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Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt | |
|---|---|
| Prince-Bishop of Würzburg | |
 Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt | |
| See | Würzburg |
| Appointed | 27 October 1544 |
| Term ended | 15 April 1558 |
| Predecessor | Konrad von Bibra |
| Successor | Friedrich von Wirsberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1502 Giebelstadt |
| Died | 15 April 1558 (aged 55–56) |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Coat of arms |  |
Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt (1502–1558) was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1544 to 1558.
Melchior Zobel von Giebelstadt was born in 1502, the son of Georg Zobel and his wife Dorothea Rüdt von Callenberg.[1] As a younger son, he was groomed for a career in the church from an early age. He became a canon (Domizellar) of Würzburg Cathedral on 27 January 1521.[citation needed] He studied at the University of Wittenberg in summer semester 1521.[citation needed] He spent winter semester 1521 studying at the University of Leipzig.[citation needed] He became a Domherr of Würzburg Cathedral in 1522.[citation needed] On 4 March 1540 he was elected dean of Würzburg Cathedral and was subsequently ordained as a priest.[1] Following the death of Bishop Konrad von Thüngen, Zobel von Giebelstadt was a candidate to replace him as Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, but he lost the election, held on 1 July 1540, to Conrad von Bibra.[citation needed]
On 19 August 1544 the cathedral chapter of Würzburg Cathedral elected him as the new Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.[1] A delegation from the cathedral chapter informed Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor of his election on 22 August 1544 and Pope Paul III confirmed his appointment on 27 October 1544.[1]
During the Schmalkaldic War of 1546-47, he allied the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg with the pro-Catholic imperial forces.[citation needed] That war ended when the Diet of Augsburg of 1547-48 declared the Augsburg Interim.[citation needed] Zobel von Giebelstadt's opposition to the Augsburg Interim led to him and six other prelates being personally rebuked by Charles V at an audience held on 9 April 1548.[citation needed]
As bishop, Zobel von Giebelstadt was fiercely opposed to the efforts of Friedrich Bernbeck (1511–70), mayor of Kitzingen to introduce the Reformation in Kitzingen.[citation needed] He attempted to found a Jesuit university in 1556, but this effort failed as the order was unable to provide a sufficient number of priests to staff the proposed university.[citation needed]