Jerome of Colloredo (General)

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Hieronymus Reichsgraf von Colloredo-Waldsee , also Wallsee , (* 1582 ; † July 16, 1638 in Saint Omer ) from the Asquin line of the Colloredo dynasty , was an imperial chamberlain and general of the cavalry .

Origin and family

Hieronymus was the eldest son of the founder of this line, Ludwig Colloredo and the Perla Countess of Polcenigo, who already appeared as chamberlain of the imperial court under the emperors Maximilian II and Rudolf II . He went to Spain with Emperor Rudolf II, when he was still Archduke, and on March 19, 1588, he became part of Prague in the Erbländischen and confirming the descent from those of Wallsee in Friuli with the predicate "von Waldsee" on July 31st Admitted to the status of imperial barons in 1591. In addition to his brother Rudolf, there are two more records, Friedrich († 1586 in London ), the emperor's envoy to Queen Elizabeth I's English court .and Lelius, Imperial Colonel .

Battle of Lützen, 1632

biography

Battle of Liegnitz 1634

Colloredo entered the service of Emperor Rudolf II at an early age, and he was his secret chamberlain. However, since he had a great passion for the arms trade, he devoted himself to it at a young age. He and his brothers Rudolf and Lelius were raised to the rank of imperial count by Ferdinand II on October 26, 1624 .

The count commanded the battle of Lützen on November 6th during the Thirty Years War . / November 16, 1632 greg. in which King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden was killed as a general sergeant in a regiment and was appointed field marshal lieutenant on March 1, 1634 because of the courage and prudence shown there and elsewhere . In this capacity he then led several times the command against Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar and others in Bohemia . Later, the rapid advance of the Saxon general Arnim forced him to retreat with 112 companies of cavalry and four regiments of infantry from Felde to the Liegnitz area, where he awaited Arnim in battle order. The latter attacked him on May 3, 1634 and, after initially wavering victory, finally put him to flight with a significant loss. This defeat drew him the disgrace of Emperor Ferdinand II ; therefore he was sentenced to imprisonment in Ödenburg by a court martial . Colloredo endured his misfortune with unbroken courage and, after he had regained freedom, embarked on new dangerous ventures by taking part in the procession to Burgundy under Gallas . But here, too, his luck with weapons was not favorable to him. He was defeated again on March 17, 1636 in the Battle of Raon an der Meurthe , was taken prisoner by the French and remained in the hands of the victors for a while.

Having become free and promoted to general of the cavalry, Colloredo and a corps of cavalry went to the aid of the French besieged Saint Omer and horrified it. However, when he wanted to reap the fruits of his victory, a pistol shot put an end to his unfortunate but at least glorious career.

The general left behind the only son of this line, Feldzeugmeister Ludwig († December 28, 1693), who did not reproduce the family, but only had one daughter, Maria Antonia, wife of the Prince of Montecuccoli . The latter died without descendants and, in a will of January 5, 1735, made Count Camillo, son of Johann Baptist Colloredo from the line of Bernhard, a universal heir. The Asquin branch was extinct in the male line.

Coat of arms of Counts Colloredo of the Asquino and Bernhard lines, 1624

coat of arms

1624: In the black shield there is a silver crossbeam with the imperial eagle in the middle. Three crowned helmets tremble over the count's crown. A black wild boar leaping out of the right helmet grows up with its tongue turned inwards. The middle helmet wears a right-turning, closed eagle's flight, which is covered with a silver crossbar and the left helmet a growing youth in a long white dress with a forehead band, alternately plaited by white and red ribbons, the ends of which fly outwards, and a red waist band . Half of his arms are bare and the youth holds three arrows in a cross in his right hand and an upright golden bow in his left. The helmet covers are black and silver.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Carl Eduard Vehse; “History of the German courts since the Reformation”, Volume 42, Verlag Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1858, p. 201 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c G. B. von Grollanza: “The noble family of the Waldsee-Mels and especially the Counts of Colloredo”, Imperial and Royal Hofbuchhandlung Wilhelm Frick, Vienna 1889, p. 165
  3. ^ Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial Generals (1618-1815), Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006, p. 21
  4. ↑ CA Schweigerd; “Austria's heroes and military leaders: from Maximilian I to the present day”, Volume 2, printed and published by the publishing company, Grimma 1853, p. 61
  5. ↑ Gaston Bodart (Ed.): "Militär-Historisches Kriegs-Lexikon, (1618-1905)", Verlag CW Stern, Vienna and Leipzig 1908, p. 899
  6. ^ German Encyclopedia: a new universal dictionary for all areas of knowledge, Volume 3, Verlag von Wiegandt & Grieben, Berlin 1889, p. 843
  7. ↑ GB von Grollanza: "The noble family of Waldsee-Mels and in particular the Counts of Colloredo", Imperial and Royal Hofbuchhandlung Wilhelm Frick, Vienna 1889, p. 143
  8. ^ Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 4, Verlag FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1908, p. 371.
  9. ↑ GB von Grollanza: "The noble family of Waldsee-Mels and especially the Counts of Colloredo", Imperial and Royal Hofbuchhandlung Wilhelm Frick, Vienna 1889, p. 257 f.
personal data
SURNAME Colloredo, Hieronymus of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Colloredo-Waldsee, Hieronymus von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Imperial and Royal Chamberlain from the Asquin line
DATE OF BIRTH 1582
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1638
Place of death Saint Omer