Filip Fabricius, later of Rosenfeld and Hohenfall (c. 1570,

Mikulov Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

– 18 October 1632,

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) was a Bohemian

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officer best known for being thrown out of the Prague Castle window during the Third Defenestration of Prague with two Czech Catholic noblemen, Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice and Count Vilém Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk.

Early life

Filip Fabricius was born in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

( Zikmund Winter incorrectly suggested Mohelnice). Jan Kilián, Filip Fabricius z Rosenfeldu a Hohenfallu, Život, rod a dílo defenestrovaného sekretáře, Bohumír Němec – Veduta, České Budějovice 2005,

In later records Georg Fabricius, a German poet and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

, was considered his grandfather. He studied at Prague Jesuit Academy (first mentioned there in 1586 as a

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

student) and became a Bachelor in 1588 and Master a year later. He wrote ceremonial speeches and interpreted. In 1598 he got profitably married to Judita Podmanická, the only living descendant to a rich Prague trader. He became a citizen of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

and there is a later record that he might have been a secretary to Adam of Šternberk. Supported by Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel, Prince of Lobkowicz he became the second (1605) and then the first (1611) secretary of the German expedition (office) of the Bohemian Court Chancery, the highest office in Bohemia. In 1608 he got the predicate ''of Rosenfeld'' from Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Defenestration

On 23 May 1618 Filip Fabricius was present in the offices of the Bohemian Court Chancery on Prague Castle together with Catholic Lords Regent Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice, Vilém Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, Adam of Šternberk and Děpolt of Lobkowicz when armed Protestant Lords arrived and required confessions of guilt for the anti-Protestant policies of the king. Arnošt Denis, Konec samostatnosti české, Prague 1932 Slavata and Martinice were found guilty and thrown out of the windows. Since the hated royal secretary Pavel Michna was not present, the Protestant Lords decided to punish the other secretary – Filip Fabricius. Only Slavata was seriously wounded by the fall; Martinice and Fabricius escaped with light injuries. Fabricius left Prague immediately and went to

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. Fabricius was later ennobled by the emperor and granted the title Baron von Hohenfall (literally "Baron of Highfall").

Later life

Fabricius was one of the first people who informed the Vienna royal court of the Protestant rebellion in Prague. Jan Kilián, Podkomoří a zámecký hejtman na cestách. Komparace pracovních a jiných výjezdů Filipa Fabricia a Martina Pruška z Prušova v letech 1611 – 1632, in: Kubeš Jiří (ed.), Šlechtic na cestách v 16.-18. století, Univerzita Pardubice 2007, He stayed in Vienna and supported the Catholic side as an officer. After the Battle of White Mountain he was appointed a chamber councillor, vice-chamberlain of the dowry cities, sheriff of

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

region, and a member of some other important councils. He was also given several new estates in Prague and

Mělník Mělník (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...

region. His noble epithet was extended with ''of Hohenfall'' (literally of high fall). He died in 1632 and is buried in Church of St. James the Great in the Old Town of Prague.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabricius, Filip 1570s births 1632 deaths People from Mikulov Czech Roman Catholics Execution survivors