NeufchAtel. See Switzerland.
Neufchatel, Berthold de, a Swiss prelate, was born in the latter part of the 11th century, of noble or- igin. After filling several important ecclesiastical offices, he was elected bishop of Basle in 1122. He followed the custom of the prelates of noble birth, and went to join the aulic cortege of the Eoman king, and neglected the affairs of his diocese. We find him at Strasburg in 1123; in 1124 he was a member of the assembly of IMay- encc, where he favored the pretensions of Philip of Swa- bia, as]nriiig to the empire after the death of Henry V. But the majority of votes was iii favor of Lothaire, and
Lothaire, proclaimed emperor, commenced by treating Berthold as an enemy. Berthold had some difficulty with the monks of Saint-Blaise. The emperor wished to hear the cause, and declared himself in favor of the monks. Berthold was restored to the good graces of the emperor in the year 1130 ; but a few years later, in 1134, he was obliged to abdicate, and died not long after. The motive of this abdication is not well known. It is believed, however, to have been enjoined upon him by Innocent II. See Basilea Sacra, p. 191 ; 3Ionuments de rnisioire de Vancien eveche de Bale, published by M. Trouillat, passim. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s. v.
Neufchatel, Charles de, a French prelate, who lived in the latter part of the 15th century, was the son of Jean de Neufchatel (q. v.). Charles was chief singer in the Cathedral of Besan(;on when Quentin Menart governed that church. When the latter died, the age of Charles did not permit the canons to confer upon him the vacant title by vote of election ; they could simply make him a candidate, and this they did. Charles had for competitor the celebrated cardinal of Arras, Jean Jouffroy. Yet the credit of his family prevailed over the power of the cardinal ; after having been made a candidate by the canons of Besan9on, he was nominated by the pope. The city of BesanQon had itself wished this nomination, the facile and benevolent character of Charles giving it hope that his administration would be peaceful. He met their expectations, and even Avished, in the year 1471, to efface the last trace of the discords which had troubled the government of his predecessor; he consented then to the destruction of the Chateau de Brigilles, newly rebuilt, and the citizens pledged them- selves, through gratitude to him, to pay COO florins in gold. In the mean time, the civil tumults being ap- peased, the city and church of Besan^on were desolated by foreign war. After the death of Charles the Bold, the French, united to the Lorraines, invaded the Franche- Comte, and made great ravages. Charles de Neufcha- tel at first resisted the enemy's forces; but Louis XI was a very skilful prince, who knew how to intimidate and corrupt. The duke Maximilian, learning that Charles de Neufchatel had taken sides with France, de- clared he had forfeited his office, and even obliged him to leave his archiepiscopal palace. Charles then retired, and enjoyed the society and protection of king Louis, who, as the story goes, assigned him a pension of 4C0O livres. Charles de Neufchatel was at the court of France in the year 1480, when Louis, bishop of Bayeux, died. The king immediately nominated Neufchatel ad- ministrator of that church (March 6). He could not indeed institute as bishop a confirmed archbishop ; he coiUd simply, by a sort of incardination, place him over the government of a vacant bishopric. Thus the can- ons of Besan^on, deprived of their living archbishop, had not the right to give him a successor. Charles re- ceived for some time the revenues from his archbishop- ric, which, joined to his pension and his salary as ad- ministrator, made him one of the richest prelates of the kingdom. Neufchatel died towards the close of the 15th century. His body was transported to Bayeux, his heart to Besanpon. See Gallia Christ, vetus, vol. i; Dunod, Histoire d FEglise de Besongon, \o\. i ; L'Abbe Eichard, Hist, des dioc. de Besongon et de S. Claude. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Genhxile, s. v.
Neufchatel, Henri de, another Swiss prelate, flourished in the first part of the 13th centurj'. His fa- ther, Ulric III, was count of Neufchatel. At first provost of the church of Basle, and coadjutor to bishop Berthold of Ferrete, he established himself upon the episcopal seat in 1262. He was a man proud of his origin and of his alliances, and would yield to no one, not even the sover- eign princes. From the first he engaged in an armed warfare with Eudolph of Hapsburg, his relative. They ((uarrelled about the castles of Brisach and of Neuenburg. The two armies had for chiefs the count and the bishop, and took as many strong places, and desolated as many
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boroughs and farms in the name of the one as of the | monasteries, and assisted on a number of large works; other. In 1208, Henry of NeufcliAtel carried by assault | e. g. the Germania Sacra, etc. See ^\'ait^enegger, Ge- llerteiiberg, Blotzlieim, and laieinfclden, although the hhrtm- u. Sdiriflsldltr-Ltxikon, iii, 340-343. °° latter place was accounted
iinpri'gnable; liudolph in turn besieged Toggenburg: there interposed in the affray the peasants, ill-lreaicd by count Kudolph, who rushed suddenly upon tlie castles of Auggen, Gervesch, and Frosclibach, and ilemulished them. Desolation reigned everywhere in [lie year 12C9, when the two adversaries concluded to close the strife by a treaty. . Lut they finally failed to agree, and reopened the war. In 1272, Kudolph, inaking each day new progress, ruined the Chateau dc Ticlfcnstein, and carried conflagration even to the suburbs of Hasle, and finally besieged the epis- copal city. Henry, tliough for a long time he had valiantly opposed, now found himself unable to prolong the struggle, and signed a truce Sept. 22, 1273. His death occurred the following year, Sept. 13, 1274. One does not find in the life of Henry de Neufchatel any acts