Stanislaus Hosius
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Stanislaus Hosius (Stanisław Hozjusz) (May 5, 1504 - August 5, 1579) was a Cardinal, born in Kraków, legate to Poland, cardinal and Prince-Bishop of Ermland Archidioecesis Varmiensis.
Hosius was the son of Ulrich Hos of Pforzheim and was born in Krakow during a time when many German craftsmen and artists, as well as Italians resided in Krakow. Hosius studied law at university of Padua and university of Bologna, and entering the church became in 1549 bishop of Kulm Chełmno, in 1551 Prince-Bishop of Warmia, and in 1561 cardinal. Hosius had Jesuit sympathies and actively opposed the Protestant reformation, going so far as to desire a repetition of the Massacre of St Bartholomew in Poland. Apart from its being "the property of the Roman Church," he regarded the Bible as having no more worth than the Aesop's Fables.
Hosius was not distinguished as a theologian, though he drew up the Confessio fidei christiana catholica adopted by the synod of Piotrków in 1557. He was, however, supreme as a diplomat and administrator. The pope consecrated Hosius to fight the ongoing conversions to protestantism. Hosius and Martin Cromer were the two bishops most instrumental in keeping Prussia's Ermland region catholic, while the other parts of Prussia became protestant in 1525. Hosius was called in 1559 to the imperial seat at Vienna, where he was to work on the reopening of the Council of Trent. Trent in Tirol was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and was the seat of the head of the Prince-Bishops. For his successful work Hosius was promoted to cardinal and in 1563 he returned to Warmia. In 1566 the pope consecrated him as Legate to Poland.
Besides carrying through many difficult negotiations, he founded the lyceum of Braunsberg (now: Braniewo) in order to counter the rapidly spreading Protestants. It became the centre of the Roman Catholic mission among Protestants. In 1572 pope Gregory XIII declared Hosius as member of the Congregatio Germania. He died at Capranica near Rome on the 5th of August 1579.
A special friend to Hosius was Blessed Peter Canisius. Both Kromer and Hosius left many records of their German language speeches and sermons in their years of duty in Archidioecesis Varmiensis. They were later translated to Czech, French and English.
A collected edition of his works was published at Cologne in 1584. Life by A Eichhorn (Mainz, 1854), 2 vols.
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