Bernhard Gustav of Baden-Durlach
Bernhard Gustav von Baden-Durlach OSB was a Major General in the Swedish army. After his conversion to Catholicism, he was Abbot of Fulda and Kempten Abbey and also cardinal.Life
He was the son of Margrave Frederick V of Baden-Durlach and his second wife Eleonore of Solms-Laubach. He was the nephew and godson of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He was baptized as Gustav Adolph and raised in the Lutheran faith.
As a Major General in the Swedish army, he fought against Poland during the Second Northern War. After traveling through France and Italy and a lengthy stay in Rome, he converted to Catholicism on 24 August 1660 in the Franciscan Hermolsheim monastery in Mutzig in the Lower Alsace. He took the name of Bernhard Gustav, in honor of the blessed Margrave Bernhard II.
In 1663, the joined the Venetian army and fought in the Turkish War. A year later, he fought in the battle of St. Gotthard. In 1665, he laid down his arms, entered the Benedictine Rheinau Abbey and received minor orders. In 1666, he was appointed coadjutor of the prince-bishop of Fulda. In 1668, he also became coadjutor of Kempten Abbey. In 1671, he became Prince-Bishop in Fulda and coadjutor in the Michaelsberg Abbey in Siegburg.
On 24 August 1671, Pope Clement X made him cardinal of Santa Susanna. In 1676, he participated in the conclave that elected Pope Innocent XI.
He died on 26 December 1677 in Hammelburg and was buried there.
