 – 70 ) . In 1571 , he became deacon of the Strassburg Cathedral , a position he held until his death in 1601 . In 1576 , by papal nomination , he became provost of the Cathedral in Augsburg . From all of these positions he would have drawn a stipend . In December 1577 , he was chosen elector of Cologne after a contest with Ernst of Bavaria , the youngest brother of the ruling Duke . He won the election by two votes . Although it was not required of him , Gebhard agreed to undergo priestly ordination , which his predecessor had not done . The initial years of his office were relatively uneventful . Gebhard continued some of the work of Salentin , chiefly in the reconstruction of the Arnsberg castle in Westphalia . Archbishop goes to war . Gebhard is chiefly noted for his conversion to the reformed doctrines , and for his marriage with the reportedly beautiful Agnes von Mansfeld - Eisleben , a canoness of Gerresheim . After living in concubinage with Agnes for two years , he decided , perhaps by the persuasion of her brothers , to marry her , doubtless intending at the same time to resign his see . Other counsels , however , prevailed . Encouraged by Protestant supporters , including several in the Cathedral chapter , he declared he would retain the electorate , and in December 1582 he formally announced his conversion to the reformed faith and the parity of Calvinism with Catholicism in the Electorate and archdiocese of Cologne . The marriage with Agnes was celebrated on 4 February 1583 , and afterward Gebhard remained in possession of the see . This affair created a stir in the Holy Roman Empire . The clause concerning ecclesiastical reservation in the religious Peace of Augsburg was interpreted in one way by his friends , and in another way by his foes ; the former held that he could retain his office , the latter insisted that he resign . The conversion of the ecclesiastic see to one ruled by a Calvinist prince challenged the principle of " ecclesiastical reservation . " Hermann von Wied , a previous prince - elector and archbishop had also converted to Protestantism , but had resigned from his office ; Gebhard ' s predecessor , Salentin von Isenburg - Grenzau , had resigned from the office upon his marriage , necessary to perpetuate his house . Unlike his predecessors , Gebhard proclaimed the Reformation , in the style of Calvinism , from the cathedral , angering Cologne ' s Catholic leadership and alienating the Cathedral chapter . He placed the evangelical confession on parity with the Catholic one ; furthermore , Gebhard adhered not to the teachings of Martin Luther , but to those of John Calvin , a form of religious observation not approved of in the Augsburg conventions of 1555 . Anticipating events , Gebhard had collected some troops and had taken measures to convert his subjects to Protestantism . In April 1583 , he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory XIII ; the unsuccessful candidate of 1577 , Ernest , who was also bishop of Liège , Freising and Hildesheim , was chosen as the new elector . Initially , Gebhard was supported by Adolf von Neuenar and his own brother , Karl , who commanded most of his troops . Although he sought assistance from several of the Lutheran princes of Germany , especially Augustus I , elector of Saxony , these princes were not enthusiastic to support Gebhard ' s cause ; his association with the Calvinists was not to their liking . Henry of Navarre , later Henry IV of France , tried to form a coalition to aid Gebhard , but the only assistance which he obtained came from John Casimir , who took command of Gebhard ' s troops in the spring of 1583 . Later that summer , after fruitlessly marching the troops up and down the Rhine , a process of intimidation , he disbanded his army to administer the Palatinate of the Rhine for his ten - year - old nephew , the new Elector Palatine , Frederick IV . Ernest had the support of the previous Elector , Salentin IX of Isenburg - Grenzau , Frederick , Duke of Saxe - Lauenburg , and , probably most important , several thousand Spanish troops hired by the pope . While representatives from the Cathedral chapter , the seven imperial electors , the emperor , and the pope tried to resolve differences around the negotiating table , first in Frankfurt am Main , and then in Muhlhausen in Westphalia , the armies of both sides rampaged throughout the southern portion of the Electorate , called the " Oberstift " , plundering abbeys and convents , burning villages and small cities , and destroying crops , bridges , and roads . None of the combatants were prepared to commit their troops in a fixed battle ; it was far more lucrative , and safer as well , to use them in a show of force , intimidating the peasantry , besieging walled towns and small cities , and limiting trade and the sale of food - stuffs in the marketplaces . By the end of March , Salentin , Frederick , and the few thousand Spanish troops drove Gebhard from Bonn , then Bad Godesberg ; he and his wife took refuge into Vest Recklinghausen , a fiefdom of the electorate . There , he and Agnes encouraged a spurt of iconoclasm by their troops , alienating many heretofore supporters , including Hermann von Hatzfeld , seneschal of Balve . Ferdinand , the brother of the rival archbishop , drove Gebhard and Agnes to the Netherlands ; they escaped with approximately 1000 cavalry and some infantry . Initially , they sought refuge in Delft , with William I of Orange . Living in the Netherlands , they became acquainted with Elizabeth ' s envoy , Robert Dudley , 1st Earl of Leicester , and entered into lengthy negotiations with Elizabeth ' s Court to obtain support for his cause ; these efforts failed to garner assistance for renewing the war either from the English queen or in any other quarter . By 1588 , Gebhard ' s joint pain ( " Gelenkenschmerz " ) prevented him from riding a horse ; the climate of Cologne , damp and cold , made his condition worse , so he relinquished his claim on the Electorate to the protection of Adolf von Neuenahr and Martin Schenck , which they pursued until their deaths later that year . In the summer 1588 , Gebhard established his residence at Strassburg , where he had held the office of dean of the cathedral since 1574 and had maintained it concurrently with his position in Cologne . Consequences of Gebhard ' s conversion and marriage . Gebhard ' s conversion and marriage were exceptionally costly , in terms of lives and property , and historians have made no actual estimate of its actual cost , although 19th century historians tend to criticize him for acting rashly . Perhaps its greater cost , however , lay in the impact his actions had on Protestantism and Catholicism in the northern territories of the German states . Although fighting continued until 1589 , by early 1588 , Ernst controlled most of the Electorate . Gebhard ' s defeat was a serious blow to Protestantism in northern Germany , and marks a critical stage in the history of the Reformation . Bavarian Jesuits went to the Electoral territories to bring the population back to Catholicism , a process rife with violence and coercion . Gebhard also opened the doors for Spanish incursions into the Rhineland ; blocked from water access to the rebellious Dutch , Spanish military commanders sought a land route to the Dutch Provinces and by providing troop support for Ernst , they established valuable bridgeheads in the Rhine valley . Finally , the Cologne War marks the beginning of the " internationalization " of the German religious question , which was not resolved until 1650 , after the disasters of the Thirty Years Wars . Later years . In 1589 , Gebhard and his wife moved to Strasbourg , where he had held a prebendary position in the Cathedral chapter since 1574 , and had maintained concurrently with his position in Cologne . Before his arrival some trouble had arisen in the chapter when three excommunicated canons , refugees from the Cologne strife , persisted in retaining their offices after they had accepted the reformed doctrines . He joined this party , which was strongly supported in the city , and took part in a double election to the bishopric in 1592 . Despite some opposition , he retained his office until his death in 1601 . Shortly after his marriage in 1583 , Gebhard had written his " Testament " in which he left his estate to his brother , Karl , and a life - time annuity to Agnes , and charging Karl with her safety and protection . Karl died on 18 June 1593 , and was buried in the Strasbourg cathedral ; Gebhard wrote a codicil leaving Agnes to the care and protection of the Duke of Württemberg . He spent his last years diseased and crippled , and he died on 21 May 1601 . With great pomp and ceremony was buried in a grave with Karl on 8 June 1601 . Historical assessments . Historians have not been kind to Gebhard . E . A . Benians , in the " Cambridge Modern History " , was perhaps the most generous : " Few men personally insignificant have made more stir in the world . " Walter Goetz described him in less complimentary terms : he " was impelled by no great idea , nor could he claim through virile activity the title to any high striving ambition " and was wanting in both depth and tenacity . Goetz was not particularly kind to Ernst either : Ernst was not Gebhard ' s superior ; the victory that placed him in the Electorate belonged to his brothers ' influence and the " Curia " ( papacy ) , not to his own striving ambition ; Ernst was , fundamentally , on a tide of Counter Reformation that lifted all boats , which Gebhard was not . Philip Motley describes him thus : despite his swearing an oath to renounce his see if he should marry , " the love of Truchsess for Agnes Mansfeld had created disaster , not only for himself but for all of Germany . " Like Goetz , he describes both Gebhard and Ernst as cut from the same cloth : " two pauper Archbishops without men or means of their own were pushed back and forth , like puppets , by the highwaymen " on either side , while murder and robbery , in the name of Catholicism and Protestantism , were the " for a time the only motive or result of the contest . "