Lamoral Claudius von Thurn and Taxis

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Count Lamoral Claudius Franz

Lamoral Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis , genealogically also called Lamoral II. Claudius Franz , (baptized February 14, 1621 in Brussels ; † September 13, 1676 in Antwerp ) became postmaster general after reaching the age of majority in 1646 and dissolved his mother , Countess Alexandrine , who until then had been in charge of the Imperial Post Office and the Spanish-Dutch Post. After the imperial approval of the name change in 1650, he called himself von Thurn, Valsassina and Taxis , but shortened the name to Thurn und Taxis , French de la Tour et Tassis . In addition to his mother, he was instrumental in organizing the postal courses for the peace negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster . After the end of the Thirty Years' War he was able to secure the continuation of the Imperial Post through mutual agreements in competition with the competing regional postal agencies, but could not maintain the monopoly position .

Lamoral Claudius Franz was married to Countess Anna Franziska Eugenia von Horn († June 25, 1693) since February 6, 1650 . She was the daughter of Philippe Lamoral von Horn († 1654) Count von Houtekerke and Princess Dorothée Jeanne von Arenberg († 1665).

biography

youth

Lamoral Claudius Franz was the only son of Leonhard II von Taxis and his wife Alexandrine, born in de Rye, Comtesse de Varax. After the unexpected death of his father in 1628, at the age of seven, he was eligible for the office of Spanish-Dutch Postmaster General and Hereditary Postmaster General of the Imperial Postal Service. His mother Alexandrine, who was guardian until he came of age, provided a profound training in postal services and in various languages ​​such as Dutch, Latin, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Work until the Peace of Westphalia

Mail rider of the Imperial Post as ambassador of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648

Lamoral Claudius Franz appeared for the first time after reaching the age of majority (then at the age of 25), even before his official appointment as postmaster general, by means of documents in his own name. One of his first official acts was that on February 27, 1646, he confirmed his cousin Johann Baptista von Taxis as the Augsburg postmaster. After he was on September 11, 1646 by Emperor Ferdinand III. had been confirmed as postmaster general, he officially took over the operation of the imperial imperial post.

At the end of the Thirty Years' War , during the peace negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster, he organized the mail relay between Detmold and Osnabrück, Bückeburg and Osnabrück, set up a postal route from Cologne via Lünen to Münster, operated the postal connection between Münster and Osnabrück and the one from his Mother set up postal rate Cologne - Roermond - Brussels. After the Peace of Westphalia, he arranged for the Dutch postal rate to be shifted back to the traditional route.

Name change

Thurn und Taxis coat of arms

In his first documented document from 1646, following the genealogical research initiated by his mother, he referred to himself as "Lamoral Claudius Francisscus de la Tour", Count of "Tassis" , although the name change was not officially approved by the Emperor until 1650. As a continuation of his mother's preparatory work to improve the status of the family, Lamoral Claudius commissioned another genealogist named Engelbert Flacchio to write a book on the dynastic history of the family in 1647 . However, this book was not published until 1709 under his son and successor Eugen Alexander .

First, on October 6, 1649, King Philip IV of Spain recognized the descent of the Taxis family from the Torriani . Emperor Ferdinand III. allowed the name to be changed on December 24, 1650. Since 1653 the house of Thurn und Taxis had the tower of the della Torre in its coat of arms instead of the imperial eagle , but kept the badger in the heart shield .

Construction activity and property acquisition

Lamoral Claudius Franz endeavored all his life to improve the status and social advancement of the family within the nobility hierarchy, which was also reflected in his building activities. First he had the burial place founded by Franz von Taxis in the Notre Dame du Sablon church in Brussels redesigned in baroque style. The Beaulieu hunting and pleasure palace near Brussels was built around 1660. He also had the palace opposite the Notre Dame du Sablon church converted into a magnificent building. In order to prove that he owned property in line with his status, he acquired the lordship of Braine-le-Château and Haut-Ittre in Hainaut in 1670 from his wife's family , in addition to the existing property in the county of La Roche-en-Ardenne . Despite these efforts, however, it was only his son Eugen Alexander who was elevated to the Spanish and German princes.

Act as postmaster general

On December 2, 1649, Lamoral Claudius received an imperial patent entitling him to set up post offices throughout the Holy Roman Empire . Since the operation of the Imperial Post Office had been considered an inheritance since 1615, he personally campaigned for recognition, also externally. At the Reichstag in Regensburg he tried to advertise the expansion of the postal network under his leadership. He was also present as a feudal bearer in Leopold I's election as emperor .

On February 13, 1664, he concluded a contract with the Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria on the establishment of new postal routes from Munich to Augsburg, Munich - Innsbruck, Munich - Regensburg, Munich - Wels and Munich - Salzburg. He also concluded a contract on February 13, 1672 with the Trier clergyman, Elector Karl Kaspar von der Leyen, on the postal route from Trier to Koblenz.

Due to the outbreak of the Dutch War between France and the United Netherlands , route relocations became necessary again. After 1675, despite letters of protection in kurtrierischen had come to assault the French mercenary space, he obtained an imperial decree that the postal stations should be better protected. He also complained to Louis XIV , but received a negative answer from the French Minister of Post and War, Louvois .

Competition

Lamoral Claudius Franz

Already during the Thirty Years' War and during the peace negotiations in Münster and Osnabrück, the Protestant territorial lords tried to set up an independent postal system in the form of a relay . Although there was the imperial mail shelf announced by Rudolf II in 1597 , the evangelical imperial estates argued that the Austrian Habsburgs also operated an independent court post office, which was recognized in 1615 by his grandfather Lamoral von Taxis . After the Peace of Westphalia, an intensified "process of making state posts independent" began. This was especially true for the Electorate of Brandenburg , the Electorate of Saxony , Hesse-Kassel and Braunschweig-Lüneburg . Lamoral Claudius Franz as general inheritance postmaster tried in vain to counteract this development. At the conference of the evangelical imperial estates in Hildesheim , called in 1658 , a joint action against the claims of the House of Taxis was decided. Lamoral Claudius Franz again referred to the post office shelf in a reply, but finally had to accept the competition after negotiations and lost several postal rates. Nevertheless, he was able to expand the postal network in the Holy Roman Empire and in international postal traffic. At another post-conference in Hildesheim in 1666, the areas of interest were finally delimited.

Lamoral Claudius Franz von Thurn und Taxis supported the organization and the interests of the individual post stations during his tenure and was a tireless letter writer. Thousands of his letter drafts in various languages ​​have been preserved in the Fürst Thurn und Taxis Archive in Regensburg. In addition, he was considered a tough negotiating partner, which is also evident from a letter of complaint from the Brandenburg Elector to the Emperor that "the Graff Taxis are seriously instructed to keep themselves in their place" .

progeny

The following children emerged from the marriage with Anna Franziska Eugenia Countess von Horn :

  • Eugen Alexander (baptized January 11, 1652, † February 21, 1714), successor as postmaster general
  • Inigo Lamoral (baptized November 6, 1653; † October 1, 1713), imperial cavalry general, ∞ with Maria Claudia Franziska Walburg Countess Fugger von Nordendorf
  • Franz Sigismund (born January 30, 1655 - † January 19, 1710), captain general and governor of Liège, ∞ with Anna Hyacinth Countess of Ursel
  • Genoveva Ernestina Maria (baptized November 26, 1657; † 1686), ∞ with Martin Gutierrez Ms de los Rios, captain of the Spanish guard
  • Anton Alexander (baptized July 3, 1662; † June 6, 1683), soldier, killed in front of Neuhäusel

Died in childhood

  • Philipp Leopold (born November 18, 1650 - † June 10, 1657)
  • Son (1656–1656)
  • Isabella Maria (baptized September 3, 1660; † November 1671)
  • Maria Theresa (baptized May 7, 1663; † before October 28, 1673)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dallmeier: Sources II , p. 99.
  2. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 209.
  3. ↑ Simon: The postal course from Rheinhausen to Brussels over the centuries , in: Archive for German Postal History 1/1990 , pp. 19, 22 and 26.
  4. ↑ Dallmeier: Sources II , p. 122.
  5. ↑ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , pp. 207–208.
  6. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 208.
  7. ↑ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , pp. 209–210.
  8. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 208.
  9. ↑ Dallmeier: Sources II , p. 152.
  10. ↑ Dallmeier: Sources II , p. 169.
  11. ↑ Dallmeier: Sources II , p. 175; Gudrun Meyer, in: Jahrbuch 2003, Bernkastel - Wittlich district , ISBN 3-924182-42-6 , p. 97ff.
  12. ↑ vaille: Histoire Generale des Postes Françaises , Volume IV, p 379th
  13. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 96.
  14. ↑ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , pp. 95–98.
  15. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 97.
  16. ^ Behringer: Thurn and Taxis , p. 209.
  17. ^ Behringer: Thurn und Taxis , p. 97, letter from Friedrich Wilhelm to Kaiser Leopold I, 1661.

literature

  • Wolfgang Behringer : Thurn and Taxis . Piper, Munich / Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-492-03336-9
  • Martin Dallmeier: Sources for the history of the European postal system 1501-1806, Part I, Sources - Literature - Introduction . Publishing house Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1977
  • Martin Dallmeier: Sources on the history of the European postal system 1501-1806, part II, document registers . Publishing house Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1977
  • Martin Dallmeier, in: De post van Thurn and Taxis, La Poste des Tour et Tassis 1489 - 1794 . Brussels 1982
  • Josef Rübsam:  Taxis, Lamoral Claudius Franz Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, pp. 510-513.
  • Ernst-Otto Simon: The postal course from Rheinhausen to Brussels over the centuries , in: Archive for German Postal History 1/1990, pp. 14–41.
  • Eugène Vailé: Histoire genérale des postes françaises , Tome IV. Presses universitaires de France, Paris 1951
  • European family tables . Volume V, Thurn and Taxis, plate 129

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Alexandrine of Taxis Postmaster General
1646 - 1676 		Eugen Alexander von Thurn and Taxis
personal data
SURNAME Thurn and Taxis, Lamoral Claudius von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Taxis, Lamoral II. Claudius Franz von; Thurn and Taxis, Lamoral II. Claudius Franz von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Postmaster General and Count
DATE OF BIRTH baptized February 14, 1621
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels , Spanish Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1676
Place of death Antwerp , Spanish Netherlands