Johann Baptist Verda von Verdenberg
Johann Baptist Verda , from 1623 Baron von Verdenberg , also Werdenberg , from 1630 Count von Werdenberg zu Namiest , (* around 1582 ; † November 15, 1648 in Vienna ) was the first court chancellor for Upper and Lower Austria , diplomat and close confidante of Ferdinand II.
Life
The probably middle-class Verda family, not to be confused with the artist family of the same name, came from Como . The father, a lawyer, settled in Gorizia after his marriage . Johann Baptist attended the Jesuit College in Graz with his brother for school education . There he also began to study philosophy, before studying law in Pavia from 1603 . He finished his studies as a doctor of law. From 1607 he worked for Ferdinand II's court in Inner Austria . He worked in the area of the court chamber and was promoted to procurator there.
When Ferdinand moved to Vienna as Emperor, Verda and numerous other trusted employees followed him. Verda was appointed Privy Councilor and the first Austrian court chancellor. This new office should form the basis for an administration of the sovereign that was independent of the estates. Verda clad it since 1619 or 1620. He was instrumental in drafting the absolutistically oriented Renewed State Order for Bohemia .
During the Thirty Years' War he was one of the so-called "Friedland" court party, which was associated with Wallenstein . Probably because of this proximity, he and Gerhard von Questenberg were the liaison between the Emperor and Wallenstein at the time of the Regensburg Electoral Congress in 1630 and negotiated with him about certain concessions in order not to have to dismiss Wallenstein as requested by the electors. However, the latter stuck to their demand and Verda had to hand over the letter of deposition to the general. He later negotiated with him about the conditions for taking over the generalate again. In the course of the intrigues against Wallenstein, which ultimately led to his murder, Verda changed fronts and branded him a traitor and rebel in front of the estates in Lower Austria.
He was heavily involved in the negotiations with Johann Georg I of Saxony , which finally led to the Peace of Prague in 1636 . In 1636 he was entrusted with an unsuccessful diplomatic mission to England. He was one of the few confidants who were admitted to the death camp of Ferdinand II in 1637. After Ferdinand's death, he resigned his post as court chancellor, but remained a secret council. From 1646 he no longer took part in the meetings of the Privy Council, but withdrew to his estates in Bohemia.
Verda used his connections to acquire numerous goods and rulers and benefited, among other things, from the confiscation of possessions of former supporters of the Bohemian uprising . In some cases, he had the mansions of his estates rebuilt in the style of the time, such as Grafenegg Castle . In Vienna he owned a palace on the site of the Schwarzenberg Palace on the Neuer Markt. From Wallenstein he acquired the Namiest Castle with the associated lordship.
As the landlord, he belonged to numerous meetings of the estates in Gorizia, where he had been hereditary master stalls since 1626, in Styria , Lower Austria , Carniola , Moravia , Carinthia and Upper Austria . In 1623 he was made baron von Verdenberg. From 1629 he was the imperial chamberlain. Ferdinand II elevated Namiest to a county in 1630. The coat of arms awarded to him carried the church flag of the old noble Earl's House of Werdenberg , which went out in 1534, in the heart shield , although he had nothing to do with it.
In the Michaelskirche in Vienna he had a burial place built in the baroque style. He generously sponsored the order of the Barnabites , who also held St. Michael's Church in his day. He had the north choir of Michael’s Church redesigned at his own expense. He also acted as a benefactor elsewhere. The Capuchin monastery in Mödling , which is now used as a district museum , a church and a hospital in Straß im Straßertale and a church in Namiest can be traced back to him. In Gorizia he founded a seminar for impoverished aristocratic young people.
He left three volumes with handwritten notes from the period between 1602 and 1647. He appears as a figure in Schiller's play Wallenstein .
The descendants of Johann Baptist Verda von Verdenberg continued with the Counts of Werdenberg zu Namiest into the 18th century. After this line was extinguished in the male line, the princes Lichnowsky obtained the name and coat of arms association with the Werdenbergs through an Austrian diploma in 1846 and have since called themselves "Prince Lichnowsky, Count von Werdenberg, Noble Lord von Woschtitz".
family
In 1614 he married Maria Katharina von Coronini zu Cronberg († 1660). The marriage had four children, three of whom survived the father:
- Anna Camilla (1620–1665) ∞ Adrian von Enkevort (1603–1663)
- Eleonore Catharina (* 1630) ∞ Count Peter von Ugarte (1625–1679) (son of the city commandant of Vienna)
- Maria Cäcilia ∞ Count Johann Christoph von Herberstein
- Luzia Petronilla
- Johann Ferdinand (* 1615; † March 27, 1666) ∞ Catharina Elisabeth von Herberstein (daughter of Johann Christoph)
Emperor Ferdinand II and his wife were godparents for Verda's son in 1615.
The acquisitions Verden Mountain, Castle Namiest in Bohemia and the Lower Austrian goods Grafenegg , Schloss Seebarn in Grafenwörth and Castle Schoenberg , came later in the inheritance to the Counts of Enckevort .
literature
- Harald Tesch: Austrian personal reports of the late Middle Ages and early modern times 1400–1650. Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-205-98851-5 , pp. 634-635.
- Klaus Conermann (Ed.): Martin Opitz: Correspondence and life testimonies. Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-017907-1 , pp. 1346f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Not to be confused with the older aristocratic Werdenberg family, who died out : The Verda then also carried the church flag
- ↑ geneall.net
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Verda von Verdenberg, Johann Baptist |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Verda, Johann Baptist |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian court chancellor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1582 |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 15, 1648 |
| Place of death | Vienna |