Albrecht Jan Smiřický of Smiřice
Albrecht Jan Smiřický von Smiřice (born December 17, 1594 in Großskal ; † November 18, 1618 in Prague ) was one of the most important representatives of the Bohemian aristocratic family Smiřický von Smiřice , which had belonged to the Bohemian gentry since 1554 . His reputation was so great that he was considered a possible candidate for the Bohemian royal crown.
Origin and career
His father was Zikmund Smiřický (1557-1608) from the Skaler line of the Smiřický family. Albrecht January attended high school in Görlitz and studied at the University of Heidelberg . After the next or branch of the family died out with the death of Albrecht Václav Smiřický in 1614, Albrecht Jan was the oldest and only male member of the family under inheritance law. Therefore, the allodial goods of both family branches and the family fideikommiss Schwarzkosteletz and Uhříněves passed to him. This makes it one of the richest landowners in Bohemia.
Albrecht Jan went on several educational trips and spent a year in Italy. On one of his educational trips he got engaged to Countess Amalie Elisabeth von Hanau-Münzenberg in 1617 . However, since no negotiations had previously been conducted with the Hanau-Münzenberg family and Albrecht Jan showed up at the Hanauer Hof without prior notice and completely suddenly, his marriage proposal initially caused confusion there, especially since Albrecht Jan's position and rank in the Bohemian nobility were not clearly known.
Albrecht Jan's fiancée, Amalie Elisabeth, was the daughter of Count Philipp Ludwig II of Hanau-Münzenberg, who died in 1612, and his wife Katharina Belgica of Orange-Nassau , who in turn was a daughter of Wilhelm of Orange-Nassau , who fought for independence in the 16th century the Netherlands had led against Habsburg . The Hanauer Grafenhaus also had close ties to the Electoral Palatinate . So Philip Ludwig II was z. B. appeared at the English court as a suitor for the later winter king and had asked for the hand of Elisabeth Stuart for him .
By marrying Amalie Elisabeth, Albrecht Jan would have come into close contact with the Reformed nobility of the German Empire .
Political position
Politically, Albrecht Jan joined the faction in the Bohemian imperial estates, which strove for greater power and greater sovereignty over the Habsburg rulers.
He was one of the initiators and leaders of the anti-Habsburg uprising . The Second Prague Lintel was decided in his palace on the Lesser Town in Prague . Albrecht Jan himself participated in the assassination attempt on the Hradschin on May 23, 1618 and was one of the aristocrats who threw the imperial governors out of the window. The representatives of the estates then set up a board of directors to which Albrecht Jan also belonged. They defended the class and religious freedoms and raised troops for this purpose. Albrecht Jan also set up a regiment that he paid for from his own resources. These events escalated the uprising of the Bohemian Protestant estates against the Catholic Habsburgs, which finally led to the beginning of the Thirty Years War .
Death and inheritance
The upcoming marriage to Amalie Elisabeth did not take place because Albrecht Jan died of pneumonia in the autumn of 1618. His body was buried in the family crypt in Schwarzkosteletz . His possessions passed to his sisters Elisabeth ( Alžběta ) and Margareta ( Markéta ), married Slawata . There were disputes between Albrecht Jan's heirs and Amalie Elisabeth's family over the parts of the estate, which are said to have been contractually awarded to Amalie Elisabeth on the occasion of the engagement. They were unsuccessful on both sides, as all Smiřický possessions were confiscated by the emperor after the battle of the White Mountain .
Amalie Elisabeth married Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel .
Quote from Golo Mann
"[...] if anyone at all could have led the Bohemian rebellion to victory, it would have been Albrecht Jan Smiřický."
literature
- Lydia Baštecká, Ivana Ebelová: Náchod. (History, culture, lidé). Lidové Noviny, Náchod 2004, ISBN 80-7106-674-5 .
- Margaret Lemberg: In the vortex of the bohemian class catastrophe. The unfinished engagement of Albrecht Johann Smiřický with Amalie Elisabeth von Hanau and the struggle for the inheritance. In: Bohemia. Journal of the history and culture of the Czech lands. 35, 1994, ISSN 0523-8587 , pp. 1-44.
- Golo Mann : Wallenstein. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1971, ISBN 3-10-047903-3 .
- Václav Pěšak: Panství rodu Smiřických v letech 1609–1618. Hospodářská skladba českého velkostatku začátkem XVII. stol (= Sborník archivu ministerstva vnitra v Praze 13, ZDB -ID 1087998-5 ). Ministerstvo vnitra, Prague 1940.
Web links
Endnotes
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smiřický von Smiřice, Albrecht Jan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smiřický von Smiřice, Albrecht Johannes; Smiřický ze Smiřic, Albrecht Jan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | bohemian nobleman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1594 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Large scale |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 18, 1618 |
| Place of death | Prague |