Prince Karl I von Liechtenstein
1569–1627
Jan van de Velde (1593–1641), Portrait of Prince Karl I von Liechtenstein (1569–1627)
Predecessor
Hartmann II von Liechtenstein
Successor
Prince Karl Eusebius I von LiechtensteinThrough his political activity Prince Karl I von Liechtenstein created the basis for the rise of the House of Liechtenstein to become one of the leading noble families of the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1608 he was the first of the family to be raised to the rank of prince, and acquired the Silesian duchies of Troppau (Opava) and Jägerndorf (Krnov). He was influenced in his taste for the arts by Emperor Rudolf II and gave commissions to major artists at the imperial court.
The eldest son of Hartmann II and his wife Anna Maria, Karl I was born, probably at Feldsberg (Valtice), on 30 July 1569. Around 1592 he married Anna Maria Černohorský von Boskowitz (c. 1575–1625). The couple had five children, including Karl I's successor Karl Eusebius I.
Throughout his life Karl I repeatedly made the right decision, thus enabling the family’s spectacular political, social and economic ascent in just one generation. He was given a Protestant upbringing and comprehensive education aligned with the Augsburg Confession, as desired by his father Hartmann II, who was among the leaders of the opposition of the Protestant Estates to the House of Habsburg. Nonetheless, to the complete surprise of his peers, Karl I converted to Catholicism on All Hallows’ Day in 1599, demonstratively forswearing ‘heresy’ in the Jesuit Church at Brünn (Brno) in the presence of the papal nuncio Filippo Spinelli.
From correspondence between Karl I and Rudolf II from 1597 we know that Karl I already possessed a significant collection of ‘superb and rare pieces of art and paintings’.
In 1600 Emperor Rudolf II appointed him ‘Obersthofmeister’ (head of the court household, the highest office at court) and president of the Privy Council – and thus effectively the head of government affairs – in his capital at Prague. From correspondence between Karl I and Rudolf II from 1597 we know that Karl I already possessed a significant collection of ‘superb and rare pieces of art and paintings’. Karl I seems to have ceded a number of these works to the emperor.
RAISED TO THE RANK OF HEREDITARY PRINCE
In the Habsburg ‘Bruderzwist’ (fraternal feud) between Emperor Rudolf II and his younger brother Archduke Matthias, Karl I sided with the latter. Working closely with Karl von Žerotín, a friend from his youth, he pursued a policy that succeeded in helping Matthias to acquire the margravate of Moravia. The Moravian Estates appointed Karl I von Liechtenstein as leader of the embassy that Matthias invited to Brünn (Brno) on 30 August 1608 for the ceremony of homage. In gratitude for his services and loyalty, Matthias raised Karl I to the rank of prince on 20 December 1608. As Emperor Matthias I he enfeoffed Karl I with the Silesian dukedom of Troppau (Opava) in 1614, and in 1623 the prince received from Emperor Ferdinand II the deed of enfeoffment for the dukedom of Jägerndorf (Krnov), also in Silesia. The coats of arms of the two dukedoms are incorporated in the princely Liechtenstein family arms, and the princes and princesses continue to bear these titles today.
In gratitude for his services and loyalty, Matthias raised Karl I von Liechtenstein to the rank of hereditary prince on 20 December 1608.
During the uprising of the Bohemian and Austrian Estates, the prince sided unequivocally with Emperor Ferdinand II. Following the battle of White Mountain near Prague in November 1620, which ended in victory for the imperial Catholic party, Karl I was entrusted with implementing the trials for high treason against members and followers of the overthrown ‘counter-government’ of the Estates, as well as the confiscation of their demesnes and estates. Karl I attempted several times to avoid this task, which he found extremely unpleasant, by arguing that previously the king of Bohemia himself had always presided over trials for high treason and that he recommended the same practice in this case. However, his objections were always overruled. Karl I duly presided over the trials, carrying out his task with the utmost scrupulousness. In several cases he recommended that the death penalty should not be applied, and in fact Ferdinand II agreed with his recommendations in five instances. Karl I was able to significantly increase his own fortune by acquiring many of the confiscated estates under advantageous conditions.
PRINCELY COLLECTING AT THE IMPERIAL COURT
Regrettably, very little is known about the contents of Karl I's collections, in particular his collection of paintings. He had close relations with the painters at Rudolf II’s court in Prague. After Karl I's death eighty-three paintings were recorded at his residence in Prague alone, among which were several works by Hans von Aachen (1552–1615). It is known that Karl I borrowed tapestries and paintings from the imperial collections in Prague on several occasions in order to have copies of them made for himself. The holdings of the imperial collections are recorded in the Kunstkammer inventory of Emperor Rudolf II from 1607, an important historical document that has been preserved in the Princely Collections since Karl I occupied his high-ranking position at the Prague court.
Karl I von Liechtenstein had close relations with the painters at Rudolf II’s court in Prague.
Karl I showed far greater interest in applied arts objects, commissioning pieces from renowned goldsmiths, jewellers and lapidaries. An inventory from 1623 lists extensive holdings of silverware as well as a large number of vessels made from semi-precious stones. A payment made to Ottavio Miseroni (1567–1624) ‘wegen Ihre fürstl. Gnaden Truheiss’ (‘for His Princely Grace’s chest’) is also recorded for the same year. The chest in question with panels of gilt-brass framed commessi di pietre dure is still a major achievement of lapidary art. By contrast, the ducal coronet and matching sword that the prince commissioned for a huge sum from two jewellers in Frankfurt am Main as insignia for his ducal rank in 1623 have been lost and are recorded solely in a gouache dating from 1756. A perpetual calendar by Erasmus Habermel owned by Prince Karl I documents the rise of science at this time and the keen accompanying interest in measuring instruments and their complex technology.
MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE AT THE TURN OF MANNERISM TO THE BAROQUE
In 1607 Karl I was given the task on behalf of the emperor of settling a dispute with the sculptor Adrian de Fries (1556–1626) concerning outstanding payments. It is surely no coincidence that de Fries created the life-size seated figure of “Christ in Distress” in the same year: the cast inscription on the back of the socle records Karl I as having commissioned it. It was followed shortly afterwards by the artist’s equally monumental sculpture of “St Sebastian”. Both works helped to establish the internationally significant standing of the Princely Collections in the field of sculpture.
In Karl I we have the first great patron and collector of the family before us, something that was also evident to Emperor Ferdinand II, who after Karl I's death in Prague on 12 February 1627 noted that he had had ‘a rare passion for artistic matters’.
“Christ in Distress” and “St Sebastian” by Adrian de Fries contributed to establishing the standing of the Princely Collections in the field of sculpture.
