Oñate contract

The Oñate Treaty of July 29, 1617 was an agreement between the Austrian and Spanish branches of the Habsburg family to clarify the succession. The agreement is named after the Spanish envoy Íñigo Vélez de Guevara, Conde de Oñate .

prehistory

Emperor Matthias had no legitimate descendants. His brothers who were also childless and who remained after the death of Rudolf II waived their right to the inheritance. Philip III remained as a possible successor as King of Hungary and Bohemia . of Spain and Archduke Ferdinand . Negotiations then took place between the two branches of the family. It was Melchior Khlesl not included as chancellor of Emperor Matthias.

content

The agreement agreed between the two sides and confirmed by Emperor Matthias stated that the Spanish king waived the claims to Hungary and Bohemia in favor of Ferdinand and his male descendants . For this he should receive the strategically important bailiffs of Ortenburg and Hagenau in Alsace . In a secret supplementary contract, Ferdinand confirmed that the male descendants of the Spanish line had priority over the female descendants of the Austrian line of inheritance. He also promised the Spanish king - if he was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - the transfer of the fiefs of Finale and Piombino in Italy.

meaning

The treaty ended the conflicts in the House of Habsburg, which had delayed Ferdinand's elections in Hungary and Bohemia. For Spain, the connection between the Spanish Netherlands and the Italian possessions was to be improved through the acquisition of properties in Alsace .

France later assessed the treaty as a threat of encirclement by Spain. However , he probably had no direct cause for the outbreak of the Thirty Years War , as the treaty remained secret. However, it meant a stronger bond between the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish line, and this increased the risk of becoming involved in international conflicts. It was renewed again in 1631.

literature

• Heinrich Lutz : Reformation and Counter Reformation. Munich 2002, ISBN 3-486-49585-2 , p. 94.
• Dieter Albrecht: Ferdinand II. In: Anton Schindling / Walter Ziegler (ed.): The emperors of the modern times. 1519-1918. Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Germany . Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34395-3 , p. 122
• 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 , pp. 911f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volker Press: Wars and crises: Germany 1600-1715 (=  New German History . Volume 5 ). CH Beck, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-406-30817-1 , p. 189 (551 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ↑ Jörg K. Hoensch: History of Bohemia: from the Slavic conquest to the present . In: Beck's historical library . 3rd, updated and supplemented edition. CH Beck, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-406-41694-2 , p. 209 (588 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ^ Maximilian Lanzinner, Gerhard Schormann (editor): Gebhardt: Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte, Volume 10 , Page 202. ISBN 978-3-608-60010-0