Real - Ferdinand of Bavaria with Matthias

Ferdinand of Bavaria was appointed Prince-Bishop of Liège in 1612 through the direct intervention of his uncle, Duke Maximilian I, who needed a reliable Catholic ally controlling this strategically wedged territory between the Spanish Netherlands and the Empire. The joint obverse pairing with Emperor Matthias was a calculated political display — Matthias had only secured imperial recognition that same year after years of conflict with his brother Rudolf II, and the new Liège bishop was not about to miss an opportunity to advertise imperial endorsement.

Ferdinand would go on to hold the see until 1650, also accumulating the bishoprics of Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn, and the archbishopric of Cologne — making him one of the most powerful ecclesiastical figures in the pre-Westphalian Empire.