Lothair Francis of Schönborn

Lothar Franz von Schönborn-Buchheim (4 October 1655 – 30 January 1729) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1694 to 1729 and the Bishop of Bamberg from 1693 to 1729. As Archbishop of Mainz, he was also Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Lothar Franz von Schönborn is known for commissioning a number of Baroque buildings, such as the palace Schloss Weissenstein.

Family Lothar Franz was born in Steinheim am Main, now a suburb of Hanau, on 4 October 1655 to Count Philipp Erwein von Schönborn (1607–1668) and Maria Ursula von . His elder brother was Melchior Friedrich von Schönborn-Buchheim, both nephews of Johann Philipp von Schönborn, Archbishop of Mainz from 1647 until 1673, and, through their mother, grand-nephews of Georg Friedrich von Greiffenklau, Archbishop of Mainz from 1626 until 1629. Through his brother Melchior, he was uncle to the Schönborn-Buchheim branch which included Johann Philipp Franz, Friedrich Karl, Damian Hugo Philipp and Franz Georg.

In 1726, Charles VI granted Palanok Castle with Mukacheve, Chynadiyovo and 200 villages in the Kingdom of Hungary (today part of Ukraine), to Elector Lothar Franz who had sent him troops to defeat Francis II Rákóczi, whose property it had previously been, and then continued to give the emperor political support. The estate, one of the largest in Eastern Europe, remained in the family well into the 20th century.

Lothar Franz von Schönborn died on 30 January 1729 at Mainz.

Literature R.H. Thompson: Lothar Franz von Schönborn and the Diplomacy of the Electorate of Mainz. From the Treaty of Ryswick to the Outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Springer Netherland 1973;