Gundaker of Liechtenstein

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Gundaker of Liechtenstein (1580–1658)

Gundaker von Liechtenstein (since 1623 prince ) (born January 30, 1580 at Lednice Castle ; † August 5, 1658 at Wilfersdorf Castle ) was a member of the House of Liechtenstein and as such ruled over large estates. He was also in the Habsburg service.

biography

family

He was the youngest son of Hartmann II. Von Liechtenstein- Feldsberg (1544–1585) and his wife Anna Maria von Ortenburg (1547–1601), granddaughter of Count Ulrich II. Von Ortenburg . His brothers were Karl and Maximilian . He received a thorough education.

He himself was married twice. In the first marriage he married Agnes von Ostfriesland and in the second marriage Elisabeth von Teschen . Both marriages resulted in four surviving descendants. He was the founder of the so-called Gundaker line of the House of Liechtenstein. The brothers signed a family contract in 1606, which provided that the firstborn of the oldest line is head of the house.

In the Habsburg service

The father was a Lutheran and raised his children in this way. At the beginning of the 17th century, he and his brothers converted to Catholicism. About it he wrote a justification "Causes of motivation, so have moved me to adopt the Catholic faith."

This made his advancement at the imperial court easier. He served at the court of Matthias , Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III. In 1599 he entered the court service as a chamberlain. In the following years he accompanied Archduke Matthias on military expeditions to Hungary and was present at the siege of Ofen. In 1606 he served several times as envoy and in 1608 accompanied Matthias on his journey to Bohemia against Rudolf II. In 1606 he became a councilor at the court chamber . He took over its management in 1613. As early as 1608 he seems to have held the position as a substitute. He was also a councilor in the Lower Austrian Chamber. Between 1614 and 1617 he held various posts. He was Governor in Upper Austria, Land Marshal in Lower Austria, High Court Master of Archduke Johann Karl and High Court Master of the wife of Emperor Matthias Anna of Austria-Tyrol .

His actual political ascent took place at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. In 1618 he took over an embassy to the estates of Silesia . Its task was to prevent Silesia from joining the Bohemian Uprising . This attempt failed. Then at the beginning of 1619 he undertook a legation trip to various princes, electors and bishops to officially announce the death of Emperor Matthias. The Bohemian uprising was also an issue. Secret instructions for talks with Duke Maximilian of Bavaria and other Catholic princes provided for negotiations on military support for the Catholic League in the upcoming war. In the same year he undertook a second legation trip to the spiritual electors in preparation for the election of Ferdinand II as emperor. He also made a courtesy trip to Elector Friedrich von der Pfalz , although it was already known in Vienna that he was about to take on an important role in the Bohemian uprising. Liechtenstein was present at the election of the emperor and then accompanied Ferdinand. After further embassies, he negotiated with the Austrian estates about their behavior towards the rebels. There was no break with the Bohemians. After the imperial victory, he was commissioned to punish the supporters of the uprising in Upper Austria.

From 1621 he was a secret council (close political advisor to the emperor). Especially in the period before 1626 he was influential as the leading head of the secret council. From 1625 he was chief steward. He was ousted by Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg . He was a supporter of Wallenstein and head of the "Spanish" party at court. Liechtenstein has been an opponent of Wallenstein since then.

He wrote various reports and wrote two prince mirrors . He proposed the establishment of a knight academy and pleaded for a reform of the administration. He also demanded that the state should promote the economy in the spirit of early mercantilism in order to increase income. In doing so, he evidently received Giovanni Botero and other contemporary state theorists. In addition to his official writings, he also published a work on the bridling of horses.

In 1623 he was raised to the hereditary imperial prince status.

Counter-reformation

His worldview was anti-Machiavellian and shaped by counter-Reformation Catholicism . He made numerous foundations for churches and monasteries and enforced Catholicism on his estates. A tiered surveillance apparatus was set up on the properties for control purposes. In this way he was able to oust Protestantism, especially in parts of eastern Moravia, even against resistance.

Possessions

When the inheritance was divided up after his father's death in 1598, he was given the lords of Wilfersdorf and Ringelsdorf. In 1601 he issued an order for his subjects. His economic situation was so good that, like his brother, he was able to give loans to the state.

Like his two brothers, he was able to contribute to the expansion of the family estate. Like other Catholic nobles loyal to the emperor, he benefited from the expropriation of the supporters of the Bohemian uprising after 1619. He received the Ostroh rule as a gift from Ferdinand II in gratitude for services rendered. He acquired other dominions in Ostrau such as Kromau around 1622. The purchase was probably made with bad coins. Instead of the 540,000 guilders paid, the actual value of the money was less than 70,000 guilders. The value of the possessions was over a million guilders. In 1633 he achieved that the dominions Kromau and Ostroh were elevated to the Principality of Liechtenstein with residence in the city ​​of Liechtenstein (Kromau); however, the name of this titular principality was only used until 1646.

However, further attempts to increase ownership have failed. Through his first wife Agnes he was able to lay claim to the county of Rietberg . He lost to Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz in a long legal battle . The acquisition of the Duchy of Teschen did not succeed either. He had tried in vain to put pressure on his wife as the sovereign of Teschen. She withdrew to Silesia and let her husband know that if he was interested in continuing the marriage, he would have to come to Teschen. The property fell back to the Bohemian Crown as a settled fief.

Wilfersdorf was his preferred abode. He therefore had Wilfersdorf Castle converted into a moated castle.

progeny

Gundaker von Lichtenstein was married twice. He married Countess Agnes von Ostfriesland in 1603 (born January 1, 1584, † February 28, 1616). The couple had the following children:

  • Juliana (1605–1658) ⚭ 1636 Count Nikolaus Fugger von Nordendorf (1596–1676)
  • Elisabeth (1606–1630)
  • Maximiliana Constanza (January 3, 1608; † 1642) ⚭ 1630 Count Matthias von Thurn and Valsassina
  • Caesar, (1609-1610)
  • Johanna (1611-1611)
  • Hartmann von Liechtenstein , 2nd Prince of Liechtenstein (February 9, 1613; † February 11, 1686) ⚭ October 27, 1640 Sidonie Elisabeth zu Salm-Reifferscheidt (* September 6, 1623; † September 23, 1688)

From the second marriage (⚭ 1618) to Elisabeth Lukretia von Teschen (* June 1, 1599; † May 19, 1653) the following children were born:

  • Maria Anna (* 13 August 1621; † 1655) ⚭ 1652 Wilhelm Heinrich Schlik, Count of Passaun and Weisskirchen († 1652)
  • Ferdinand Johann (1622–1666) ⚭ Countess Dorothea Anna von Lodron (1619–1666), widow of Matthias Gallas
  • Albert (1625–1627) (?)
  • Anna (1625–1654) (?)

literature

  • Franz Christoph Khevenhüller (Count of Frankenburg): Conterfet Kupfferstich: (as much as one can get) de those noble ministries and high officers, so from Kyser's Ferdinand the other's birth, bit to the same spiritual league continué and successivè your Kayserl. Your majesty served, second part. 1722, Volume 2, p. 16. (digitized version)
  • Constantin von Wurzbach : Liechtenstein, Gundaker . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1866, p. 124 ( digitized version ).
  • Jacob von Falke: History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein. Vol. 2, Vienna 1877, pp. 267-300.
  • Thomas Winkelbauer . Prince and prince servant. Gundaker of Liechtenstein. An Austrian aristocrat of the denominational age. Vienna / Munich 1999, ISBN 3-486-64837-3 .
  • Thomas Winkelbauer: Gundaker of Liechtenstein as landlord in Lower Austria and Moravia. Normative sources for the administration and management of a rulership complex and for the regulation of the life of the subjects by a noble landlord and for the organization of the court and the chancellery of a "new prince" in the first half of the 17th century. Vienna 2008.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogical page on Anna Maria von Ortenburg
  2. ^ History of the Liechtenstein House ( Memento of the original dated December 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fuerstenhaus.li
  3. ↑ Joseph V. Polišenský ; Frederick Snider: War and society in Europe, 1618-1648. Cambridge 1978, p. 149.
  4. ^ Thomas Winkelbauer: Manorial rule, social disciplining and denominationalization in Bohemia, Moravia and Austria under the Enns in the 16th and 17th centuries. In: Joachim Bahlcke (Ed.): Confessionalization in East Central Europe: Effects of Religious Change in the 16th and 17th Centuries in State, Society and Culture. Steiner, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-515-07583-6 , p. 327.
  5. ^ Maria Harrer: Gundaker von Liechtenstein. Review by Thomas Winkelbauer. In: Historicum Herbst 99. (digitized version)
  6. ^ Evelin Oberhammer: Mährisch Kromau (rule, Czech Moravský Krumlov). In: Historical Lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein .
  7. ^ Ronald G. Asch: European nobility in the early modern times. Cologne u. a., 2008, p. 103.
personal data
SURNAME Liechtenstein, Gundaker, from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Landowner and court official, 1st Prince of Liechtenstein
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1580
PLACE OF BIRTH Lednice Castle
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1658
Place of death Wilfersdorf Castle