Ferdinand was born in
Munich, one of the sons of
William V, Duke of Bavaria and
Renata of Lorraine, a daughter of
Francis I, Duke of Lorraine and granddaughter of
Christian II of Denmark. He may have been named in honor of his paternal great-grandfather,
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. His parents decided early that he would have a church life, and they sent him to the
Jesuit College of Ingolstadt for education in early 1587. He quickly became a canon in
Mainz,
Cologne,
Würzburg,
Trier,
Salzburg, and
Passau. In 1595 he became
Prince-Provost of
Berchtesgaden and the coadjutor of his uncle
Ernest of Bavaria. His uncle retired from most duties associated with his office, leaving Ferdinand to run the many lands he ruled. When Ernest died in 1612, Ferdinand was elected the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and the
Prince-Bishop of Liège,
Hildesheim,
Münster, and, from 1618,
Paderborn. Ferdinand never received ordination, exercising princely rule but appointing
auxiliary bishops to carry out his religious duties. Ferdinand worked hard throughout his reign to promote
Catholicism in his lands. He pushed reforms and adoption of the
Council of Trent's objectives, and improved the position of the
Wittelsbachs in
Germany. In 1612 he attempted to get his brother Duke
Maximilian I of Bavaria elected the
Holy Roman Emperor, although Maximilian rejected the crown. In 1618 the
Thirty Years' War broke out. Ferdinand had initial success in supporting the Catholic leaders and keeping his dioceses safe from war with
Spanish aid, although these lands were devastated after
Sweden entered the war. By the end of the war, Swedish, Spanish,
French and Imperial armies had all fought in and raided the bishoprics. In 1642 Ferdinand appointed his nephew
Maximilian Henry coadjutor and he retired from most of the temporal affairs of the dioceses. In the period of the persecution of
witches (1435 – 1655) 37 people were executed in
Cologne, mostly during Ferdinand's reign as
Archbishop of Cologne. The most famous victim of his witch-hunt was
Katharina Henot. Ferdinand died in 1650 in the
ducal Westphalian capital
Arnsberg and was buried in
Cologne Cathedral. He was succeeded by
Maximilian Henry of Bavaria. ==Ancestors==