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ESTERHAZY OF GALANTHA

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 795 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ESTERHAZY OF GALANTHA , a See also:

noble Magyar See also:family. Its origin has been traced, not without some uncertainty, to Salamon of Estoras, whose sons See also:Peter and Illyes divided their patrimony in 1238. Peter founded the family of Zerhazy, and ll]yes that of Illyeshazy, which became See also:extinct in the male See also:line in 1838. The first member of the family to emerge definitely into See also:history was Ferencz Zerhazy (1563-1594), See also:vice See also:lord-See also:lieutenant of the See also:county of See also:Pressburg, who took the name of Esterhazy when he was created Freiherr of Galantha, an See also:estate acquired by the family in 1421. His eldest son, See also:Daniel (d. 1654), founded the See also:house of Czesznek, the third, See also:Pal (d. 1641), the line of Zolyom (Altsohl), and the See also:fourth, Miklos, that See also:branch of the family which occupies the most considerable See also:place in Hungarian history, that of Fraknb or Forchtenstein. This MlxLOs [See also:Nicholas] ESTERHAZY of Galantha (1582–1645) was See also:born at Galantha on the 8th of See also:April 1582. His parents were Protestants, and he himself, at first, followed the See also:Protestant persuasion; but he subsequently went over to Catholicism and, along with See also:Cardinal See also:Pazmany, his most serious See also:rival at See also:court, became a See also:pillar of Catholicism, both religiously and politically, and a worthy opponent of the two See also:great Protestant champions of the See also:period, See also:Gabriel See also:Bethlen and See also:George I.Rakbczy. In 1611 he married Orsolya, the widow of the wealthy Ferencz Magocsy, thus coming into See also:possession of her gigantic estates, and in 1622 he acquired Fraknb. See also:Matthias II. made him a See also:baron (1613), See also:count of Beregh (1617), and lord-lieutenant of the county of Zolyom and magister curiae regiae (1618). At the See also:coronation of See also:Ferdinand II., when he officiated as See also:grand-standardbearer, he received the See also:order of the See also:Golden Fleece and fresh donations.

At the See also:

diet of See also:Sopron, 1625, he was elected See also:palatine of See also:Hungary. As a diplomatist he powerfully contributed to bring about the See also:peace of See also:Nikolsburg (1622) and the peace of See also:Linz (1645) (see HUNGARY: History). His See also:political ideal was the consolidation of the See also:Habsburg See also:dynasty as a means towards freeing Hungary from the See also:Turkish yoke. He himself, on one occasion (1623), defeated the See also:Turks on the See also:banks of the Nyitra; but anything like sustained operations against them was then impossible. He was also one of the most eminent writers of his See also:day. He died at Nagy-Heflan on the 11th of See also:September 1645, leaving five sons. See See also:Works of Nicholas Esterhdzy, with a See also:biography by Ferencz Toldi (Hung.) (Pest, 1852) ; Nicholas Count Esterhdzy, Palatine of Hungary (a biography, Hung.) (Pest, 1863-187o). His third son PAL [See also:Paul] (163 1713), See also:prince palatine, founded the princely branch of the family of Esterhazy. He was born at Kis Marton (Eisenstadt) on the 7th of September 1635. In 1663 he fought, along with Miklos See also:Zrinyi, against the Turks, and distinguished himself under Montecuculi. In 1667 he was appointed See also:commander-in-See also:chief in See also:south Hungary, where he defeated the malcontents at Leutschau and Gyork. In 1681 he was elected palatine.

In 1683 he participated in the deliverance of See also:

Vienna from the Turks, and entered Buda in 1686 at the See also:head of 20,000 men. Thoroughly reactionary, and absolutely de-voted to the Habsburgs, he contributed more than any one else to the curtailing of the privileges of the Magyar gentry in 1687, when he was created a prince of the See also:Empire, with (in 1712) See also:succession to the first-born of his house. His " aulic tendencies " made him so unpopular that his offer of See also:mediation between the Rakbczy insurgents and the See also:government was rejected by the Hungarian diet, and the negotiations, which led to the peace of Szatmar (see HUNGARY: History), were entrusted to Janos Pallfy. He died on the 26th of See also:March 1713. He loved the arts and sciences, wrote several religious works, and was one of the chief compilers of the Trophaeum Domus Inclytae Estoratianae. See Lajos Merenyi, Prince Paul Esterhdzy (Hung.) (See also:Budapest, 1895). Prince PAL ANTAL, See also:grandson of the prince palatine Pal, was a distinguished soldier, who See also:rose to the See also:rank of See also:field-See also:marshal in 1758. On his See also:death in 1762 he was succeeded by his See also:brother. Prince MIKLOS JOZSEF [Nicholas See also:Joseph] (1714–1790), also a brilliant soldier, is perhaps best remembered as a See also:patron of the See also:fine arts. For his services in command of an See also:infantry See also:brigade at See also:Kolin (1759) he was specially mentioned by Count Dann, and became one of the See also:original members of the order of Maria See also:Theresa. In 1762 he was appointed See also:captain of Maria Theresa's Hungarian bodyguard, in 1764 Feldzeugmeister, and in 1768 field marshal. His other honours included the Golden Fleece and the grade of commander in the order of Maria Theresa.

Joseph II. conferred the princely See also:

title, which had previously been limited to the eldest-born of the house, on all his descendants, male and See also:female. Esterhazy died in Vienna on the 28th of September 1790. He rebuilt in the See also:Renaissance See also:style Schloss Esterhazy, the splendour of which won for it the name of the Hungarian See also:Versailles. See also:Haydn was for See also:thirty years conductor of his private See also:orchestra and See also:general musical director, and many of his compositions were written for the private See also:theatre and the concerts of this prince. His grandson, Prince MIKLOs [Nicholas] (1765–1833) was born on the 12th of See also:December 1765. He began See also:life as an officer in the See also:guards, subsequently making the grand tour, which first awakened his deep See also:interest in See also:art. He quitted the See also:army for See also:diplomacy after reaching the rank of Feldzeugmeister, and was employed as extraordinary See also:ambassador, on See also:special occasions, when he displayed a magnificence extraordinary even for the Esterhazys. He made at Vienna an important collection of paintings and engravings, which came into the possession of the Hungarian See also:Academy at Budapest in 1865. At his summer See also:palace of Kis Marton (Eisenstadt) he erected a See also:monument to Haydn. His immense See also:expenditure on See also:building and the arts involved the family in See also:financial difficulties for two generations. When the See also:French invaded See also:Austria in 1797, he raised a See also:regiment of moo men at his own expense. In 1809, when See also:Napoleon invited the See also:Magyars to elect a new See also:king to replace the Habsburgs, overtures were made to Prince Nicholas, who refused the See also:honour and, further, raised a regiment of See also:volunteers in See also:defence of See also:Austrian interests.

He died at See also:

Como on the 24th of See also:November 1833. His son, Prince PAL ANTAL [Paul See also:Anthony] (1786–1866), entered the See also:diplomatic service. In 18o6 he was secretary of the See also:embassy in See also:London, and in 1807 worked with Prince Metternich in the same capacity in See also:Paris. In rho he was accredited to the court of See also:Dresden, where he tried in vain to detach See also:Saxony from Napoleon, and in 1814 he accompanied his See also:father on a See also:secret See also:mission to See also:Rome. He took a leading See also:part in all the diplomatic negotiations consequent upon the See also:wars of 1813-1815, especially at the See also:congress of See also:Chatillon, and on the conclusion of peace was, @at the See also:express See also:desire of the prince See also:regent, sent as ambassador to London. In 1824 he represented Austria as ambassador extraordinary at the coronation of See also:Charles X., and was the premier Austrian See also:commissioner at the London conferences of 183o–1836. In 1842 he quitted diplomacy for politics and attached himself to "the See also:free-principles party." He was See also:minister for See also:foreign affairs in the first responsible Hungarian See also:ministry (1848), but resigned his See also:post in September bcause he could see no way of reconciling the court with the nation. The last years of his life were spent in See also:comparative poverty and See also:isolation, as even the Esterhazy-Forchtenstein estates were unequal to the See also:burden of supporting his fabulous extravagance and had to be.placed in the hands of curators. The See also:cadet branch of the house of Frakn6, the members ofwhich See also:bear the title of count, was divided into three lines by the sons of Ferencz Esterhazy (1641–1683). The eldest of these, Count ANTAL (1676-1722), distinguished himself in the See also:war against Rak6czy in 1703, but changed sides in 1704 and commanded the See also:left wing of the Kuruczis at the engagements of See also:Nagyszombat (1704) and Veresko (1705). In 1706 he defeated the imperialist general Guido Stahremberg and penetrated to the walls of Vienna. Still more successful were his operations in the See also:campaign of 1708, when he ravaged See also:Styria, twice invaded Austria, and again threatened Vienna, on which occasion the See also:emperor Joseph narrowly escaped falling into his hands.

In 1709 he was routed by the See also:

superior forces of General Sigbert Heister at Palota, but brought off the re-mainder of his arms very skilfully. In 1710 he joined Rak6czy in See also:Poland and accompanied him to See also:France and See also:Turkey. He died in See also:exile at See also:Rodosto on-the shores of the See also:Black See also:Sea. His son Balint J6zsef [See also:Valentine Joseph], by See also:Anna Maria Nigrelli, entered the French army, and was the founder of the Hallewyll, or French, branch of the family, which became extinct in the male line in 1876 with Count Ladislas. See Count Esterhdzy's Campaign See also:Diary (Hung.), ed. by K. Thaly (Pest, 1901). Count BALINT MIKLOS (174o--18o5), son of Balint J6zsef, was an enthusiastic See also:partisan of the duc de See also:Choiseul, on whose dismissal, in 1764, he resigned the command of the French regiment of which he was the See also:colonel. It was Esterhazy who conveyed to See also:Marie Antoinette the portrait of See also:Louis XVI. on the occasion of their See also:betrothal, and the See also:close relations he maintained with her after her See also:marriage were more than once the occasion of remonstrance on the part of Maria Theresa, who never seems to have forgotten that he was the grandson of a See also:rebel. At the French court he stood in high favour with the See also:comte d'See also:Artois. He was raised to the rank of marechal de See also:camp, and made inspector of troops in the French service in 1780. At the out-break of the French Revolution, he was stationed at See also:Valenciennes, where he contrived for a See also:time to keep order, and facilitated the See also:escape of the French emigres by way of See also:Namur; but, in 1790, he hastened back to Paris to assist the king. At the urgent entreaty of the comte d'Artois in 1991 he quitted Paris for See also:Coblenz, accompanied Artois to Vienna, and was sent to the court of St See also:Petersburg the same See also:year to enlist the sympathies of See also:Catherine II. for the Bourbons.

He received an estate from Catherine II., and although the See also:

gift was rescinded by Paul I., another was eventually granted him. He died at Grodek in See also:Volhynia on the 23rd of See also:July 18o5. See Memoires, ed. by E. See also:Daudet (Fr.) (Paris, 1905), and Lettres (Paris, 1906). Two other sons of Count Ferencz (d. 1685), Ferencz and J6zsef, founded the houses of Dotis and Cseklesz (Landschiltz) respectively. Of their descendants, Count M6mcz (1807–1890) of Dotis, Austrian ambassador in Rome until 1856, became in 1861 a member of the ministry formed by Anton See also:Schmerling, and in 1865 joined the clerical See also:cabinet of See also:Richard Belcredi. His See also:bitter hostility to See also:Prussia helped to force the government of Vienna into the war of 1866. His See also:official career closed in 1866, but he remained one of the leaders of the clerical party. See also Count Janos Esterhazy, Description of the Esterhazy Family (Hung., Budapest, 1901). (R. N.

End of Article: ESTERHAZY OF GALANTHA

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