Melchior Khlesl

Melchior Khlesl (1552–1630) was an Austrian cardinal-statesman of the early Counter-Reformation. Born to Lutheran parents in Vienna, he converted under Jesuit influence and became Lower Austrian vicar general in 1581, leading its Protestant towns back to Catholicism.

He became Bishop of Vienna in 1602 and from 1609 was Matthias's chief minister, working for compromise between the camps, and was made cardinal in 1616. His moderation angered hardliners, and in 1618 Ferdinand II arrested him and held him in the Tyrol. Released in 1623, he resumed his diocese and died in 1630.