Johann von Rottal

Johann von Rottal

Johann Anton Freiherr von Rottal , from 1641 Count von Rottal ( Czech Jan hrabě z Rottalu ; * 1605 , † December 4, 1674 in Vienna ) from the Rottal dynasty was one of the most powerful nobles in Moravia . At the beginning of 1644 he put down the Wallachian uprising with the imperial general Johann Christoph von Buchheim.

Life

He was the son of the landlord Johann Jacob von Rottal, who immigrated to Moravia from Styria in 1611, and Maria Felicia Thurzo von Bethlenfalva.

During the Thirty Years' War the Catholic Rottal acquired large estates in Moravia. After the representative of the Moravian Protestants, Georg von Würben and Freudenthal , died in custody under unexplained circumstances after the Battle of the White Mountain , Johann Anton von Rottal sought the favor of his widow Alina and advocated the repurchase of the goods Georg von seized by the emperor Würbens a. After marrying Alina, Johann Anton von Rottal bought the Würben estates from his wife in 1626, thus laying the foundation for his rise to one of the largest landowners in Moravia.

Rottal gained the favor of Ferdinand III through flattery and intrigue . and was made a count in 1641 . After the Swedish general Torstensson withdrew from Moravia in 1643, Rottal reached an agreement on January 14, 1644 in Kremsier with the imperial general Johann Christoph von Buchheim on a military punitive action to suppress the Wallachian uprising . After the Wallachians had been surrounded on three sides by the imperial troops, the decisive battle took place on January 26th and 27th, 1644 near Vsetín , in which the 700 Wallachians under Captain Kovář were defeated by their much superior opponent. Subsequently, Rottal and Buchheim had a bloody criminal court held in Vsetín. The pardoned Wallachians resettled Rottal in the deserted villages of his lords.

In the following years he managed through financial transactions to buy the lordship Holešov and the episcopal estates Kurovice and Třebětice . He bought the Lobkowicz Castle in Holešov, which was burned out and partially destroyed by Swedish troops , from Wenceslaus Eusebius von Lobkowicz and chose it as his new seat. In 1651 he had a new castle built on the square. From here he presented his power and wealth and fulfilled his duties as privy councilor , Moravian governor, chief war commissioner, chairman of the royal tribunal and highest judge in Moravia. Over time he became the richest and most powerful feudal in Moravia.

He was known for harsh judgments and for suppressing revolts in Wallachia . Johann Graf von Rottal used his power to enrich himself, but out of consideration for his high position, his actions were tacitly tolerated. Only after his death did his deeds become public and the emperor issued ordinances to protect the name of the "evil Rottal", as he was popularly known.

He was the owner of the lords of Holešov, Veselí nad Moravou , Chvalkovice na Hané, Tlumačov , Napajedla and Kvasice .

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Rottal, Johann Freiherr von . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 27th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1874, p. 161 ( digitized version ).