Obituary - Denied

Max Franz knew perfectly well that for him this appointment was the pinnacle of his career, for the last of the sixteen children of the late Empress Maria Theresa would have been hopeless for a higher post. Joseph Leopold, who already had his own large family, was considered the heir of a childless Joseph. Therefore, the youngest offspring of the august surname was made a cleric, although, sincerely, the priest from Max Franz turned out to be very doubtful. He knew a lot about worldly joys, was free-thinking and hated the stupid obscurantism of religious fanatics no less than Joseph himself. However, in the XVIII century, when the abbots often led an absolutely secular lifestyle, the unorthodox views of the new archbishop of Cologne did not look so egregious. In addition, the princely residence was not in Cologne with its majesticbut a gloomy Gothic cathedral and a very conservative clergy, and in a quiet cozy Bonn, whose inhabitants, being sincerely pious Catholics, did not differ in the severity of morals.