MING
324
MINO
former conditions was inipussiblo. The power of the Minden, Init its temporal possessions, embracing more
bishop was now so restricteil by the chapter and t lie
town, that he was miable to take any important step
without their consent; indeed, a complete co-regency
of the chapter was set up. Almost all the castles
were in the hands of the aristocratic canons, and the
revenues of the bisliop were extremely limited. The
lives of the clergj- liid not in many cases conform to
the canonical rules; concubinage was quite general,
than twenty-two wiuare miles, were awanied to the
i';i(clonit(' of Urandenbiirg. It was only in 1G49 that
Unindenburi; was able to obtain possession ; in KiSOthe
IMcctor 1' redcricU William received the oath of alle-
giance from the town and the nobility at the episcopal
castle of I'etershagen. The "prmcipality " of MinOen
remained at first a speciid jurisdiction, until in 1729 it
was united to the Countsliip of Ravensberg. The
monastic discipline had relaxeii. and the faith of the Catholics retained only the cathedral with eleven ca-
laity had grown cold. For t liese reasons the Ueform.a-
tion .spread rapidly in the town and tlie diocese under
Bishop Franz 1 of Hrunswick-Wolfcnbiittel (15US-29),
who involved the see in the Ilildcshcim chapter feuds,
and died as the result of his excesses. His succes.sor,
Franz II von Waldeck, also Bishop of Miinsterand
Osnabriick from
1532, led a dissolute
life, and was an ad-
herent of the new
religious teachings,
which be privately
furthered with all
his power. In 1553
he was forced to re-
sign in favour of
J ul ius of Brun.s-
wick - Wolfenbiittel
( 1 553-54) , who soon
resigned in favour
of his uncle, Georg
(1554-6(>).
Under his suc- cessor Hermann von Schauenberg (1567- 82), Protestantism spread rapidly ; Her- mann accepted the Council of Trent, it is true, but governed as a Protestant prince. Heinrich Julius of Bruns- wick -Wolfenbuttel (1582-85) declared the Confession of Augsburg the only authorized creed in his diocese. Otto von S c h a u e n berg (1587-99) was a de- voted Catholic, but, owing to disputes with the cathedral chapter and the es- tates, accomplished little for Catholi-
1726).
nonries, all of which were suppressed early in the nine-
teenth century; but the cathedral is still in Catholic
hands. After the suppression of the see, its territory
was administered for ecclesiastical purposes by the
Northern Mission. In 1821 most of it fell to Pader-
born, and a small remnant to Hildesheim.
Chronicon Episco-
lierum Germa
HI (Ratisbor
.'(07-41; Cu
Mindische Geschichte
(Minden, 1747^8);
8CHLICHTHABER, A/i'n-
dische Kirchengeschichie (Minden, 1753-55); HoLSCHER, Besckrei- hung dfs vomialigen Bistums Minden (Mun- ster, 1877); Schroder, Chronik des Bistuma und der Stadt Minden (Mindeo, 1886); Idem. Die Einfuhrung der lieformation in Weat- jalen (Minden, 1883). I'rotestant standpoint; Westfalisches Urkun- Irnbuch, VI: Die Ur- k linden des Bistum.t Minden 1201-ISOO. ed. Hoor.EWEG (Munster. I><!IS); Die Bau- und h ,,: i.hiikmaler des Minden (.Mun-
. : I'iiiJl; Frie, Die ' lung der Lan- ii iler Mindener I, (M tinster.
' " Zeitschr. des I .si \. reins fiir Nie- der.^iichsen (Liineburg, 1835—).
JCSEPH LiNS.
Ming, John, phi-
osopher and writer,
b. at Gyswyl, Unter-
walden, Switzer-
and, 20 Sept.,
1838; d. at Brook-
lyn, Ohio, U. S. A.,
17 June, 1910. He
was educated at the
Benedict ineCollege,
South Wall of the Cathedk.\
cism. The last bishop but one. Christian of Bruns- Engelburg, Switzerland, and entered the German Jesuit
wick (1599-1()33, a Protestant), troubled himself novitiate in 1856. He studied philosophy at Aachen
little about his diocese, and ruled it from his paternal (1861-64), and theology at Maria-Laach (1865-69).
estates. By the terms of his election he had to allow After a year's tertianship in Westphalia he was sent to
the free exercise of both creeds. The attempt of Kreuzberg, near Bonn, as a preacher, and in 1871 be-
the cathedral chapter to turn over the church of came lecturer in theology at Gorz, Austria. In 1872
St. John at Minden to the Je.suits (1604) was fnis- he came to the United States, where, after two years
trated by the opposition of the citizens. By the devoted to pastoral ministry, he professed theology at
Edict of Restitution (1629) the Catholics of Minden Milwaukee. He w^as transferred two years later to
obtained the churches of St. Martin and St. Simeon; Spring Hill, Alabama, where he taught philosophy, in
the Franciscans in 10.30 established themselves in which work he was afterwards engaged for twenty-one
the cathedral until 1651, and even the Jesuits, though years, mainly at Buffalo, Prairie du Chien, and St.
for only a short time, were welcomed to the city. Louis. When once he had acquired English, Father
Franz von Wartenberg (103.3-48), last Bi-shop of Min-
den, endeavoured to restore the Catholic faith in his
Sees of Minden, Osnabriick, and Verden; but in 1633
he was obliged to flee before the Swedes, and after
the Treaty of Prague (1635) was unable to return.
By the Peace of Westphalia the diocese was sup
Ming began to write for the leading Catholic magazines,
especially the " Messenger" and the " American Catho-
lic Quarterly Review", in which his first article ap-
peared in 1879. His contributions deal mainly with
evolut ion and socialism, the tw'o most important ques-
tions confronting Catholics in the I'nited States in his
pressed, Franz Wilhelm retained the title of Bishop of day. After the publication of a short but instructive
