Prince Ferdinand von Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg (1749–1827) was an Austrian diplomat and statesman. From 1787 to 1789 he was

Minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

, ruling on behalf of

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

. By birth he was a member of the House of Trauttmansdorff.

Early life

Ferdinand was born in Vienna on 12 January 1749, as son of Count Franz Norbert von Trauttmansdorff (1705-1786) and his second wife Countess Maria Anna von Herberstein (1723-1815). He had one full sister, Countess Maria Antonie von Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg (1746-1817), who died unmarried. His half-siblings with his father's first wife Countess Florence Josèphe de Gavre (1708-1742) included Countess Maria Theresia von

Lamberg The House of Lamberg is the name of an ancient Austrian noble family, whose members occupied significant positions within Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. History The family name first appeared in the 14th century in ...

(1727-1755), Countess Maria Anna von Trauttmansdorff (1736-1788), Count Josef Wenzel von Trauttmansdorff (1739-1769) and Countess Maria Amalie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (1741-1808).

Life

He studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and served in the

Reichskammergericht The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

. At his brother's death in 1774, he became the Head of the family. He was made a Knight of the Austrian

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

in 1789.

Austrian Netherlands

In 1780, he was appointed Austrian minister in

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, and in 1785 imperial ambassador to the

Archbishop-Elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

. In 1787, he was appointed the emperor's minister plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands, effectively head of the government. He arrived in Brussels in October 1787. His brief was to push through the innovations that Joseph II had determined on and that the previous minister plenipotentiary,

Ludovico, Count di Belgiojoso Ludovico Luigi Carlo Maria di Barbiano di Belgiojoso or Ludwig Karl Maria von Barbiano Graf von Belgiojoso (2 January 1728 – 15 May 1801, Milan) was an Austrian diplomat and Lieutenant Field Marshal who served the Habsburg monarchy in the se ...

, had been forced to dial back. In his zeal to execute imperial policy, Trauttmansdorff carried out a government coup on 18 June 1789, rescinding the ancient privileges of the

county of Hainaut The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...

, decreeing the abolition of the

Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant. It was presided over by the Chancellor of Brabant. One of its functions was to determine that new legislation was not contrary to the rights and liberties establis ...

, and arbitrarily imprisoning many of the opponents of government policy. His dictatorial behaviour precipitated the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (french: Révolution brabançonne, nl, Brabantse Omwenteling), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Aust ...

. Count

Richard d'Alton Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

, General Commander of Imperial Forces in Austrian Netherlands was against such drastic reforms and advised against them. In November, he began to offer concessions and recognise ancient liberties, but too late to stem revolutionary rejection of Austrian authority. On 14 December 1789, Trauttmansdorff fled Brussels for Luxembourg. His secret correspondence with Joseph II while minister plenipotentiary was published in 1902. He re-entered imperial service in 1793, being appointed to the Chancery for the Netherlands in Vienna. He accompanied the

Emperor Francis II Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...

to Brussels for his reception as ruler during the short-lived Austrian restoration of 1793–1794.

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire

In 1805 for his diplomatic service, he received the title of

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

and thus became Prince of Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg. The title of

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

was inheritable only by the Head of the family, while all other legitimate male line descendants were Count/Countess von Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg.

Joseph Lefèvre Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, "Trauttmansdorff, Ferdinand, graaf en prins van",
Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek
', vol. 4 (Brussels, 1970), 837-842.
From August 1807 until his death in 1827 he served as

Obersthofmeister Oberhofmeister of the Austrian King and Emperor (''Grand Master of the Court'') was the most important function at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor (until 1806) and the Emperor of Austria in Vienna (1804–1918). The Oberhofmeister acted as the ...

to Emperor Franz. In this capacity he was responsible for organizing the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

in 1814/15.

Personal life

On 18 May 1772 he married in Vienna Countess Maria Karoline von Colloredo-Waldsee (1752-1832). They had 10 children, 5 of whom reached adulthood and had further issue.

Death

On 27 Aug 1827 he died in Vienna.

Works

*''Fragments pour servir à l'histoire des évenements qui se sont passés aux Pays-Bas depuis la fin de 1787 jusqu'en 1789'' (Amsterdam, 1790).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trauttmansdorff 1749 births 1827 deaths Austrian Empire politicians Foreign ministers of Austria Diplomats of the Habsburg monarchy 18th-century diplomats Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Obersthofmeister