Alfred Ritter von Arneth (10 July 181930 July 1897) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. His principal scholarly work is a ten-volume biography of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

, first published in installments from 1863 to 1879 and still regarded as the standard work on the subject. Born at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, he was the son of

Joseph Calasanza von Arneth Joseph Calasanza, Ritter von Arneth (12 August 1791 – 31 October 1863) was an Austrian numismatist and archæologist, born at Leopoldschlag, Upper Austria. He became custodian of the Cabinet of Coins and Antiquities in Vienna, and director of ...

(1791–1863), a well-known historian and archaeologist, who wrote a history of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

(Vienna, 1827) and several works on

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

and brother of Doctor Franz Hektor von Arneth (1818–1907).

Life

Alfred Arneth studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, and became an official of the Austrian state archives, of which in 1868 he was appointed keeper. He was a moderate liberal in politics and a supporter of German unity. As such he was elected to the Frankfurt parliament in 1848. In 1861 he became a member of the Lower Austrian diet and in 1869 was nominated to the Upper House of the Austrian Reichsrat. In 1879 he was appointed president of the Kaiserliche Academie der Wissenschaften (Academy of Sciences) at Vienna, and in 1896 succeeded von Sybel as chairman of the historical commission at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. Von Arneth was an indefatigable worker, and, as director of the archives, his willingness to listen to the advice of experts, as well as his own sound sense, reportedly helped to promote the more scientific treatment and use of public records in most of the archives of Europe. He was noted for his scientific temper and for drawing from original sources. Wien, Grab von Arneth

Publications

*' (Vienna, 1863) *' (3 vols, ib. 1864) *' (10 vols, ib. 1863–1879) *' (ib. 1866) *' (1866) *' (3 vols, 1867) *' (1868) *' (1869) *' (1871) *' (2 vols, 1872) *' (4 vols, 1881) *' (3 vols, Paris, 1875), in collaboration with Auguste Geoffroy *' (1885) *' (2 vols, 1889–1891), in collaboration with

Jules Flammermont Jules Gustave Flammermont (5 February 1852, in Chaumont-en-Vexin – 29 July 1899, in Lille) was a French historian, largely known for his writings on history of the 18th century. He studied at the École pratique des Hautes Études and Écol ...

*' (1895) *' (2 vols, 1898). Arneth also published in 1893 two volumes of early reminiscences under the title '.

His works online

* Arneth, A.
''Maria Theresia und der Hofrath von Greiner.''
1859. In: ''Die vorgebliche Tochter der Kaiserin Elisabeth Petrowna : nach den Akten des Kaiserlich Russischen Reichsarchiv's''. Berlin: Carl Duncker, 1867. 70 p. – available at

University Library in Bratislava Digital Library University Library in Bratislava (ULB) is the oldest library in Slovakia. It was founded in 1919 in Bratislava. Today, it is the largest and most visited library in Slovakia and it is a universal state research library. History The library was ...

* Arneth, Alfred
''Maria Theresia: I.''
Wien: Jacob & Holzhausen, 1863. 425 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Maria Theresia und Marie Antoinette: ihr Briefwechsel während der Jahre 1770–1780''
Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1865. 373 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Briefe der Kaiserin Maria Theresia an ihre Kinder und Freunde: Band 1.''
Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1881. 438 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Briefe der Kaiserin Maria Theresia an ihre Kinder und Freunde : Band 2.''
Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1881. 524 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Briefe der Kaiserin Maria Theresia an ihre Kinder und Freunde : Band 3.''
Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1881. 490 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Briefe der Kaiserin Maria Theresia an ihre Kinder und Freunde : Band 4.''
Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1881. 631 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Maria Theresia und Joseph II. : ihre Correspondenz sammt Briefen Joseph's an seinen Bruder Leopold : 1. Band : 1761–1772.''
Wien: Carl Gerold's Sohn, 1867. 418 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Maria Theresia und Joseph II. : ihre Correspondenz sammt Briefen Joseph's an seinen Bruder Leopold : 2. Band : 1773 – Juli 1778.''
Wien: Carl Gerold's Sohn, 1867. 410 p. – available at

* Arneth, Alfred
''Maria Theresia und Joseph II. : ihre Correspondenz sammt Briefen Joseph's an seinen Bruder Leopold : 3. Band : August 1778–1780.''
Wien: Carl Gerold's Sohn, 1868. 411 p. – available at

* Fromageot
''Jahrbücher der Regierung Marien Theresiens, verwittibten Kaiserinn, Königinn zu Ungarn und Böhmen, Erzherzoginn zu Oesterreich, u. u. : aus dem Französischen ...''
– Wien: Leipzig: Joseph Kurzböck, 1776. 374 p. – available at

''Das goldene Jahrhundert oder Maria Theresia und Friedrich.''
Augsburg: bey Albert Friedrich Bartholomäi, 1779. 190 p. – available at

''Mariae II. Ungariae regis quadragesimi octavi Decretum Tertium.''
Posonii: .n. 1764. 12 p. – available at

''Mária Terézia / Constitutio criminalis Theresiana : aneb Ržímské Cýsařske w Uhřich a w Cžechách etc. etc. Králowské Aposstolské Milosti Marye Terezye Arcý-Kněžny Rakauské, etc. etc, hrdelní Práwní Ržád.''
W Wídni : Wytisstěný u Jána Tomásse urozeného z Trattnern, 1769. 374 p. – available at

* de BROGLIE, Albert le duc
''Marie-Thérese impératrice : 1744–1746 : 1.''
Paris: Calmann Lévy, 1890. 466 p. – available at

''Transaction mit dem Erz-Stift Salzburg : Güttenbergische Berg-Gerichts Jurisdiction ; Maria Theresia, Erz-Herzogin zu Österreich ; Index alphabeticus ; Mariae Theresiae, Erz-Herzogin zu Österreich ; Index Alphabeticus ; Index Alphabeticus ; Mariae Theresia, ...''
Wien: Leopold Johann Kalivoda, 1759. 289 p. – available at

Notes

References

* Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser Österreichs, Volume 1 (1905 Wien) p. 51. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arneth, Alfred von 1819 births 1897 deaths Writers from Vienna Historians of Europe Austrian numismatists Austrian knights 19th-century Austrian historians Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Members of the Frankfurt Parliament Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities