Bessel, Gottfried Von

Bessel, Gottfried Von a learned Benedictine, was born Sept. 5, 1672, at Buchheim, Mayence. In 1692 he entered the Benedictine convent of Gottweich, near Vienna, where he died, Jan. 20, 1749. Being called to the court of Lother Franz, he was employed for diplomatic missions to Vienna, Rome, and Wolfenbuttel. He prevailed in 1710 upon the old and vain Duke Anton Ulrich, of Brunswick, to go over to the Church of Rome, the latter having previously urged his granddaughter Elizabeth to take the same step in order to become the wife of the Emperor Charles VI. On this occasion Bessel compiled the work Quinquaginta Romanocatholicam fidem omnibus aliis praeferendi motiva; also, in German, Funfzig Bedenken, etc. (Mayence, 1708). The work purports to be written by a former Protestant, and has, therefore, been wrongly ascribed — for instance, by Augustin Theiner — to Duke Anton Ulrich himself. He also began the publication of the Chronicon Goduicense, a work of great importance for the early church history of Austria; but he finished only the 1st vol. of it (Tegernsee, 17 32, fol.). — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 2, 114.