Franz Sigismund of Thun and Hohenstein

Coat of arms of the Counts of Thun and Hohenstein

Franz Sigismund Graf von Thun and Hohenstein (born September 1, 1639 in Prague ; † May 3, 1702 in Livorno ) was a knight of the Order of St. John / Maltese, papal envoy, captain general of the order's galleys and commander of the Coming Groebnig in Silesia.

Life and career

He was born on September 1, 1639 in Prague as the son of Johann Sigismund (1594–1646) and Margaretha Anna Countess von Öttingen-Baldern. The father Johann Sigismund was royal chamberlain, privy councilor and governor of the king in Bohemia.

Two of Franz Sigismund's brothers also became clergy. The brother Guidobald was Archbishop of Salzburg from 1654 to 1668 and also Bishop of Regensburg from 1666 to 1668. The second brother Johann Ernst (1643–1709) was first canon in Salzburg, in 1663 canon in Passau, 1679 (until 1687) Bishop of Seckau and finally in 1687 (until his death in 1709) Prince Archbishop of Salzburg .

Franz (also Franziskus) Sigismund entered the order in 1656. On November 4, 1662 he was already captain of the San Martina order galley. In 1684 he was papal envoy in the negotiations that eventually led to the formation of the Holy League (initially the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Poland-Lithuania and the Republic of Venice) against the Turks who shortly before besieged Vienna. In 1686 he personally brought the message of the conquest of Oven (Buda) to the Pope by the Holy League. On August 7, 1693 he was appointed captain general of the order's fleet for two years, and in 1695 for another two years. The order fleet united with the Venetian fleet and together they conquered the island of Chios on September 8, 1694 . The island was soon reoccupied by the Ottomans. In the following two years there were further skirmishes, but they brought no decision.

Grave slab of Franz Sigismund Graf von Thun (left) in St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta

As early as 1684 he had been awarded the Kommende Gröbnig in Silesia, which he took up on May 1, 1686. The coming ones were, however, still completely devastated by the Thirty Years' War , the subjects completely in debt. After taking office, he bought the debt claims on his subjects from the creditors, forgave them the greater part of the debts and set generous repayment periods for the remaining part. After only six years, all the places were built up again. He had the half-ruined building on the coming years and the mills, dams and ponds belonging to the coming house repaired. He also built a distillery, built two new ice pits and four new brewery cellars. In the spring of 1700 he had the dilapidated village church in Gröbnig torn down down to the tower and rebuilt. In 1701 the new building of the higher floors of the tower followed. When he returned to Malta in 1693, he handed the estate over to his brother Romedius Constantin's administration.

Franz Sigismund Graf von Thun died on May 3, 1702 in a hospital in Livorno . He is buried in the Capuchin Church (Church of the Most Holy Trinity) in Livorno. His brother Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst von Salzburg had an elaborate tombstone made for him in St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta . He also had a marble tomb erected in the Capuchin Church in Livorno.

literature

• Joseph A. Ebe: Tombs of German knights of the Order of St. John / Maltese in St. John's Church in Valletta on Malta. Melitensia, Paderborn, 1987 ISBN 3-9801071-2-4 , pp. 28-35.