Franz von Hatzfeld

[1] His elder brother was Melchior von Hatzfeldt, Imperial field marshal.

[1] At age thirty, he became head cantor of Bamberg Cathedral, and the next year, became diocesan administrator of Würzburg.

[2] With the Thirty Years' War raging, Swedish troops occupied the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and Franz von Hatzfeld fled to Cologne as a protective measure.

[1] On 20 June 1633 Lord High Chancellor of Sweden Axel Oxenstierna declared that the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg would henceforth be combined as the "Duchy of Franconia" and enfeoffed to Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.

[1] On 4 August 1633 the cathedral chapter of Bamberg Cathedral (which had escaped to the Duchy of Carinthia) elected Franz von Hatzfeld Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, with Pope Urban VIII confirming this appointment on 31 October 1633.