Johann Wenzel Wratislaw von Mitrowitz

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Johann Wenzel Count Wratislaw
Epitaph in the Church of St. James in Prague's Old Town

Johann Wenzel Count Wratislaw von Mitrowitz (born November 25, 1669 in Prague , † December 21, 1712 in Vienna ) was a diplomat and Supreme Chancellor in the Kingdom of Bohemia.

origin

Johann Wenzel Count Wratislaw von Mitrowitz, Lord of Jines, Dirna and Zalsy, came from the so-called Protivin line (founded by Georg Wratislaw von Mitrowitz) of the Bohemian noble family Wratislaw von Mitrowitz . He was a son of Franz Christoph Wratislaw von Mitrowitz, married to Elisabeth Countess von Waldstein .

biography

Johann Wenzel became a lawyer and went on an educational trip through Europe . He was supported by his uncle, Count Franz Ulrich Kinsky , 1695 Member of the Austrian Chancellery , was Imperial Privy Councilor, Colonel county judge, later Lord Chamberlain, in the Kingdom of Bohemia, 1699 imperial extraordinary ambassador to the royal court of England in London , 1707 likewise the royal special mission Polish Court and at the royal Swedish court and in The Hague , where he helped to bring about the alliance against France . He signed the Hague Grand Alliance on September 7, 1701 , after proving himself to be a realist in previous negotiations , who realized that Austria could not get the entire Spanish inheritance. At this time he became the foreign policy partner, advisor and friend of the general Prince Eugene of Savoy , with whom he coordinated his actions in the future. He supported this before the second battle at Höchstädt by moving the English general John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough to move to southern Germany, and then helped to coordinate the actions of the two generals. After Bavaria was conquered , it was not he, but Count Löwenstein , who was more popular at the court, who was appointed governor .

When the Austrian Emperor Leopold I died in 1705, Wratislaw was appointed Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia and his foreign policy advisor by Emperor Joseph I. He found a competitor in the former tutor of Joseph, Chief Steward Karl Theodor Otto zu Salm , who tried to put obstacles in his way.

In the period that followed, Wratislaw advised Prince Eugene of Savoy against assuming supreme command on the Spanish front because, in his opinion, Italy and Austria, but not Spain and Austria, could be governed together and thus a military action, even if it were successful, would make little sense there. After the death of Emperor Joseph I, Wratislaw became a minister on the advisory board of the regent Eleonore Magdalene von Pfalz-Neuburg . He moved the emperor's brother, Charles VI. (HRR) , on returning from Catalonia . This confirmed Wratislaw in his offices and so he remained in Vienna in the following period .

End of life and epitaph in Prague

On December 21, 1712 Johann Wenzel Wratislaw von Mitrowitz died as Supreme Chancellor of Bohemia from heart failure in Vienna. In the St. James' Church in Prague's old town with the mendicant monks of the Reformed Franciscans, the Minorites , an impressive epitaph was built for him by Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff based on a design by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach ; a dramatic display of life, power and time, all of which lead to death. At the feet of Count Jan Vratislav von Mitrowitz there is a representation of the god Chronos .

literature
personal data
SURNAME Wratislaw von Mitrowitz, Johann Wenzel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wratislaw von Mitrowitz, Johann Wenzel Graf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian chancellor and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1669
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1712
Place of death Vienna