Šlechtic a sňatek ve druhé polovině 17. století. Sňatkové strategie Jana Adolfa a Ferdinanda ze Schwarzenberku

• Authors: Rostislav Smíšek

Title variants

EN

THE NOBLEMAN AND THE WEDLOCK IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY. MARRIAGE STRATEGIES OF JAN ADOLF AND FERDINAND OF SCHWARZENBERG

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In the 1650s, the wedding model of Bohemian, Moravian, Silesian and Austrian noble families was based on rational foundations, which did not yield to “harmful” emotions. Planning of a marriage alliance stemmed from predetermined policies, which promoted the family’s prestige and power. The nobleman was not allowed to marry whichever woman he desired, but had to adhere to certain strict selection criteria. This essay follows the mentioned course by penetrating into the intellectual world of Jan Adolf of Schwarzenberg. It describes a gradual evolution and transformation of his attitudes towards finding a suitable bride for his only son Ferdinand. On Jan Adolf of Schwarzenberg’s children, we can observe important facts, which strongly influenced marriage policies of the subsequent generations. For most of the 17th century, the Schwarzenbergs (unlike other significant families of the monarchy, e.g. the Dietrichsteins, Lichtensteins and Lambergs) lacked a great number of descendants and were unable to form a greatly branched system of relationships. In case of Adam of Schwarzenberg, only the younger son Jan Adolf reached adult age. The fortune only endowed him with two offspring who did not die during their childhood, i.e. Ferdinand and Marie Ernestine. This lack was reflected in the selection of spouses, who were able to promote splendour and prestige of the family. Jan Adolf of Schwarzenberg was thus obliged to proceed with much greater care than Ferdinand of Dietrichstein, Jan Maxmilian of Lamberg or Gundakar of Lichtenstein and carefully consider benefits of the selected persons. In case of Jan Adolf and Ferdinand of Schwarzenberg, age, economical aspects and the Catholic Church played the decisive role; appearance and personal qualities came second. The bride’s social status and the family’s respect in the eyes of early modern noble society were far more important. The potential wife was required to be on equal or even higher social level. Although the Schwarzenbergs wished to consolidate their social authority and at last establish a relationship with a Roman Empire princely family in the 1670s, economical aspects prevailed and Ferdinand of Schwarzenberg finally married Countess Mary Anna of Sulz in spring 1674. Thanks to this prudent act, he acquired further independent imperial estates after the death of Jan Ludwig II of Sulz in May 1687 – the Kleggau county and the Sulz county in Schwaben.

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Folia historica Bohemica
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 167-198

Contributors

author

Rostislav Smíšek

• Historický ústav Filozofické fakulty Jihočeské univerzity v Českých Budějovicích, Na Mlýnské stoce 35, 370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic