Melchior Klesl

Melchior Klesl (born Feb. 19, 1552, Vienna [Austria]—died Sept. 18, 1630, Vienna) was an Austrian statesman, bishop of Vienna and later a cardinal, who tried to promote religious toleration during the Counter-Reformation in Austria. Converted from Protestantism by the Jesuits, he became an outstanding preacher and served as bishop of Vienna from the 1590s. Klesl became the most trusted adviser of the Habsburg archduke Matthias, king of Hungary and of Bohemia, and helped to procure...