Count Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz-Rietberg ( cs, Maxmilián Oldřich z Kounic-Rietbergu; 27 March 1679 – 10 September 1746) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

diplomat and politician who served as governor of

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 m ...

from 1720 until his death. He was the father of the powerful state chancellor of Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress and Queen Regnant of Bohemia and Hungary,

Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (german: Wenzel Anton Reichsfürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg, cz, Václav Antonín z Kounic a Rietbergu; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg mona ...

Early life

Maximilian Ulrich was born in

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

to a wealthy Moravian noble family as the third son of Count (1655–1705), Baron of Šlapanice and Countess Maria Eleonora von (died 2 December 1706), daughter of Count Adolph of Sternberg, the

Supreme Burgrave of Bohemia The Supreme Burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia, originally the Burgrave of Prague or the Burgrave of Prague Castle ( Czech: ''Nejvyšší purkrabí''; German: ''Oberstburggraf;'' Latin: ''supremus burgravius'') was the most important land official ...

. He was appointed an imperial

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

at a young age, and in 1706, he was made an imperial

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Career

At least from the summer of 1716, Maximilian Ulrich was active as imperial

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Br ...

to various German princely courts. On 21 September 1720, he was named ''

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 ...

'', imperial secret councillor''.'' In 1721, he served as imperial ambassador to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, witnessing the papal conclave that elected Benedict XIII after the death of

Innocent XIII Pope Innocent XIII ( la, Innocentius XIII; it, Innocenzo XIII; 13 May 1655 – 7 March 1724), born as Michelangelo dei Conti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 May 1721 to his death in March 1724. He is ...

. In the same year he returned to the place of origin of his family,

, becoming its governor. He laid claim to the ancestral lands of his wife, the

County of Rietberg The County of Rietberg (german: Grafschaft Rietberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was situated on the upper Ems in Westphalia, between the Prince-Bishopric of Paderbo ...

, fighting a long and costly legal battle against the

princely family 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 me ...

and the

king of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

. After he had won the suit in 1718, he changed the name of his family to 'Kaunitz-Rietberg' and was admitted to the . As part of the Rietberg inheritance, he and his descendants also assumed the lordship of Esens, Stederdorf, and

Wittmund Wittmund is a town and capital of the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Wittmund is a town of 21,000 inhabitants located in Germany's historic coastal district of East Frisia, between the towns of Aurich and Jever. The ...

in East Frisia, despite these lands being under

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

occupation.

Governor of Moravia

Maximilian Ulrich was a devoted governor who established and oversaw many beneficial and charitable institutions, among them the State Academy of Olomouc. He worked on making the river Morava navigable and had a road built between Brno and

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

; he regularised the

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

system of Moravia, increasing royal income and enacted a partial reform of the provincial administration. He also introduced restrictions on the lives of the significant

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

population of the region and ordered the expulsion of

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

Personal life

On 6 August 1699, he married ''Prinzess'' (1683/1686–1758), heiress of the

House of Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, the town of ...

as the only child of , Count of Rietberg and Countess Johanna Franziska von Manderscheid-Blankenheim. One source claims that the two had been betrothed in 1697 and that Maria was fourteen and Maximilian Ulrich seventeen, while another states that the groom was twenty and the bride thirteen at the time of their wedding. Maximilain Ulrich died in

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 1746, aged sixty-seven.

Issue

From his marriage, Maximilian Ulrich had sixteen children, eleven sons and five daughters: *Maria Johanna Franziska (born 1704); *Dominika Josepha (1705–1736); *Maria Josepha Agnes (18 May 1706 – 7 December 1726); *Maria Antonia Josepha Justine (15 June 1708 – 14 July 1778), who married Count Johann Adam in 1738 and had no issue, naming named their nephew as their heir, thus founding the line of Kaunitz-Rietberg-Questenberg; *Johann Dominik I (23 February 1709 – 1751); *

(2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794), state chancellor to Maria Theresa from 1753 and

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 ...

from 1764. On 6 May 1736, he married Countess Maria Ernestine von

Starhemberg The House of Starhemberg is the name of an old and distinguished Austrian noble family originating from Upper Austria, specifically Steyr and Steinbach. Members of the family played important political role within the Holy Roman Empire and ...

and had issue, among them Dominik Andreas II from whom the Kaunitz-Rietberg-Questenbergs descend; *Maximilian Joseph (1712–1736); *Franz Leopold (born 1713, died young); *Johann Wilhelm (born 1713, died young); *Franz Thaddäus (1714–1722); *Karl Joseph (26 December 1715 – 31 March 1737); *Emanuel Joseph (9 September 1717 – 10 May 1727); *Ludwig Joseph (4 September 1720 – 12 March 1745); *Maria Eleonore (8 April 1723 – 7 May 1776), married Count Rudolph

Pálffy Pálffy or Palffy is a Hungarian surname which means "son of Pál (Paul)". The family name is common in Hungary and Slovakia. Pálffy ab Erdöd noble family The most famous bearers of the name Pálffy are the members of the Austro-Hungarian noble ...

; *Johann Joseph Alois (21 June 1726 – 10 March 1743); *Rudolph Joseph (1727–1728).

Honours

* :

Knight of the Golden Fleece This article contains a list of knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Knights of the Burgundian Golden Fleece 15th Century !Year of Induction!!Name!!Born!!Died!!Notes , - , rowspan=25, 1430, , Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, , 1396, , ...

(1744)