Maximilian of Liechtenstein

Maximilian von Liechtenstein (born November 6, 1578 , † April 29, 1645 in Raab ) was a nobleman from the House of Liechtenstein . As a high officer, most recently with the rank of field marshal , he was in the Imperial Habsburg service. In 1623 he was raised to the rank of imperial prince .

biography

family

His parents were the imperial councilor Hartmann II of Liechtenstein and Anna Maria (1547–1601), daughter of Count Karl von Ortenburg. Maximilian's brothers were Karl and Gundaker . At the age of nineteen he married Katharina Schembera von Czernahora und Boskowitz , the sister of his brother Karl's wife. After the death of his father-in-law Johann Schembera von Boskowitz ( Jan Šembera z Boskovic ) in 1597, with which the Boskowitzes became extinct in the male line, several lords in Moravia came into his possession. After his father's death in 1585, he had already received two properties in Lower Austria . In 1606 he concluded a family contract with his brothers, which provided that the firstborn of the oldest line would be the head of the house.

Ascent

Like his brothers, Maximilian converted from Protestantism to Catholicism. In 1601 he was appointed Reichshofrat by Emperor Rudolf II . He had already joined the imperial army beforehand and in 1600 fought with the units that tried in vain to bring relief to those besieged by the Ottomans in Kanitza . In 1604 he served under Giorgio Basta in the Gran area , which was successfully held against the Ottomans. In the following year he still fought in Hungary before entering the service of the Moravian estates. For this he should recruit troops to protect against the Ottomans.

In the brotherly dispute between Emperor Rudolf II and Archduke Matthias in 1608, Maximilian and his brother Karl sided with the Archduke. From this he was appointed Colonel Feldzeugmeister and thus commander of the artillery in the army with which Matthias moved to Bohemia. In 1612 Maximilian took part in the battle against Venice. In 1613 he was appointed imperial secret council and chief stableman, and in the same year he accompanied the emperor to the Reichstag in Regensburg. At court festivals he took part in tournaments based on the medieval model.

Bohemian uprising

When the Bohemian uprising broke out in 1618, Maximilian was on the side of King Ferdinand . In 1619 he was given the task of setting up 500 cuirassiers and served in the army of General Bucquoy . When he withdrew from the overpowering allied Hungarian and Bohemian units in the direction of Vienna , he distinguished himself in protecting the crossing over the Danube. After the Bohemians withdrew again, Liechtenstein was given command of the city of Krems . He defended this against opposing troops in November. In 1620 he was reappointed Colonel Feldzeugmeister and took part in the fighting in Bohemia.

In the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 he played a major role in the victory of the imperial troops and the Catholic League over the army of the Bohemian estates. There he commanded the second meeting. After the battle he moved into Prague and took over the coronation insignia. In Moravia he was involved in the persecution of the insurgents. In 1621 he took part in the campaign against the rebellious Hungarians and, in the critical phase after the death of General Bucquoy, took over the supreme command. The opponents were strengthened and the imperial lack of supplies made itself felt. Because the soldiers were not paid, they began to desert. Liechtenstein then had to retreat to Pressburg . In 1622 he fought in Silesia and in the same year conquered the fortress Glatz , which had been in the hands of the rebels since 1618.

The emperor thanked him for his services not only with a gift of 100,000 guilders. Liechtenstein also received the confiscated possessions from Karl von Kaunitz . This paid off the imperial debt to the war costs for Liechtenstein's troops. He subsequently acquired other confiscated goods. In 1623 he fought again against the Hungarians, in order to then take over the supreme command of all imperial troops in Bohemia. In the same year he was raised to the hereditary imperial prince status. After that, he rarely took part in direct military action. In 1624 he took over the military protection during the expulsion of the non-Catholic clergy from Moravia.

Further life

In 1628 Maximilian took over the command of an imperial army again for a short time. In the same year he received the Bohemian Inkolat . It was not until 1638 that he took command of the Hungarian fortress of Raab and the surrounding area with the rank of field marshal . There were no major battles with the Ottomans and Liechtenstein had the fortress reinforced.

Liechtenstein preferred Rabensburg Castle in Lower Austria as its place of residence . He expanded the complex and turned it into a castle. The main hall was decorated with paintings depicting his war experiences. Modern fortifications were also built.

After the death of his brother Karl in 1627 he exercised the guardianship of his son and main heir of the family Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein until 1632 . During this time he was mainly responsible for the implementation of the Counter Reformation in the Liechtenstein possessions. During the ongoing Thirty Years War , the Duchy of Opava also fell into opposing hands. After the reconquest by Wallenstein , Catholicism was also enforced there by force.

Maximilian von Liechtenstein and his wife had no offspring. The childless couple made numerous foundations in favor of various monasteries a. a. In 1633 they founded the Paulaner monastery in Wranau , where the burial place for the Liechtenstein family was laid. After his death, his brother Gundaker and his nephew Karl Eusebius divided the property between them.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ family data
2. ^ History of the Liechtenstein House ( Memento of the original dated December 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Liechtenstein, Maximilian Fürst . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1866, p. 132 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Jacob von Falke: History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein. Vol. 2 Vienna, 1877 pp. 245–265
• Gerhard Taddey (ed.): Lexicon of German history . People, events, institutions. From the turn of the times to the end of the 2nd World War. 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-520-80002-0 , p. 737.
• Thomas Winkelbauer: Prince and Prince Servant. Gundaker of Liechtenstein. An Austrian aristocrat of the denominational age. Vienna and Munich, 1999 ISBN 978-3-486-64837-9, especially pp. 62–64