Vratislav von Pernstein (1530–1582)

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Vratislav von Pernstein

Vratislav von Pernstein (also Wratislaw von Pernstein ; Czech Vratislav z Pernštejna ; born July 9, 1530 in Meseritsch ; † October 27, 1582 in Linz ) was a Bohemian-Moravian nobleman. From 1567 until his death in 1582 he held the post of Chancellor Colonel of Bohemia; at the same time he was a member of the Privy Council.

Life

Vratislav came from the Bohemian-Moravian noble family Pernstein . His parents were the Moravian governor and Count von Glatz , Johann von Pernstein and his second wife Hedwig von Schellenberg ( Hedvika z Schelmberka ). In 1555 he married Maria Manrique de Lara . Vratislav had two years older brother Jaroslav and two years younger brother Adalbert / Vojtěch .

Little is known about Vratislav's childhood. At the age of thirteen he was given by his father to the Viennese court of Emperor Ferdinand I , where he was brought up together with the three years older, later Emperor Maximilian II . With this he took part in the Schmalkaldic War in 1546/47 . Through the court services and trips together, including to Spain and Brussels, Vratislav maintained a close relationship of trust with Maximilian II. In 1552 he gave him a splendid sword, which is still in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

After the death of their father, Vratislav and his brothers inherited his property in 1548, which they initially managed together. Although their father had been in debt for a long time, they belonged to the wealthiest magnates in Bohemia and Moravia at the time with their inherited property. They were able to repay the debts they left behind from the sale of the County of Glatz , whose pledge was raised by the Bohemian sovereign Ferdinand I in 1549. Nevertheless, Vratislav and the older brother Jaroslav decided to continue serving in court. Presumably because of this, they both converted to Catholicism soon, while the younger brother Vojtěch / Adalbert did not convert.

Since Vratislav and his brothers did not have the necessary experience and knowledge to economically manage their inherited lands due to their young age, they entrusted this task to the knight Peter Hamza von Zábědovice, who also ruled their land. The property remained undivided until 1552. After Adalbert / Vojtěch demanded the surrender of his inheritance in 1552, he received about a third of the Moravian possessions with the center Proßnitz . The other lands continued to be administered as a whole. They were not divided up until 1555, with the elder Jaroslav receiving the Bohemian possessions with the lords of Pardubitz and Pottenstein and the second-born Vratislav the remaining two thirds in Moravia with the center of Seelowitz .

In 1554 Vratislav accompanied the heir to the throne Maximilian II to the wedding of the Spanish King Philip II with Mary of England . On the return trip in Antwerp he was the first Bohemian nobleman to be accepted into the Order of the Golden Fleece . In 1567 he was appointed by Maximilian II to succeed Joachim von Neuhaus, who died in 1566, as the Chancellor of Bohemia. In 1572 he was sent to Poland together with Wilhelm von Rosenberg , where they were both supposed to campaign for the candidacy of Archduke Ernst for the Polish throne.

Vratislav, who was one of the most distinguished and humanistically educated noblemen of his time, also had a keen sense for art. He had a library and art collections built on the family castle Pernstein . In Neustadtl in Moravia , which experienced an economic boom during his rule, he built the Renaissance town hall in 1555, and in 1580 he confirmed the town's extensive privileges. This is probably why the main square is called Vratislav Square . The city council had a statue of Vratislav erected there in 1871. In Proßnitz, which he inherited after the death of his brother Adalbert / Vojtěch in 1561, he had the castle built by his father surrounded by stone arcades. In 1567 he acquired the East Bohemian rule Leitomischl in exchange for Chropyně . There he built a palace in the Renaissance style. It was built according to plans and under the direction of the Italian builders Giovanni Maria Aostalli and Ulrico Aostalli and was only completed two years before Vratislav's death. In 1674 a philosophical seminar was established in Leitomischl. He set up an extensive library in Tobitschau Castle , which he equipped with contemporary literature.

In order to cover his lavish lifestyle, Vratislav was repeatedly forced to part with part of his possessions. So he sold z. B. already in 1562 Křižanov with the then desolate castle and some villages in the area of ​​the Zdenko Lhotský of Ptení.

Vratislav drowned on October 27, 1582 in a shipwreck in the Danube near Linz . His body was initially buried in accordance with his will in the Church of the Holy Cross in Doubravník , which his father had built , although he had assumed when the will was drawn up that the church would be in the possession of the Catholics again upon his death. However, since it still belonged to the Protestants a year after the burial, his widow Maria de Lara decided to transfer his remains to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague . His tomb is still there today.

family

Maria Maximiliana Manrique de Lara (1538–1608) with daughter Polyxena

In 1555 Vratislav married Maria Manrique de Lara (1538–1608), a lady-in-waiting of the Empress Maria . On the occasion of the wedding, she brought a statue from Spain that is venerated to this day as the Infant Jesus of Prague .

The marriage resulted in twenty children, only seven of whom lived to see adulthood:

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member of the Privy Council
  2. ↑ Grand sword  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / lipizzaner.at
  3. ↑ Vratislav Square ( Memento of November 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Vratislav von Pernstein
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wratislaw von Pernstein; Wratislaus von Pernstein
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian nobleman and Colonel Chancellor of Bohemia
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1530
PLACE OF BIRTH Meseritsch
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1582
Place of death Linz