Charles Theodore Otto, Prince of

Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan * House of Salm, a European ...

(; 1645-1710), was Count of Salm-Salm since 1663 and

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 ...

at the Austrian Court.

Family

He was the son of Leopold Philip Charles,

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 ...

(Prince) of Salm, and his wife, Maria Anna of

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The municipality is named afte ...

Batenburg Batenburg is a city in the municipality of Wijchen, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located on the Meuse, about 15 km west of Nijmegen. It is well known for the remains of a medieval fort in the center of the town. Batenburg receive ...

, a Dutch noblewoman from

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. His paternal grandmother, Christina of Croÿ-Havré, was herself a granddaughter of

Anna of Lorraine Anna of Lorraine (25 July 1522 – 15 May 1568) was a princess of the House of Lorraine. She was Princess of Orange by her first marriage to René of Châlon, and Duke of Aarschot, Duchess of Aarschot by her second marriage to Philippe II de ...

.
Charles Theodore married

Louise Marie von Simmern Luise Marie of the Palatinate (''Luise Marie von der Plafz''; 23 July 1647 – 11 March 1679) was a Palatine princess who married Charles Theodore, the Prince (''Fürst'') of Salm-Salm. A great-granddaughter of James I of England and niece of ...

, daughter of

Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern Edward, Prince Palatine of the Rhine (''Eduard, Prinz von der Pfalz'') (5 October 1625 – 10 March 1663), was the sixth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (of the House of Wittelsbach), the "Winter King" of Bohemia, by his consort, the Scot ...

and

Anne Gonzaga Anna Gonzaga (Anna Marie; 1616 – 6 July 1684) was an Italian French noblewoman and salonist. The youngest daughter of Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, and Catherine de Mayenne (herself daughter of Charles, Duke of Mayenne), An ...

, on 20 March 1671. They had one son, Louis Otto, and three daughters. Éléonore von Salm, daughter of Charles Theodore, Prince of Salm became 1st Duchess of

Ursel Ursel is a Flemish surname: Place Ursel, town in Flanders, part of Knesselare. Name * Noble house d'Ursel, Duke of Ursel, see too: D'Ursel Castle. ** Lancelot II of Ursel ** Charles-Joseph, 4th Duke d'Ursel ** Marie Joseph Charles, 6th Duke d ...

. His living descendants include

Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria , title = Duke of CalabriaGrandee of SpainCount of Caserta , image = , caption = , succession = Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (disputed) , reign-type = Tenure , reign =5 October 2015 – present , pre ...

Bernhard, Margrave of Baden Bernhard Max Friedrich August Gustav Louis Kraft Prinz und Markgraf von Baden, Herzog von Zähringen (born 27 May 1970), sometimes styled Hereditary Prince of Baden or Margrave of Baden,, is the head of the House of Baden since 29 December 2022 fo ...

and the current Duke of Ursel.

Life

He studied in 1663 at the military academy in Paris and raised a regiment in 1667 and 1672.
He fought in the

Siege of Maastricht (1673) The siege of Maastricht took place from 15 to 30 June 1673 during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672 to 1678, when a French army captured the Dutch fortress of Maastricht. The city occupied a key strategic position on the Meuse river and its capture ...

, and one year later against the French in the

Battle of Seneffe The Battle of Seneffe took place on 11 August 1674 near Seneffe in present-day Belgium during the 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War. It was fought between a primarily French force commanded by Condé and a combined Dutch, Imperial, and Spanish forc ...

.
In 1682 he joined the Imperial Army and fought against the Turks in the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...

and the

Siege of Buda (1684) The siege of Buda (14 July – 30 October 1684) was a siege by the Holy Roman Empire of the Ottoman fortress of Buda. After 109 days, the siege was abandoned. Prelude In May 1684, an army of 38,000–43,000 men marched under Charles V, Duke of ...

. In 1685, Emperor Leopold I named him Oberhofmeister and in 1692 he became Konferenzrat. He gained great influence at the Austrian court and encouraged several reforms. When

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 *Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

became Emperor in 1705, Carl Theodor Otto remained Obersthofmeister and First Geheime Rat, which gave him powers equal to that of a Prime Minister. But he was more and more opposed by the successful and influential Field Marshal

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

. After Carl Theodor Otto caused a painful conflict with

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

in 1709 over the city of

Comacchio Comacchio (; egl, label= Comacchiese, Cmâc' ) is a town and ''comune'' of Emilia Romagna, Italy, in the province of Ferrara, from the provincial capital Ferrara. It was founded about two thousand years ago; across its history it was first govern ...

, he was encouraged to retire from service due to health problems. He died one year later.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Theodore, Prince Of Salm Salm family 1645 births 1710 deaths Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire Obersthofmeister