Vratislav Eusebius von Pernstein

Vratislav Eusebius von Pernstein (also Wratislaw Eusebius von Pernstein ; Czech Vratislav Eusebius z Pernštejna ; * 1594 , † July 26, 1631 near Tangermünde ) was a military leader in the Thirty Years War . He came from the Bohemian-Moravian noble family Pernstein , which died out in the male line with Vratislav Eusebius' death in 1631.

Life

His parents were the director of the kuk artillery Johann von Pernstein (1561–1597) and Maria Manrique de Lara the Elder. J. (1570-1636). She was a niece of Johann's mother of the same name, Maria Manrique de Lara the Elder. Ä. (1538–1608), and thus a cousin of Johann.

Upon the death of the father, in 1597 in the war against the Turks in Hungary Raab was killed, Vratislav Eusebius only three years old. His sister, two years older than him, was Anna, the younger sister was Frebonie and the youngest sister Eva died in childhood. Since Vratislav Eusebius was the only son, he was entitled to the paternal inheritance. The guardianship of him and his sisters was initially exercised by his mother. However, since there was no will of guardianship, it was judicially transferred to Polyxena in 1603 , who was a widowed sister of Vratislav's Eusebius father. Even so, the children were still under their mother's care. When in 1608 the grandmother Maria d. Ä. died, Polyxena paid out the shares due to their daughters, with which the Leitomischl rule was encumbered. Then she administered Leitomischl as guardian of Vratislavs Eusebius. Since the Pernsteiner Leitomischl only owned as a pledge, Maria d. Ä. the danger that the Bohemian sovereign Emperor Rudolf II would redeem the pledge and Vratislav Eusebius would have no sources of income apart from the Pernstein Palace in Prague. Possibly due to the influence of his mother or his guardian Polyxena at the Prague royal court, Leitomischl remained in Pernstein's possession after 1608. After the widowed mother married Bruno von Mansfeld in 1606 , Vratislav Eusebius and his sisters probably lived in Vienna.

Concrete reports about Vratislav Eusebius are first recorded for the year 1612. The then eighteen year old visited Leitomischl and stayed there for three weeks. At that time he arranged for around 200 pictures to be taken away from the castle gallery in Leitomischl. It is said to have been part of those paintings that are shown today as the Pernstein Collection in the gallery of the Raudnitzer Lobkowitz Gallery.

It is not known when Vratislav Eusebius began receiving military training. From 1617 his aunt Polyxena paid him a monthly alimony , which was paid in Vienna. It is therefore possible that he belonged to the imperial army there. His military service is documented for the year 1623, when he commanded a company of Count Biha. Although he was nearly thirty, Polyxena still managed his fortune. In 1623 she bought the Pernstein Palace at Prague Castle from him for 30,000 ducats .

As Rittmeister , Vladislav Eusebius was under the command of Wallenstein in 1624, for whom he was to take over a company in Chrudim in January 1624 . With her he went to Königgrätz in February , where he was supposed to await a possible advance by the Polish army, which was staying in the Glatzer Kessel . In autumn d. During the year he was in South Bohemia to join his troops with an imperial army that was supposed to fight the Danish King Christian IV in Germany . As a warrior he could not take care of his Bohemian possessions, these were still administered by his aunt Polyxena. It was not until 1627 that he took over the independent administration of his estates, which essentially consisted of the Leitomischl rule and some houses in Prague. Shortly afterwards, Emperor Ferdinand II gave him Leitomischl as hereditary property. The corresponding entry in the land table was made on April 25, 1629. This averted the possible loss of Leitomischl, which his grandfather Vratislav von Pernstein had acquired as a pledge in 1567 . A year later, Vratislav Eusebius bought Maximilian von Waldstein's magnificent palace on Lesser Town Square on Prague's Lesser Town , which today serves as the seat of parliament. The occasional statement that Vratislav Eusebius was impoverished or without any possessions is therefore incorrect. In addition, he arranged for the castle brewery to be rebuilt in Litomysl, and a new courtyard was built near the city, which was called the Pernstein courtyard . In 1629 he confirmed the city's previous privileges, whereby the citizens had to forego their right to brew.

He could not enjoy his military advancement and his economically secure position for long. In 1631 he moved with his army under the leadership of General Tilly to northern Germany, where they were to meet the Swedes. Vratislav Eusebius was sent ahead with the assignment to explore the area. In the vicinity of Tangermünde he is said to have encountered an enemy squadron, from which he was fatally wounded on July 26, 1631. Before he died, he was able to convey his last will. Since he was not married and had no descendants, he bequeathed his property to his sister Frebonie. The older sister Anna, who was still alive at the time, had become a nun.

With the death of Vratislav Eusebius, the Pernstein family died out in the male line in 1631.

literature

• Petr Vorel: Páni z Pernštejna. Vzestup a pád rodu zubří hlavy v dějinách Čech a Moravy . Praha 1999, ISBN 80-86182-24-X , pp. 267-274

Web links

• genealogy