Gunther XLI, Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt
, nicknamed "the Quarrelsome" or
Bellicosus
, (25 September 1529 in
Sondershausen
– 23 May 1583 in
Antwerp
) was the ruling count of
Schwarzburg
from 1552 to 1571 and then Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt until his death.
Life
[
edit
]
Count Gunther XLI was the eldest son of Count
Gunther XL
of Schwarzburg (1490?1552), who was nicknamed
the Rich
or
Gunther with the fat mouth
. His mother was Countess Elisabeth (d. 14 May 1572), the daughter of Count Philip of Isenburg-Budingen-Ronneburg.
Gunther XL had united all the possessions of Schwarzburg, except the Lordship of Leutenberg. After he died on 10 November 1552, his four surviving sons ruled jointly at first, with the younger brothers receiving assistance from their mother. However, in 1571, they divided the county among themselves.
Gunther XLI began his military career in
Vienna
as
Seneschal
of Emperor
Charles V
. In 1553, he joined the imperial army which made an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to reconquer
Metz
. He then accompanied Philip, the later King
Philip II of Spain
to London, where Philip would marry Queen
Mary I of England
. In 1555, Gunther XLI stayed in Brussels, where Charles V gave him
10
000
guilders
. He then make a visit to Schwarzburg, and then returned to the imperial army, where he served as a colonel. In 1557, he fought on the victorious side at St. Quentin.
At the turn of 1559/1560, Gunther travelled to Dresden on behalf of
William the Silent
, to take the first steps in the process that led to William marrying
Anna
, the niece of Elector
Augustus
of Saxony on 24 August 1561. Gunther had married William's sister,
Catherine of Nassau-Dillenburg
, on 17 November 1560 for political reasons. The marriage remained childless. The couple lived in
Arnstadt
for a while, where Gunther used his
10
000
guilders
to build
Neideck Castle
. Between 1563 and 1565, Gunther
[1]
and his younger brothers
John Gunther I
and
Albert VII
fought in the army of King
Frederick II of Denmark
in the
Northern Seven Years' War
against Sweden.
In early 1566, Gunther XLI returned to the Netherlands. On 12 March 1566, William the Silent gave a party at the castle of the Counts of Hoogstraten to celebrate his return. However, this was just a pretext. William wanted to discuss his strategy towards
Margaret of Parma
, who was Governor General of the Netherlands, with the other guests, the Counts of
Egmont
,
Horn
,
Bergen
,
Meghen
and
Montigny
.
A few weeks later, Gunther fought in Hungary in the service of Emperor
Maximilian II
against the Turks. During this campaign, Gunther acquired his nickname "the Quarrelsome". He was not respected by the Emperor. He often quarreled with the Emperor and did not obey orders. He protested against the Emperor's plan to besiege
Esztergom
. Maximilian wrote angrily to Vienna:
Count Gunther, does nothing but swagger. He prevents more than he achieves. His survey stated that I have 1500 horses here, but after I used them once, I see no more than 1000. I will probably think three times before I use this colonel again.
Nevertheless, the Emperor found new roles for Gunther. Gunther was appointed to the
Aulic Council
and entrusted with diplomatic duties. In 1567, he worked in the service of Elector August of Saxony, on behalf of the Emperor. He participated in the siege of Gotha, which was necessary to arrest the deposed Duke
John Frederick II
of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach, who had been
banned
for failure to deliver
Wilhelm von Grumbach
at the Emperor's demand. After Gotha surrendered, Gunther arrested John Frederick II and brought him to Vienna.
From 1568 to 1573, Gunther advised
the Duke of Alba
, the Spanish Governor General in the Netherlands. He then spent some time in Schwarzburg. In 1582, Emperor
Rudolph II
sent Gunther to the Southern Netherlands again, where he advised Governor General Archduke
Matthias
as Privy Councillor.
Gunther XLI died on 23 May 1583 in Antwerp. His body was transported from Antwerp to Delft, from there by boat to Emden and from there to Sondershausen, where he was buried.
As Gunther XLI was childless, his younger brothers divided the
County of Schwarzburg
again after his death.
John Gunther I
(1532–1586) received Arnstadt and Sondershausen and founded the
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
line.
Albrecht VII
(1537–1605) received Rudolstadt and founded the
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
line.
William I
(1534–1597) received
Frankenhausen
. Despite marrying twice, William I died childless in 1597 and his share of the County fell to Albrecht VII.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Jens Beger, Eduardo Pedruelo Martin, Jose Luis Rodriguez de Diego, Joachim Emig and Jochen Lengemann:
Gunther XLI. Graf von Schwarzburg in Diensten Karls V. und Philipps II. in den Niederlanden (1550) 1551?1559 (1583)
, published jointly by the Thuringian State Archive in Rudolstadt and the Historical Society for Schwarzburg, Gleichen and Hohenlohe, Weimar, 2003,
ISBN
3-89807-056-5
- Carl Eduard Vehse:
Die Hofe zu Thuringen
, Kiepenheuer, Leipzig, 1994,
ISBN
3-378-00561-0
- Klaus Vetter:
Wilhelm von Oranien
, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1987,
ISBN
3-05-000247-6
- Friedrich Apfelstedt:
Das Haus Kevernburg-Schwarzburg von seinem Ursprunge bis auf unsere Zeit
, Arnstadt, 1890
- Johann Christian August Junghans:
Geschichte der schwarzburgischen Regenten
, Leipzig, 1821,
Online
- Dr. Kamill von Behr:
Genealogie der in Europa regierenden Furstenhauser
, Leipzig, 1870
- Bernhard Anemuller (1879), "
Gunther XLI.
",
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(in German), vol. 10, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 142?143
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|