Antoniotto Botta Adorno

Antoniotto Botta Adorno

Antoniotto Botta Adorno (also Anton Botta d'Adorno) (German: Anton Otto Marquis Botta-Adorno ) (* 1688 in Pavia ; † December 30, 1774 in Pavia) was an Italian nobleman in the imperial service of the Austrian Habsburgs. He was a high officer, most recently with the rank of field marshal . He was also a diplomat and Minister Plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands , Imperial Representative in Italy (plenipotentiary) and administrator of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany .

Life

Early years

He came from a Genoese noble family. Some of his ancestors were doges of the city. He was the son of the poet Alexander Botta-Adorno, who had to flee Genoa. He entered the Order of Malta early . There he served until 1709. After that, in 1711 he accompanied the Austrian ambassador Carlo Stampa to Portugal for training purposes. Thanks to the intercession of Eugene of Savoy , he was given a position as captain in the imperial army at a young age. In 1717 he acquired the post of Colonel Guard in the Marulli Regiment through purchase. In addition, he was used for diplomatic tasks. In 1719 he led the negotiations for the surrender of the Aeolian Islands . Later he was promoted to colonel in his regiment. In 1733 he was sent to the Bavarian court to find out the elector's political goals. He was promoted to major general in 1734 and a year later to field marshal lieutenant. In the Russo-Austrian Turkish War he distinguished himself above all in the battle of Kornja. During the war he met the later Emperor Franz Stephan of Lorraine , whose close confidante he became. In 1739 he became the owner of a regiment (later No. 12 ).

ambassador

He became ambassador to Saint Petersburg , but asked for his recall because of the intrigues at court. Instead he was sent to Berlin. There he should also observe the military preparations of Frederick II . He warned Vienna of a possible attack in Silesia. Franz I. Stephan entrusted Botta-Adorno once again with unsuccessful secret negotiations to prevent a war. After the beginning of the war he moved to St. Petersburg as envoy. There he ensured a temporarily better relationship between the two courts. Intrigue forced him to return. The new Empress Elisabeth is said to have come to the conclusion that Botta-Adorno would try to win her in favor of Ivan VI. discontinue. The Viennese court refused to give a punishment for lack of evidence. The affair worsened relations between Vienna and St. Petersburg.

Military commander

After his rehabilitation he was appointed Feldzeugmeister. In the battle of Piacenza, which was victorious for the Imperialists on June 16, 1746, he commanded the right wing. When the previous Commander-in-Chief Josef Wenzel von Liechtenstein had to relinquish command for health reasons, Botta-Adorno took over. Together with Karl Emanuel III. of Sardinia he was victorious on August 10, 1746 in the battle of Rottofreno . He then occupied Genoa. A rebellion broke out against his occupation and the high contributions he had paid with harshness, which forced him to retreat to Parma . Thereupon he lost command.

Minister in the Netherlands

It was not until 1749 that he was given a new task as the authorized minister in the Austrian Netherlands and as chief steward to the governor- general Karl Alexander von Lorraine . As a confidante of the emperor, Botta-Adorno also implemented his guidelines and those of Maria Theresa in the Netherlands. He worked closely with the governor general. It is thanks to this work that the Austrian Netherlands experienced a considerable boom after the war years. Ministers and governors promoted trade and industry, improved transport infrastructure and attracted artists to the court in Brussels. Botta-Adorno's position was complicated. While his predecessors had ruled the country largely independently as authorized ministers, he himself was subordinate to the governor-general, while at the same time he should make sure that Charles of Lorraine did not exceed his powers.

Imperial representative in Italy

At the beginning of the Seven Years' War he was appointed field marshal. In 1753 he became a representative in the rank of authorized minister or as a plenipotentiary of imperial interests in imperial Italy. He did not succeed against the resistance of the Reichshofrat to make the plenipotency to a proper court for the imperial fiefs in Italy.

From 1757 he also administered the government of Tuscany for Franz I Stephan. He resided in the Palazzo della Crocetta in Florence. As in his predecessors, the population saw him as a foreigner. However, he managed a less conflictual reign. The administration also worked better in his day than before. Tuscany remained neutral during the Seven Years' War. Botta-Adorno tried to marry Princess Isabella of Bourbon-Parma with the Austrian heir to the throne Josef I with the aim of strengthening relations between the Bourbons and Habsburgs. In contrast to the time before the beginning of his reign, when numerous Lorraine residents had taken on leading positions, Botta-Adorno relied on well-trained local lawyers. He kept the administration of Tuscany until the arrival of Grand Duke Leopold in 1765. He himself remained in Tuscany until 1766.

literature

• Eulogy by Abbot Michel Angelo Vechiotti of Novara in memory of Marchese Antoniotto Botta-Adorno . In: Archive for modern history, geography, knowledge of nature and people. Part 2. Leipzig, 1785 digitized.
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Botta-Adorno, Anton Otto Marquis . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 2nd part. Publishing house of the typographic-literary-artistic establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1857, p. 91 ( digitized version ).
• Oscar Criste:  Botta d'Adorno, Anton Otto . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 47, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1903, pp. 139-141.
• Adam Wandruszka :  Botta Adorno, Antonio. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 13:  Borremans – Brancazolo. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1971.

Web links

Commons : Antoniotto Botta Adorno  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wurzbach, ADB and DBI agree that Pavia was the place of birth.
2. ↑ Eulogy, p. 8.
3. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 231.
4. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 232.
5. ^ René Hanke: Brühl and the Renversement des alliances. Münster, 2006 p. 54.
6. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 89.
7. ↑ Renate Zedinger: The administration of the Austrian Netherlands in Vienna (1714-1795) Vienna, 2000 S. 71st
8. ↑ Renate Zedinger: The administration of the Austrian Netherlands in Vienna (1714-1795) Vienna, 2000 S. 151st
9. ^ Matthias Schnettger: Cooperation and Conflict. The Reichshofrat and the Imperial Plenipotence in Italy. In: Anja Amend (among others): (Ed.): Judicial landscape in the Old Kingdom. Cologne, 2007 p. 144.
10. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 156.
11. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 163.
12. ↑ Renate Zedinger: Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708-1765). Vienna, 2008 p. 168.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Franz Heinrich Carl von Ostein	Austrian envoy in Saint Petersburg 1738–1742	Nikolaus von Hochholzer
Heinrich von Richecourt	Austrian envoy in Berlin 1743–1743	Philipp Joseph von Orsini-Rosenberg
vacant	Austrian envoy in Florence 1758–1765	vacant