Maximilian of Liechtenstein (6 November 1578 – 29 April 1645 in

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...

) was a nobleman from the

House of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne. The dynasty's m ...

. He was a senior military officer in the imperial

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 ...

service, eventually promoted to the rank of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

. In 1623, he was raised to

Imperial Prince 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 ...

Family

His parents were the imperial councilor, Baron Hartmann II of Liechtenstein and Anna Maria (1547–1601), daughter of Count Charles of Ortenburg. His brothers were

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and Gundakar. At the age of 19, he married Baroness Catherine Šemberová of Boskovice and Černá Hora. Catherine was the only sister of Anna Maria, the wife of his brother

. When his father died in 1585, he inherited two properties in

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. When his father-in-law, Baron John Šembera of Boskovice and Černá Hora, died in 1597, the Boskovice dynasty died out in the male line and Maximilian inherited several Lordships in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

. In 1606, he signed a family treaty with his brothers, which provided that the first born of the eldest line of the family would always be the head of the

.Geschichte Haus Liechtenstein

Ascent

Like his brothers Maximilien converted from Protestantism to Catholicism. He served in the Imperial Army and in 1600, he participated in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the city of

Nagykanizsa Nagykanizsa (; hr, Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; german: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; it, Canissa; sl, Velika Kaniža; tr, Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southw ...

, which was besieged by the Ottomans. In 1601 Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–160 ...

appointed him to the

Aulic Council The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juris ...

. In 1605, he served under

Giorgio Basta Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt, Gjergj Basta or Gheorghe Basta (1550 – 1607) was an Italian general, diplomat, and writer of Arbëreshë origin, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591– ...

near

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

, which was held successfully against the Ottomans. In 1605, he again fought in the Imperial army, before entering the service of the Moravian Estates. His new job was to recruit troops to protect Moravia against the Ottomans. In 1608, a power struggle broke out between Emperor Rudolf II and his younger brother, Archduke

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

. Maximilian and his brother Charles supported Matthias, who appointed Maximilian to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

and Commander of the Artillery. Matthias won the conflict and forced Rudolf in 1611 to renounce almost all of his powers. In 1612, Maximilian participated in a war against Venice. Also in 1612, Emperor Rudolf II died and Matthias succeeded him. In 1613, Maximilian was appointed imperial

Geheimrat ''Geheimrat'' was the title of the highest advising officials at the Imperial, royal or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic r ...

and

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

. In the same year, he accompanied the Matthias to the Imperial Diet 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 ...

. In the courtly festivities he participated in a tournament modeled after the medieval knightly tournaments.

Bohemian revolt

At the outbreak of the

Bohemian revolt The Bohemian Revolt (german: Böhmischer Aufstand; cs, České stavovské povstání; 1618–1620) was an uprising of the Bohemian estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both religi ...

1618 Maximilian sided with King

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

. In 1619 he was commissioned with the installation of 500

cuirassiers Cuirassiers (; ) were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adop ...

s and served in the army of the commander

Bucquoy Bucquoy () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. The grounds, property of the Lords of Bucquoy, became a county in 1666 by request of Charles II. Geography A farming village located 12 ...

. When the imperial army had to retreat towards

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

in the face of the overwhelming allied Hungarian and Bohemian units, Maximilian distinguished himself by protecting the army while it crossed the Danube. After the Bohemians had returned to Bohemia, Maximilian was put in command of the city Krems. He defended the city against enemy forces in November. In 1620 he was also re-appointed Colonel-

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

, and took part in the fighting in Bohemia. In the

Battle of the White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

in 1620, he played a big part in the victory of the imperial troops and the Catholic League over the army of the Bohemian Estates. He commanded the second engagement. After the battle, he moved into Prague and took over the crown jewels. In Moravia, he was involved in the pursuit of the rebels. In 1621, he participated in a campaign against the Hungarian rebels and took over command during the critical period after the death of the commander Bucquoy. His opponents had gained strength and made themselves felt while the Imperial troops suffered from supply problems. Because the soldiers were not paid, they began to desert. Maximilian was forced to retreat to

Pozsony Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

(today: Bratislava). In 1622 he fought in the

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

and captured the fortress of

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko Co ...

, which had been in the hands of insurgents since 1618. The Emperor rewarded him for his services with confiscated possessions of Charles of Kaunitz, plus a gift of , settling the imperial debt to Maximilian for providing troops. He used the money to purchase more confiscated property. In 1623, he again fought Hungarian rebels and was then appointed commander of all the imperial troops in Bohemia. He was also raised to

. After that, he rarely participated in direct military action. In 1624, he commanded the troops overseeing the expulsion of non-Catholic clergy from Moravia.

Later life

In 1628, he took up command of the imperial army again, but only for a short time. In the same year, he was formally admitted to the Bohemian nobility. In 1638, he was promoted to

and commander of the Hungarian fortress of

and the surrounding area. There were no major battles against the Ottomans and he had time to reinforce the fortress. His preferred residence was

Rabensburg Rabensburg is a town in the district of Mistelbach in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the no ...

Castle in Lower Austria. He expanded the castle into a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

. He adorned the main hall with paintings of the battles he had fought, and added modern fortification. After his brother Charles died in 1627, Maximilian acted as guardian of his nephew Charles Eusebius until 1632. During this time, he was responsible for implementing the

Counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

in the Liechtenstein dominions. During the ongoing

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, the Protestant side took control of the

Duchy of Opava The Principality of Opava ( cs, Opavské knížectví; pl, Księstwo Opawskie) or Duchy of Troppau (german: Herzogtum Troppau) was a historic territory split off from the Margraviate of Moravia before 1269 by King Ottokar II of Bohemia to prov ...

. After

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

had reconquered Opava for the Catholic side, Maximilian was tasked with enforcing Catholicism in the duchy. Maximilian and his wife gave numerous donations to various monasteries. In 1633, they founded a Minim monastery in Vranov. In this monastery, they created a crypt for the burial of members of the House of Liechtenstein. Maximilian died in 1645. Since he had no heir, his possessions were divided between his brother Gundaker and his nephew Charles Eusebius.

Ancestry

References

* Thomas Winkelbauer: ''Fürst und Fürstendiener. Gundakar von Liechtenstein. Ein Österreichischer Aristokrat des konfessionellen Zeitalters'', Vienna and Munich, 1999, , p. 62–64 ff * Jacob von Falke: ''Geschichte des fürstlichen Hauses Liechtenstein'', vol. 2, Vienna, 1877 p. 245–265 * Gerhard Taddey (ed.): ''Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte'', 2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1983, , p. 737

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximilian of Liechtenstein Princes of Liechtenstein Military personnel of the Thirty Years' War Bohemian nobility Austrian nobility 1578 births 1645 deaths 17th-century Austrian people Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire