Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal (1637 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

–1689 in Stavenow)) was a

German nobleman The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the begi ...

. He was a career diplomat serving the

Great Elector Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. He was several times Brandenburg's

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the Court of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

Biography

He was the son of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal (1606 in Berlin – 1657 in Halberstadt) was a German nobleman. He was a diplomat and the founder of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army. The son of Christoph von Blumenthal and his wife Dorothea von Hacke, and the firs ...

and his first wife, Catharina von Klitzing. At the age of 13 he was sent to the

Viadrina European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on th ...

in 1650, the year his father became the Governor of

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

. In 1653 he accompanied his father to the Diet of Ratisbon. He attended various universities including

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

, before being sent on a grand tour under the supervision of his tutor, Burckhardt Niderstedt. His account of their visit to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, ''Malta Vetus et Nova'' survives. He returned just after his father's death in 1656, and was invited by the Great Elector to join the Privy Council, aged only 20. In 1660 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to France and Spain, tasked with the heavy responsibility of confirming Brandenburg's interests in the Treaty of Oliva. On his return, he married Louise Hedwig, daughter of Otto von Schwerin, President of the Privy Council. In 1662 he was the youngest ever delegate to the Imperial Diet. In 1663 he was sent as Brandenburg's ambassador to Paris, where he fell sick and went to London from August that year to recuperate. He was accredited to the court of Louis XIV again in 1666 and then was sent to Vienna before returning in 1668 to negotiate over the Polish succession. He died Sept. 16, 1689 Hans Bellée " Blumenthal". In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB)''. Band 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, , S. 330
link
/ref> In 1672 he negotiated unsuccessfully with the

Elector of Trier The elector of Trier was one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and, in his capacity as archbishop, administered the archdiocese of Trier. The territories of the electorate and the archdiocese were not, however, equivalent. History ...

for safe passage for Brandenburg's troops over the Rhine. From the 1680s he fell from favour with the Great Elector and retired to his estates. He remained in the Privy Council and became Commander of the Supplinburg Commandery of the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

. At the

's funeral he carried the Great Seal.

References

1637 births 1689 deaths Christoph Caspar German diplomats People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg People from the Principality of Halberstadt Prussian politicians {{Germany-diplomat-stub