Philip Gotthard von Schaffgotsch was appointed Prince-Bishop of Breslau in 1747 through the direct intervention of Frederick the Great, who wanted a pliable ecclesiastic governing Silesia's most powerful Catholic see after his seizure of the province from Austria in 1742. The arrangement ultimately collapsed — Schaffgotsch was arrested in 1764 on charges of treason against Prussia, having maintained secret correspondence with Vienna, and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest at Johannisberg. He was never formally removed from office, which is why the coinage continued in his name through 1777.
Philip Gotthard von Schaffgotsch was appointed Prince-Bishop of Breslau in 1747 through the direct intervention of Frederick the Great, who wanted a pliable ecclesiastic governing Silesia's most powerful Catholic see after his seizure of the province from Austria in 1742. The arrangement ultimately collapsed — Schaffgotsch was arrested in 1764 on charges of treason against Prussia, having maintained secret correspondence with Vienna, and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest at Johannisberg. He was never formally removed from office, which is why the coinage continued in his name through 1777.