Polyxena Of Pernštejn
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Polyxena of Lobkowicz (1566 – 24 May 1642) was a politically active Czech noble and styled Princess of the House of Lobkowicz. She played an important role as the channel between the noble families of Bohemia and the imperial court in Vienna through her connection with the Spanish envoy during the counter-reformation in Bohemia after 1618.


Life

She was the daughter of the Imperial High Chancellor of Bohemia, Vratislav of Pernštejn (1530–1582), and a Spanish noblewoman, Maria Maximiliana Manrique de Lara y Mendoza. Maria brought with her from Spain a statue of the Child Jesus, which she had received as a wedding present. It became well-known for its purported miraculous healing powers. Maria Pernštejn presented the statue to her daughter, upon Polyxena's marriage to the High Burgrave Wilhelm von Rosenberg in 1587. William died in 1592. In 1603, the widowed Polyxena married the Imperial High Chancellor Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel of Lobkowitz. In 1618, the aging Emperor
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 * ...
named his cousin
Ferdinand of Styria Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforeh ...
his heir, and had him crowned King of Bohemia. Tensions increased between the Catholic Ferdinand and the Protestant nobles. The application of the Letter of Majesty was controversial in Bohemia. The Protestants argued that it allowed them to build churches on Crown and Catholic prelates' lands, but the Catholics did not accept their interpretation. In 1618 two of the Emperor's royal governors were thrown from the windows of Hradčany Castle by Protestant nobles. They survived the fall and took refuge from a mob in the Lobkowicz Palace below the castle, protected by Polyxena Lobkowicz.Carey, Nick. "The Lobkowicz family", Radio Prague International, September 20, 2000
/ref> The Defenestration in Prague contributed to the subsequent Bohemian Revolt. In 1628, Polyxena Pernštejn von Lobkowicz donated the statue to the Discalced Carmelites of the Carmelite
Church of Our Lady Victorious The Church of Our Lady of Victories (''Kostel Panny Marie Vítězné''), also referred as the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague, in Malá Strana, the "Lesser Quarter" of Prague, is a church governed and administered by the Discalced Carmelites ...
. It became known as the
Infant of Prague The Infant Jesus of Prague ( cs, Pražské Jezulátko: es, Niño Jesús de Praga) is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding a '' globus cruciger'' of Spanish origin, now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church of ...
. She is the ancestor of several royal families, including that of the Russian Emperors, the kings of Denmark and England, and others.


References


Bibliography

* Petr Vorel: Páni z Pernštejna. Vzestup a pád rodu zubří hlavy v dějinách Čech a Moravy. Rybka, Prag 1999, , S. 265, 267f., 271–274 und 276–280. {{Authority control 1566 births 1642 deaths 16th-century Bohemian people 17th-century Bohemian people Bohemian nobility Lobkowicz family