Hannibal von Degenfeld

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Hannibal Freiherr von Degenfeld (* 1648 ; † October 12, 1691 in Nauplia ) was a military leader in the Venetian service.

Life

Hannibal was the youngest son of the well-known general Christoph Martin von Degenfeld and the brother of the Raugräfin Marie Luise . He became a soldier like his father and his brothers and received his first military training in the small army of Elector Johann Georg III. of Saxony , which at that time had a reputation for being particularly warlike. From 1674 to 1677 he was a colonel and in command of a foot regiment.

As was customary at the time, the higher commanders changed masters depending on the circumstances, the faster promotion or the opportunity for distinction. So Hannibal von Degenfeld left the Electoral Saxon army and entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria, who appointed him Lieutenant Field Marshal and President of the Court War Council in 1682.

In the following year he commanded the 12,000 auxiliary troops against the Ottomans under the youthful Max Emanuel and distinguished himself to a high degree in the relief of Vienna . After the campaign was over with the capture of Gran and the Bavarian troops moved home, Degenfeld followed a request from the Republic of Venice , in whose service his father had already been, and took over command of the intended campaign against the Ottomans in the Peloponnese certain landing forces. Above him stood the later Doge Morosini as captain general and commander of the armed forces on water and on land.

In 1685 Degenfeld arrived in the Peloponnese (historically: Morea ), conquered the port city of Koron after a 49-day siege and then defeated the Ottoman army under the kapudan paşa near Kalamata with his army of 8,000 men, mostly German, mainly Saxon auxiliary troops so bad that it ceased hostilities for that year.

Because of ongoing quarrels with Morosini, Degenfeld took his leave the following year. Otto Wilhelm Graf von Königsmarck took his place . However, when Morosini became Doge of Venice and his successor Cornaro as well as von Königsmarck had died of the plague , and the French successor Gadagne was not up to the task, von Degenfeld was remembered and in 1691 he was appointed captain general against the Ottomans .

On August 3rd he left Venice with new troops and arrived in Nauplia on September 4th. But on October 12, 1691, he too fell victim to the fever. The dismay over his death is said to have been so great in Venice that one would gladly have decided on peace under reasonably acceptable conditions.

family

He was married to Anna Marie von Gersdorf . The couple had a daughter Antonia, who married a Johann Wilhelm von Hacke .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Carl König, Selecta iuris publici novissima , digitized
personal data
SURNAME Degenfeld, Hannibal von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Degenfeld, Hannibal Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swabian military leader in Venetian service
DATE OF BIRTH 1648
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 1691
Place of death Nauplia