ABSTRACT
The year 1573 was a watershed in Georg Eder’s career.1 Until then, his service to the Catholic Church had not clashed with his imperial service. Indeed, the two had frequently complemented each other. In Eder, the Habsburg rulers had a competent functionary who helped bolster their authority and support the confessional peace, regardless of his personal views. From the Habsburgs, Eder received tacit support for his work for Catholic reform, even finding a place in imperial bodies such as the Klosterrat to pursue his Jesuit-inspired agenda. As late as September 1572 Eder had reaffirmed his relationship with the dynasty by speaking in public praise of the Emperor Maximilian II’s son Rudolf, on the occasion of his coronation as King of Hungary.2
