Petr Maťa

Ferdinand z Verdenberka (1625-1666) mezi Rakousy, Moravou a Římem

The article throws fresh light on the social and genealogical connections of Ferdinand von Verdenberg on the basis of both the previous literature on the subject and several new sources, and complements the papers by Martin Mádl and Jana Zapletalová published in this issue. Although he was the only son and principal heir of a leading minister at court, Count Vedenberg did not achieve any important position, either at the imperial court or in the provincial administration, during the course of his relatively short life. His involvement in public administration was marginal, as is testified to by the fact that he attended the provincial diets in Lower Austria and Moravia only sporadically, and this was in spite of the fact that he repeatedly tried to acquire an important provincial office in the latter province. The main focus of Verdenberg's life remained Vienna, where nearly all the important family events in his life took place. The article rectifies some incorrect details about Ferdinand's three wives, all of whom died young, his two sisters, and his two daughters who survived to adulthood. An interesting episode in Verdenberg's life, which illustrates his status as a patron and lover of the arts and a mediator of cultural values, and which was previously unknown, is the journey he made to Rome in connection with a pilgrimage to Loreto in the spring of 1655, at the time of the election of Pope Alexander VII. This excursion per curiosit?, without any specific purpose, may perhaps be related to Verdenberg's interest in art and investment in culture, and tempts us to hypothesise about various further connections, which future research will hopefully make clearer.

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