Franz Seraph von Dietrichstein (, 22 August 1570 – 19 September 1636), was an Austrian nobleman and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, member of an ancient House of Dietrichstein, was the 1st

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

of Dietrichstein, Archbishop of Olomouc,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

( Landeshauptmann) of

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Early life

Dietrichstein was born on 22 August 1570 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, the ninth of 13 children born to

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Adam von Dietrichstein (1527-1590), the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

's ambassador to

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and his wife, Margarita Folch de Cardona, member of the powerful aragonese House of Folch. On his father's side, his great-grandfather was

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

, through his natural daughter, Baroness Barbara von Rottal (1500-1550), who married Adam's father, Siegmund Freiherr von Dietrichstein (1484–1533). He studied in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Then in 1588, at age 18, he moved to

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to study at the Collegium Germanicum. While in Rome he befriended Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini who was elected pope in 1592 and took the name

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

. Dietrichstein became the new pope's chamberlain and worked to represent the interests of his native Bohemia as canon of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

s of

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, Wroclav,

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

and Leitmeritz.''Franz von Dietrichstein''
by S. Miranda (

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, last updated May 2012)

Cardinalate

Dietrichstein was ordained in 1597 and then elevated to cardinal only two years later, in 1599, with an appointment as cardinal-priest of San Silvestro in Capite. In May of that same year he was elected as Archbishop of Olomouc, though his election was opposed by members of the local cathedral chapter. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

by the pope himself, with special dispensation for having not reached canonical age (he was only 29 at the time). According to historian Ludwig von Pastor, Dietrichstein became the, ''"soul of all Catholic undertakings in

"''. It was apparently due to Dietrichstein's zeal that

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

reformer Karl von Zierotin was forced into early retirement. He was unable to participate in the papal conclave of March 1605 but he did take part in the conclave of May 1605 which elected Pope Paul V. In 1607 he returned again to Bohemia as President of

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 (1576–16 ...

's privy council.

Thirty Years' War

At the outbreak of the Bohemian Revolt and the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, in 1618, Dietrichstein fled to

but returned after Emperor Ferdinand II's decisive victory at the Battle of White Mountain and was appointed Governor of

from 1621 to 1628. Due to the ongoing conflict he did not participate in either the

1621 Events January–March * January 12 – Şehzade Mehmed, the 15-year old half-brother of Ottoman Sultan Osman II, is put to death by hanging on Osman's orders. Before dying, Mehmed prays aloud that Osman's reign as Sultan be r ...

or 1623 papal conclaves. He became responsible for implementing the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

in Bohemia and surrounding regions and for mediating internal Habsburg disputes. In 1624, he was elevated as ''

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German language, German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. ' were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ...

'' (Prince) ''von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg'', a herediatry title he could pass on to his nephew Maximilian and his legitimate male descendants. The Ditrichstein family went extinct with the death of the last

in 1864. In 1868, the title of Fürst von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg was recreated in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

for Count Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, the husband of Countess Alexandrine von Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie (1824–1906), reviving the title previously held by his wife's family. Prince Alexander was first cousin to both

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and her husband,

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, th ...

. In 1635, Franz Seraph was banished from court and all of his possessions were confiscated, but the dispute was resolved later that year, his properties and titles were restored and he was appointed Cardinal-protector of the

. The following year he was also appointed Imperial governor in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

Private life

Although he never married, Franz Seraph had at least one extramarital child with already married Elisabeth, Baroness Berger von Berg (Perger z Pergu), born Kummer (b. 1594), second wife of Baron Georg Berger von Berg (Jiří Baron Perger z Pergu) (d. 1619), Imperial tax collector for Bohemia. Their natural daughter, accepted legally as a daughter of her mother's husband, Baroness Johanna Franziska Berger von Berg (Perger z Pergu) (d. 1654), later married Count Franz von Magnis (1596–1652), as his second wife.

Death

Franz von Dietrichstein died in September 1636 at the age of 66 in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

(current

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrichstein, Franz von 1570 births 1636 deaths Austrian princes Habsburg Bohemian nobility Roman Catholic archbishops of Olomouc Spanish Roman Catholic archbishops Politicians from Olomouc Moravian politicians