Raitenau was born at Hofen Castle in
Lochau, near
Bregenz in
Further Austria, the son of the
Habsburg colonel Hans Werner von Raitenau (1525-1593) and Helene von
Hohenems (1535-1586), a niece of
Pope Pius IV and sister of
Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps, who was consecrated
Bishop of Constance in 1561, as well as sister-in-law of Cardinal
Charles Borromeo. Wolf Dietrich received an ecclesiastical education at the
Collegium Germanicum in
Rome and became a member of the Salzburg
cathedral chapter in 1578. His predecessor, Archbishop George of Kuenburg, had long served as a
coadjutor bishop and had found himself in constant conflict with the chapter. Upon his death in 1587, Raitenau was elected as a compromise candidate and was ordained by the
Passau bishop Urban of Trennbach. He continued the harsh measures of the
Counter-Reformation initiated by his predecessors, invited
Franciscan and
Augustinian friars, and in 1589 had all
Protestants expelled from the city of
Salzburg. In his later years, however, he developed a milder attitude and initiated reforms of the
liturgy and the administration of the episcopal lands, which alienated the
Roman Curia. Perceptive, well-read, and a follower of
Niccolò Machiavelli's ideas, Raitenau considered himself a genuine Renaissance prince of an
absolutist state. He won fame not only as an art collector but also as a builder who significantly promoted the spread of the
Baroque architecture north of the
Alps: When
Salzburg Cathedral was devastated by a fire on the night of 11 December 1598, he had plans set up for a lavish reconstruction by the
Venetian architect
Vincenzo Scamozzi, who also drew up a master plan for the adjacent
Residenzplatz square and designed the
Salzburg Residenz. The new cathedral was, however, erected under Raitenau's successor,
Mark Sittich von Hohenems, and his architect,
Santino Solari. In 1606 the archbishop had also a
castle built for his mistress,
Salome Alt, with whom he had fifteen illegitimate children; the castle later was converted into
Mirabell Palace by his successor. Raitenau's rule was brought down after he entered into a fierce dispute with his mighty neighbour, Duke
Maximilian I of Bavaria: In 1609 the Archbishop refused to join Maximilian's
Catholic League and in October 1611 his forces invaded the
Berchtesgaden Provostry, which was also claimed by the Bavarian
House of Wittelsbach. In the subsequent clashes of arms,
Bavarian troops campaigned in Salzburg. Deserted by his cathedral chapter and abandoned by Emperor
Rudolf II, Raitenau on his flight to
Carinthia was captured, deposed and imprisoned for life by his nephew and successor, Mark Sittich von Hohenems, first at
Hohenwerfen Castle and later in
Hohensalzburg. == References ==