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Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (German: Wenzel Anton Reichsfürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg, Czech: Václav Antonín z Kounic a Rietbergu; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for about four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichfürst).
Kaunitz was born in Vienna, Austria, one of 19 children of Maximilian Ulrich, third Count of Kaunitz (1679–1746), and his consort Marie Ernestine, née Countess of Ostfriesland and Rietberg (1687–1758), an heiress of the House of Cirksena. The Kaunitz family (Kounicové) belonged to an ancient Czech nobility and, like the related Martinic dynasty, derived its lineage from the medieval Vršovci clan in the Kingdom of Bohemia. First mentioned in the 14th century, they originally lived in the Silesian duchy of Troppau, but in 1509, they moved to Slavkov (Austerlitz) Castle near Brno.
Wenzel Anton's grandfather, Dominik Andreas von Kaunitz (1655–1705), served as a Habsburg Geheimrat and envoy. Elevated to the hereditary rank of a Count (Graf) in 1683, his diplomacy contributed to the 1686 League of Augsburg against King Louis XIV of France and the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the Nine Years' War. Wenzel Anton's father, Count Maximilian Ulrich, was appointed a member of the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) in 1706; he served as Imperial envoy and as governor (Landeshauptmann) of Moravia from 1720. By his marriage with Marie Ernestine in 1699, he inherited the immediate County of Rietberg in Westphalia.
Wenzel Anton himself married Countess Maria Ernestine von Starhemberg (1717–1749), a granddaughter of Imperial Chamber president Count Gundaker Thomas von Starhemberg (1663–1745), on 6 May 1736. Four sons were born of the marriage, among them the Austrian general Count Franz Wenzel von Kaunitz-Rietberg (1742–1825). Wenzel Anton's granddaughter Eleonora (daughter of his eldest son, Ernest) married a successor in the office of State Chancellor, Prince Klemens von Metternich.
As the second son, it was at first intended that Wenzel Anton should become a clergyman, and at thirteen he held a canonry at the Westphalian Diocese of Münster. With the death of his elder brother, however, he decided on a secular career, and studied law and diplomacy at the universities of Vienna, Leipzig and Leiden. He became a chamberlain of the Habsburg emperor Charles VI, and continued his education for some years by a Grand Tour to Berlin, the Netherlands, Italy, Paris, and England.
Back in Vienna, he was appointed a member of the Imperial Aulic Council in 1735. At the Imperial Diet of Regensburg (Ratisbon) in 1739, he was one of the emperor's commissaries. During the War of the Austrian Succession, in March 1741, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Florence, Rome, and to the Kingdom of Sardinia. In August 1742, he was appointed ambassador at Turin and reached the support of King Charles Emmanuel III for Maria Theresa.
In October 1744, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands, while its governor, Prince Charles of Lorraine, fought in the Silesian Wars, commanding the Austrian army in Bohemia against King Frederick II of Prussia. Upon the December 1744 death of Charles' consort and co-governor, Archduchess Maria Anna, a sister of Maria Theresa, Kaunitz was virtually the head of government.
In 1746, however, he was forced to leave Brussels after it was besieged by French forces under Count Maurice de Saxe. He moved with the government of the Austrian Netherlands, first to Antwerp, then to Aachen. His request to be recalled from his difficult situation was heeded in June 1746. On a journey to Westphalia in September 1746, he laid the foundation stone of the parish church in the village of Kaunitz. Two years later, he represented Maria Theresa at the Congress of Aachen at the close of the War of the Austrian Succession. Extremely displeased with the provisions that deprived Austria of the provinces of Silesia and Glatz and guaranteed them to the warlike King of Prussia, he reluctantly signed the resulting Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle on 23 October 1748. Both fearing a nascent Prussia, the Austrian and French sides began to make overtures to each other.
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Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (German: Wenzel Anton Reichsfürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg, Czech: Václav Antonín z Kounic a Rietbergu; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for about four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichfürst).
Kaunitz was born in Vienna, Austria, one of 19 children of Maximilian Ulrich, third Count of Kaunitz (1679–1746), and his consort Marie Ernestine, née Countess of Ostfriesland and Rietberg (1687–1758), an heiress of the House of Cirksena. The Kaunitz family (Kounicové) belonged to an ancient Czech nobility and, like the related Martinic dynasty, derived its lineage from the medieval Vršovci clan in the Kingdom of Bohemia. First mentioned in the 14th century, they originally lived in the Silesian duchy of Troppau, but in 1509, they moved to Slavkov (Austerlitz) Castle near Brno.
Wenzel Anton's grandfather, Dominik Andreas von Kaunitz (1655–1705), served as a Habsburg Geheimrat and envoy. Elevated to the hereditary rank of a Count (Graf) in 1683, his diplomacy contributed to the 1686 League of Augsburg against King Louis XIV of France and the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the Nine Years' War. Wenzel Anton's father, Count Maximilian Ulrich, was appointed a member of the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) in 1706; he served as Imperial envoy and as governor (Landeshauptmann) of Moravia from 1720. By his marriage with Marie Ernestine in 1699, he inherited the immediate County of Rietberg in Westphalia.
Wenzel Anton himself married Countess Maria Ernestine von Starhemberg (1717–1749), a granddaughter of Imperial Chamber president Count Gundaker Thomas von Starhemberg (1663–1745), on 6 May 1736. Four sons were born of the marriage, among them the Austrian general Count Franz Wenzel von Kaunitz-Rietberg (1742–1825). Wenzel Anton's granddaughter Eleonora (daughter of his eldest son, Ernest) married a successor in the office of State Chancellor, Prince Klemens von Metternich.
As the second son, it was at first intended that Wenzel Anton should become a clergyman, and at thirteen he held a canonry at the Westphalian Diocese of Münster. With the death of his elder brother, however, he decided on a secular career, and studied law and diplomacy at the universities of Vienna, Leipzig and Leiden. He became a chamberlain of the Habsburg emperor Charles VI, and continued his education for some years by a Grand Tour to Berlin, the Netherlands, Italy, Paris, and England.
Back in Vienna, he was appointed a member of the Imperial Aulic Council in 1735. At the Imperial Diet of Regensburg (Ratisbon) in 1739, he was one of the emperor's commissaries. During the War of the Austrian Succession, in March 1741, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Florence, Rome, and to the Kingdom of Sardinia. In August 1742, he was appointed ambassador at Turin and reached the support of King Charles Emmanuel III for Maria Theresa.
In October 1744, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands, while its governor, Prince Charles of Lorraine, fought in the Silesian Wars, commanding the Austrian army in Bohemia against King Frederick II of Prussia. Upon the December 1744 death of Charles' consort and co-governor, Archduchess Maria Anna, a sister of Maria Theresa, Kaunitz was virtually the head of government.
In 1746, however, he was forced to leave Brussels after it was besieged by French forces under Count Maurice de Saxe. He moved with the government of the Austrian Netherlands, first to Antwerp, then to Aachen. His request to be recalled from his difficult situation was heeded in June 1746. On a journey to Westphalia in September 1746, he laid the foundation stone of the parish church in the village of Kaunitz. Two years later, he represented Maria Theresa at the Congress of Aachen at the close of the War of the Austrian Succession. Extremely displeased with the provisions that deprived Austria of the provinces of Silesia and Glatz and guaranteed them to the warlike King of Prussia, he reluctantly signed the resulting Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle on 23 October 1748. Both fearing a nascent Prussia, the Austrian and French sides began to make overtures to each other.