Anton Egon (Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg)

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Anton Egon von Fürstenberg

Anton Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (born April 23, 1656 in Munich ; † October 10, 1716 in the old hunting lodge of Wermsdorf in Wermsdorf ) had been Prince of the Empire and Prince Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg since 1674 . Coming from the old imperial nobility, Anton Egon temporarily held important functions at the Dresden court as governor in Saxony in the context of the Saxon-Polish personal union founded in 1697 .

family

He was the eldest son of the Bavarian Obersthofmeister and Prince Hermann Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and Maria Franziska von Fürstenberg-Stühlingen . His siblings were:

Life

From Rome, where his cavalier tour had taken him at the end of 1674, Anton Egon made an early effort to distance himself from his two tutors and uncles Franz Egon and Wilhelm Egon , the bishops of Strasbourg and Metz, who were both declared supporters of Louis XIV of France belonged, as well as the protection of the imperial cousin Froben Maria von Fürstenberg-Mößkirch . In 1676 he was declared of legal age and was able to formally succeed his father, who died in 1674, as prince of the empire.

Through the mediation of his uncle but he married in 1677 in Paris with a rich wealthy French nobleman from the home Ligne what the disgraced emperor him Leopold I earned. The latter declared that he had lost his seat in the Reichstag and his sovereign rights and moved his property to Swabia. Anton Egon therefore moved to Vienna to regain the favor of the emperor and was able to achieve his full restitution in 1679 with the support of several electors in the Peace of Nijmegen . He then stayed alternately with the Elector of Bavaria, whom his father had already served, in Munich, on his reign in Weitra and in Paris. In 1691, due to a court intrigue directed primarily against his uncle Wilhelm Egon, he again fell out of favor with the emperor and withdrew to his estates. After his renewed reconciliation with the emperor, he got a job with the Hungarian gold mines, where he made the acquaintance of the bishop of Raab Christian August von Sachsen-Zeitz . On his recommendation and that of the Jesuit Francisco Menegatti , the confessor of Leopold I, he was appointed to the Dresden court of Augustus the Strong , as the Catholic party hoped that his presence would strengthen the Catholic religion in Saxony. On December 2nd, 1697 he was appointed governor (governor general) of the Electorate of Saxony for the time of the king's absence in Poland . His princely income of 24,000 guilders as well as an additional 4000 guilders deputate , various payments in kind, a bodyguard including 20 horses and the provision of the Fürstenberg house in Dresden named after him helped him to lead a class-conscious life at court.

As imperial prince, Anton Egon stood above the local nobility and was responsible for the frequent absence of the ruler in court ceremonies. By restricting the estates and eliminating corruption at the court in Dresden, he was supposed to advance absolutism in Saxony on behalf of the king and thereby satisfy his steadily increasing financial needs. After initial success and the establishment of the General Revision Council, which he also chaired personally and with which he wanted to reduce the influence of the estates in government affairs, he had to dissolve it again in 1700 due to considerable pressure from the estates. After this political defeat, Anton Egon largely gave up his absolutist reform efforts and tried to find a compromise with the Saxon landed nobility, led by the von Friesen family , who were able to win him over to their side. Although he tried to protect the interests of the Saxon electoral state, Anton Egon was also significantly involved in several court intrigues. B. When Chancellor Wolf Dietrich von Beichlingen was overthrown in 1703, which is why the historical assessment of his person is still controversial today.

In 1706 he was sent on a secret mission to Vienna to help Emperor Joseph I for an alliance against King Karl XII. of Sweden , who waged war with August the Great . Due to the loss of the Polish royal crown for August in the Altranstädter Peace of the same year , August was limited to Saxony, which meant that Anton Egon could no longer exercise the governorship. After the war continued and the crown was regained in August 1709, Anton Egon was reinstated as governor, but his political influence remained limited. In 1711 he strove to enter the clergy and, with the support of August, tried to get the cardinal's hat , which was refused to him by the Roman Curia. Then, indulging only in his passion for hunting, he retired to his castle in Wermsdorf, where he also died five years later. Since his only son, Hereditary Prince Franz Joseph, had died before him, the Heiligenberg line became extinct with him - the territory and the imperial dignity came to the Mößkirchen line under his cousin Froben Ferdinand . He married his three daughters to the French nobility. Because of his Roman Catholic denomination, he was buried in the St. Marienstern monastery . His heart was buried next to the altar of the castle chapel of Heiligenberg Castle next to the coats of arms of his ancestors .

progeny

Anton Egon married Marie de Ligny (* 1656; † 1711) on January 11, 1677 , daughter of Jean, Marquis de Ligny and Elisabeth Boyer . The marriage had the following four children:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jochen Vötsch: Anton Egon Prince of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, in Saxon biography published by the Institute of Saxon History and Folklore eV, online edition: http://www.isgv.de/saebi (2005)

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Hermann Egon Prince of Fürstenberg
1674 - 1716 		Froben Ferdinand
personal data
SURNAME Anton Egon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anton Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Imperial Prince and Prince Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg and Governor of the Electorate of Saxony
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1656
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1716
Place of death Old hunting lodge Wermsdorf , Wermsdorf