Hieronymus was brought up in a strict religious household, and since his health did not allow him to pursue a military career, he was educated at the
Theresianum Academy in Vienna, and studied philosophy at the
University of Vienna and theology at the
Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome. One of his brothers was the Austrian general
Wenzel Joseph von Colloredo.
Accession The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg fell vacant in December 1771, and (with considerable pressure from the Imperial court in Vienna), Colloredo, who had been Prince-Bishop of Gurk since 1761, was elected Prince-Archbishop on 14 March 1772 on the 13th ballot. According to Clive, "it was an unpopular choice in Salzburg whose citizens remained cool to him until the end." Clive continues, "he was extremely autocratic and his dictatorial attitude at times provoked the hostility of the cathedral chapter and of civic officials."
Policies During his thirty years as ruler of Salzburg, Colloredo implemented reforms similar to those carried out in the Austrian Empire under
Joseph II; see
Josephinism. According to Halliwell, he "was ultimately successful in his main aims, but the struggle was a perpetual one ... Colloredo had to establish like-minded people in each institution – ecclesiastical, educational, legal, medical, fiscal, administrative and publicistic – and persuade the reluctant populace to change its entire mentality." Halliwell adds that Colloredo "attracted European-wide admiration for his efforts." Colloredo also resembled Joseph II in moving the Roman Catholic religion within his domains in a direction similar to Protestantism. Halliwell writes: "
Pilgrimages and superstitious practices were banned, processions were restricted, church decoration was limited, musical settings of the
Mass were shortened and sacred German hymns introduced ... These changes led to deep resentment, and Colloredo and the architect of the pastoral letter [that implemented the policy],
Johann Michael Bönike, were called 'secret
Lutherans'. His diocesans would quip: "Our Prince von Colloredo has no
Gloria nor
Credo." Throughout his life he was close to
Jansenism.
End of Colloredo's secular rule On 12 December 1801, as French troops under Napoleon drew near to occupying the city, Archbishop Colloredo fled Salzburg, never to return. In 1803, in the course of the
German mediatization, the prince-archbishopric was secularized, ending the secular rule of Colloredo. Salzburg was awarded instead to the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had lost his own state in the Napoleonic upheavals. Later, Salzburg was incorporated into Austria (1805), then Bavaria (1809), then finally into Austria again (1816). Colloredo, as archbishop, remained the ecclesiastical head of the archdiocese (but not in residence) until his death, aged 79, at Vienna in 1812. ==Colloredo and Mozart==