Nicolaus von Weis was from 1842 to 1869 Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, in the Palatinate.
Background
His father was a shepherd and the poor German family lived in Lorraine, near the German border. After the early death of the father, his mother went back with the boy to Germany and he grew up in Altheim, now a part of Blieskastel, Saarland.
Education
He studied at the seminary at Mainz, when Bruno Franz Leopold Liebermann was regent, and was ordained 22 August 1818 by Bishop Joseph Ludwig Colmar.
Career
Hereupon he taught the humanities at the seminary (1818-1820), was pastor at Dudenhofen (1820-1822), canon at the Speyer Cathedral (1822-1837), and dean of the cathedral (1837-1842). During this time he was said to have displayed remarkable literary activity.