Georg Popel von Lobkowicz

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Funerary inscription in Loket

Georg Popel von Lobkowicz ( Czech. Jiří Popel z Lobkovic ; * around 1551; † May 28, 1607 in Elbogen ) was a Bohemian nobleman of the Counter Reformation and one of the highest court officials of Rudolf II. After he had rebelled against the emperor in 1593, he became Removed from office and spent the rest of his life in custody.

Origin and life

Georg Popel von Lobkowicz was a son of Johann Popel von Lobkowitz - born 1490, died 1569 in Libochovice near Raudnitz an der Elbe - who, after training with the order of the Jesuits in Prague, Bologna and Perugia, served in imperial service from 1570 to 1589 Spain stood and was the President of Appeal in 1592, Chief Chamberlain in 1599, and Count Burggrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1603 to 1608.

Georg Popel, a member of the old north Bohemian family von Lobkowitz, began his career at the court of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol , uncle of Emperor Rudolf II. Georg Popel soon moved to the imperial court, where he was chief judge from 1582 to 1584 and chief court master from 1585 to 1594 of Bohemia, and thus held the second highest office in the country, was the founder of the College of the Order of the Jesuits in Komotau ( Chomutov ) in 1591 and emphatically promoted the re-Catholicization in Bohemia. As a politician, he represented the interests of the radical and ruthless Catholic rulers and was initially particularly favored by Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg (1552–1612) and was also praised by Pope Clement III in his efforts . (Pope) (1536–1605), who supported him in the re-Catholicization. This found less and less favor with Emperor Rudolf II, who in 1583, tolerant of religious matters, protected the rights of the supporters of the Reformation in Bohemia as King of Bohemia . When, after the death of Wilhelm von Rosenberg in 1592, the highest office in Bohemia, that of the Oberstburggrave, had to be filled, Georg Popel was passed over.

Georg Popel is said to have indignantly staged an intrigue against the emperor in the parliament in Prague in 1593 and, as chairman of the assembly, put items on the agenda that were directed against the emperor. The national assembly finally split up again without dealing with any imperial petitions. Because of this advocacy for the abolition of national complaints against the emperor, he was arrested, banished from Prague and his property expropriated. His daughter Eva Eusebia, who died in Prague on August 11, 1624, wrote an unsuccessful defense letter to the emperor in 1606.

Even before a court hearing could take place, Ladislaus Popel von Lobkowitz fled Bohemia, but was sentenced to death and loss of property. In 1594 Georg Popel von Lobkowitz was also accused of treason and lese majesty . He announced that he would accept every sentence of the emperor, and so he was sentenced to death by Rudolf II without a public trial. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Georg Popel von Lobkowitz was imprisoned in Líčkov Castle , later in Glatz and finally in Loket Castle in western Bohemia , where he died on May 23, 1607, presumably of heart failure.

literature
personal data
SURNAME Popel von Lobkowicz, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Popel z Lobkovic, Jiří
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech nobleman and court official
DATE OF BIRTH around 1551
DATE OF DEATH May 28, 1607
Place of death Elbow