Sebastian Westernacher

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Westernacher von Grosa in Siebmacher's book of arms

Sebastian Westernacher von Gro (s) sa, Neudeggerhof and Lichtenwörth (* around 1550 in Augsburg , † December 19, 1599 ) was secretary of the Imperial Court Chancellery in the service of Archduke Ernst of Austria , later also Duke Albrecht VII of Austria ; Imperial secret council , German State Secretary in Brussels and diplomat.

Coat of arms of Sebastian Westernacher von Großa

Life

He was born as the son of Kastner von Oberkirchberg bei Illerkirchberg and Katharina Fugger vom Reh . After their father's death in 1553, Sebastian and his three sisters Barbara, Katharina and Anna were placed under the tutelage of Ulrich Fugger vom Reh, furrier in Augsburg, and Christoph Stern, goldsmith in Augsburg. Sebastian received a scholarship and in 1563 attended the renowned Lutheran high school near St. Anna in Augsburg. In the house of the top schoolmaster Matthias Schenk, he shared a room with Lukas Geizkofler , who later became a lawyer and humanist . Sebastian Westernacher is mentioned several times in his biography. According to this, the two boys, who were very different in nature, but shared common interests, were linked by a close friendship that they still cultivated in adulthood.

Westernacher left school early and went “to writing in the Palatinate” before he finally began a career at the Austrian court. Under Maximilian II he was initially (1573) clerk in the Imperial Court Chancellery before he entered the service of the Dowager Empress Maria of Spain (1528–1603) as secretary in 1577 . In the years of his activity in the Reichshof Chancellery, however, it became clear that the family relationship to the Fugger house was also important in his professional career. So he regularly sent confidential messages to the Fuggers over several years, which he had sent through relatives such as his brother-in-law Michael Leonhard Mayer or Hermann Rentz to Philipp Eduard Fugger and his brother Octavian , the barons of Kirchberg and Weißenhorn.

In July 1580 he returned to the Imperial Court Chancellery, provided the Emperor with the diploma of a public notary , and entered the service of Archduke Ernst of Austria . According to the "Inventories of Austrian Archives, Vol. 5, Issues 1-3", Verlag Ferdinand Berger in Horn from 1953, published by the Austrian State Archives, "he officiated in Vienna and was the main employee of the office between 1585–1595 Numerous concepts of his hand can be found at this time. " As court secretary and "secret council" to the Archduke, who was the governor of the country from 1583 to 1594, Westernacher was also closely involved in the implementation of the measures initiated by Emperor Rudolf II in the course of the Counter-Reformation in 1576 and therefore himself converted from the Lutheran faith to Catholicism, although he " still has not let the evangelical Christian Augsburg confession out of his heart". Not least because of this, he disapproved of Cardinal Melchior Khlesl's zeal in taking action against the Protestants. Nevertheless, he is also referred to as a “highly trusted businessman” of the strictly Catholic Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608) , the mother of the future Emperor Ferdinand II , who had been under the tutelage of Archduke Ernst since 1590. Numerous letters have survived from Westernacher's correspondence with her.

In 1594, Westernacher was the administrator of the Chancellery for Archduke Ernst, who also administered the Dutch provinces of the Habsburgs, and finally accompanied him to Brussels as German State Secretary. After the Archduke's death in 1596, Westernacher was assigned to his brother, Duke Albrecht VII of Austria , but was also entrusted with diplomatic tasks by Emperor Rudolf II. As a diplomat , Westernacher was not only trusted by Rudolf, but also enjoyed a high reputation abroad.

In the last years of the 16th century Westernacher became director of the court chancellery and was appointed imperial councilor, but stayed most of the time in the Netherlands. On a business trip home to Vienna, he fell ill with the plague and died on December 19, 1599. His successor in the office of State Secretary was Blasius Hütter.

family

At his death, Sebastian Westernacher belonged to the Lower Austrian knighthood families and was married to Maria Saurer von Sauerburg for the second time , who on January 2, 1603, the baron Johann Heinrich von Salburg, emperor. Chamberlain , married. Westernacher is buried in the crypt of the Michaelerkirche (Vienna) . In addition to his widow, Westernacher left behind a daughter Rosina (married to Peter Gregorotzky zu Krumau auf Kamp) and a still underage son Hieronymus (later married to Elisabeth von Innprug auf Peygarten), both from his first marriage to Anna Fröschel, daughter of the Augsburg city doctor and Alchemist Benedikt Fröschel. Other children named are Ernst, Georg and Ursula. Hieronymus Westernacher von Grossa was Truchseß under King Matthias in 1610 and in 1618 was appointed a councilor in the knighthood. One of the other sons died at a young age "from an unfortunate gunshot".

Title, coat of arms and fiefdom

Westernacher was enfeoffed on October 28, 1586 with the Neudegger Hof (near Sankt Ulrich in Vienna), in 1588 he acquired Grossau (near Vöslau, Lower Austria ), and appears in most sources as "Sebastian Westernacher von Grossa" (also "von Grossau") or "von Grosa") - a title that his son Hieronymus later bore. This received the Neudeggerhof (also Neideggerhof) belonging to the Diocese of Passau on January 6, 1601, also as a fief. The family coat of arms coat of arms is entered in Siebmacher's coat of arms book 1605 under the coat of arms of the Rhine as "Westernacher von Grosa". It shows a silver, jumping dog on a blue background in a diagonal yellow-blue divided shield. In 1591, Westernacher also received the Merkenstein lordship and fortifications as a pledge and was temporarily enfeoffed with Lichtenwörth (near Wiener Neustadt). On March 6, 1592 he was awarded the small Palatinate by Rudolf II ; he received the red wax exemption . In the “Directory of His Princely Highness Archduke Ernst of Austria” you can find him listed as “Mr. Sebastian Westernacher zu Grossa, Lichtenwörth and Neudeggerhof, Röm. Kay. Maj. Rath and court secretary also to Archduke Ernst's secret council and chancellor office administrator in the Netherlands ”.

literature

  • Alois Schweizer: Lucas Geizkofler (1550–1620). Education, professional activity and social environment of an Augsburg lawyer and late humanist. Tuebingen 1979.
  • Adam Wolf: Lucas Geizkofler and his autobiography, 1550-1620.
  • Johannes Kleinpaul: Die Fuggerzeitungen 1568-1605 , Vol. 1, Issue 4 of "Treatises from the Institute for Newspaper Studies at the University of Leipzig"; Vol. 49 of 'Preisschriften'; Princely Jablonowskische Gesellschaft zu Leipzig, E. Reinecke, 1921.
  • Austrian State Archives, Austria. House, court and state archives : 'Inventories of Austrian Archives, Volume 5, Issues 1-3', Ferdinand Berger, Horn 1953, pp. 16, 27, p. 382.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ La Belgique: Revue des revues , Vol. 2, Verlag De Mortier, 1856, pp. 326–328.
  2. ^ Karl Friedrich von Frank: Status surveys and acts of grace for the German Empire and the Austrian Hereditary Lands until 1806 , Vol. 5, Si - Z, self-published: Schloss Senftenberg 1974, p. 209.
  3. ↑ Ludwig Bittner, Lothar Gross, Fritz Reinöhl: Complete inventory of the Vienna House, Court and State Archives , Vol. 4 from 'House, Court and State Archives (Austria)', 1940, p. 133.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Imzeichen des merkur , Vol. 189 of 'Publications of the Max Planck Institute for History', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003, p. 342; Peter Fleischmann: Short and actual description of the Reichstag held at Regensburg in this 94th Jar , list of its princely. Your Highness Archduke Ernst v. Austria, 1594.
  5. ↑ fugger.heinz-wember.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on November 22, 2009.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / fugger.heinz-wember.de  
  6. ↑ Norbert Lieb: The Fugger and art in the age of the high Renaissance , Vol. 14, p. 476.
  7. ^ Adam Wolf, Lukas Geizkofler: Lucas Geizkofler and his autobiography, 1550-1620 , editor Adam Wolf, Verlag W. Braumüller, 1873, pp. 28, 29; Alois Schweizer: Lucas Geizkofler (1550-1620): Education, professional activity and social environment of an Augsburg lawyer and late humanist , pp. 28, 41, 95, 145, 162, 172.
  8. ^ Alois Schweizer: Lucas Geizkofler (1550-1620): Education, professional activity and social environment of an Augsburg lawyer and late humanist , p. 28.
  9. ↑ Hans Fugger, Maria Countess von Preysing: The correspondence of Hans Fugger from 1566 to 1594: Regesta of the copy books from the Fugger archive , Vol. 2, Part 1 of 'Sources for the modern history of Bavaria III, private correspondence', Vol. 2 of 'Sources for modern history of Bavaria ', editor Christl Karnehm, Verlag Commission for Bavarian State History, 2003, pp. 599, 600, 611. Wolfgang Behringer: Imzeichen des Merkur , Vol. 189 of' Publications of the Max Planck Institute for History ', 2003 , P. 342.
  10. ↑ Johannes Kleinpaul: Die Fuggerzeitungen 1568-1605 , Vol. 1, Hft. 4 of 'Abhandlungen aus dem Institut für Zeitungskunde an der Universität Leipzig', Vol. 49 of 'Preisschriften', Fürstlich Jablonowskische Gesellschaft zu Leipzig, Verlag E. Reinecke, 1921, pp. 23, 24, 65, 84. Source studies of the Habsburg monarchy: Yearbooks for economics and statistics , p. 428.
  11. ^ Austrian State Archives, Austria. House, Court and State Archives: Inventories of Austrian Archives, Vol. 5, Issues 1-3 , Ferdinand Berger in Horn, 1953, p. 382.
  12. ^ Lothar Gross: The history of the German Reichshof Chancellery from 1559 to 1806 , Vol. 1, from 'Inventories of the Vienna House, Court and State Archives'; Vol. 5 of 'Inventare österr. Staatl. Archive', self-published by the House, Court and State Archives, 1933, pp. 27f, 383f, 467f, 471f.
  13. ^ Joseph Hammer-Purgstall, Melchior Klesl: From Khlesl's, des Cardinals, Directors of the Secret Cabinet of Emperor Mathias, Leben , Verlag Gerold, 1847, pp. 66, 67, 70. Viktor Bibl: The introduction of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Lower Austria by Emperor Rudolf II. (1576-1580) , Verlag Wagner, Universitäts-Buchhandlung, 1900, p. 103.
  14. ^ Alois Schweizer: Lucas Geizkofler (1550-1620): Education, professional activity and social environment of an Augsburg lawyer and late humanist , p. 28.
  15. ^ Theodor Wiedemann : History of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in the land under the Enns , Vol. 4–5, 1884, p. 315. Franz Schönfellner: Krems between Reformation and Counter-Reformation , Vol. 24 of 'Research on regional studies of Lower Austria', association for Regional studies of Lower Austria, 1985, p. 151, 163, 189, 263. Anton Kerschbaumer: History of the City of Krems , Verlag Oesterreicher, 1885, p. 222.
  16. ↑ Friedrich Emanuel von Hurter: History of Emperor Ferdinand II and his parents up to his coronation in Frankfurt: People - House - and State History , Vol. 4, 1850, pp. 41, 93, 161, 393 u. 1851 pp. 41, 43, 56, 499. Jan Paul Niederkorn : The European Powers and the Long Turkish War of Emperor Rudolf II (1593–1606) , Vol. 135, Archive for Austrian History, p. 196.
  17. ↑ Ludwig Bittner, Lothar Gross, Fritz Reinöhl: Complete inventory of the Vienna House, Court and State Archives , Vol. 4 from 'House, Court and State Archives' (Austria), 1940, pp. 131, 135. Justus Lipsius, Aloïs Gerlo, Marcel Augustijn, Maria Nauwelaerts, Hendrik DL Vervliet: Iusti Lipsi Epistolae , Vol. 8, Verlag Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, 1978, p. 261. Wolfgang Behringer: Imzeichen des merkur , Vol. 189 from 'Publications of the Max Planck Institute for History', 2003, p. 342.
  18. ^ Austrian State Archives, Austria. House, court and state archives: inventories of Austrian archives , vol. 5, ed. 1-3, Ferdinand Berger in Horn, 1953, p. 382.
  19. ^ Antoine Charles Hennequin Villermont: Tilly; ou, La guerre de trente ans de 1618 à 1632 , Vol. 1, Verlag H. Casterman, 1860, p. 9.
  20. ^ Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. Commission royale d'histoire: Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire , 1842, pp. 183, 184. Archives générales du Royaume (Belgium), Édouard Laloire, Netherlands. Secrétairerie d'état allemande, Netherlands (Southern provinces, 1581-1793). Secrétairerie d'etat allemande: Inventaire des archives de la Secrétairérie d'état allemande, Inventaires des archives de la Belgique publiés par ordre du gouvernement sous la direction de Joseph Cuvelier, archiviste général du royaume, Imprimerie Stevens frères publishing house, 1929, p. 20 .
  21. ^ Austrian State Archives, Austria. House, court and state archives: inventories of Austrian archives , vol. 5, ed. 1-3, Ferdinand Berger in Horn, 1953, p. 382.
  22. ^ Adam Wolf, Lucas Geizkofler: Lucas Geizkofler and his autobiography, 1550-1620 , Verlag W. Braumüller, 1873, p. 28.
  23. ↑ Lothar Gross, Robert von Lacroix: Documents and files from the Reichsarchiv Vienna on the position of the Burgundian district under Reich law , Vol. 2, A. Holzhausen's successor, 1944, p. 389.
  24. ↑ Johann Schwerdling: history of ancient and for centuries to sovereign and country highly deserved, sometimes handsomely, partly Count's house Starhemberg . Jos. Feichtinger's blessed widow , Linz 1830, p. 268 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  25. ^ Heraldic-Genealogical Society "Adler": New Yearbook , 1900, p. 306.
  26. ↑ Historischer Verein für Schwaben: Journal of the Historisches Verein für Schwaben , Vol. 33-38, Verlag Seitz, 1907, p. 78.
  27. ^ Johann B. Witting: The coats of arms of the nobility in Lower Austria: J. Siebmacher's large and general book of arms. S - Z / edit by Johann Baptist Witting , Vol. 2, Verlag Bauer u. Raspe, 1918
  28. ^ Moriz Ritter, Felix Stieve, Anton Chroust , Karl Mayr: Letters and Acts on the History of the Thirty Years' War , Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Historical Commission, 1978, p. 56.
  29. ^ Archives for Austrian history: Notes sheet , Vol. 1 of 'Academy of Sciences in Vienna', Historical Commission, 1851, p. 246.
  30. ↑ Alois Schweizer: Lucas Geizkofler (1550-1620) - Educational path, professional activity and social environment of an Augsburg lawyer and late humanist , Tübingen 1979, p. 127, 128.
  31. ^ Neudeggerhof in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna , last seen on July 4, 2016
  32. ↑ Gymnasium zu den Schotten: Festgabe for the 100th anniversary of the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, 1907, p. 311.
  33. ^ Johann Evang Kirnbauer von Erzstätt: The arms of the nobility in Lower Austria , Vol. 26, Part 1, Verlag Bauer & Raspe, 1983, p. 323.
  34. ↑ Michael Braig: Brief history of the formerly vorderösterr. Benedictine Abbey Wiblingen in Swabia , Verlag Joseph Rauch, 1834, p. 147.
  35. ^ Karl Friedrich von Frank: Status surveys and acts of grace for the German Empire and the Austrian Hereditary Lands , Vol. 5, Senftenegg, 1974, p. 209.
personal data
SURNAME Westernacher, Sebastian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Westernacher from Grosa; Westernacher from Grossa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil servant and diplomat (Habsburg Monarchy)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1550
PLACE OF BIRTH augsburg
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1599
Place of death Vienna