TRAGIČEN VSTOP V NOVO LETO: SMRT FRANCA JOŽEFA GROFA HERBERSTEINA V DVOBOJU 2. JANUARJA 1713.
In: Acta Histriae, Jg. 30 (2022-04-01), Heft 2, S. 263-296
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Zugriff:
This article attempts to reconstruct the cause, the unfolding and the aftermath of the duel between two representatives of high nobility, Franz Joseph Count Herberstein and Franz Albrecht Count Rechberg, that took place at the beginning of 1713. On 2 January of that year, the then 24-year-old Count Herberstein engaged in a duel with a much older, probably 67-year-old, chamberlain of the Prince-elector of Bavaria. The two met the previous evening in the gaming and billiard salon at the Ballhaus in Graz, where the older count paid a compliment to his younger counterpart. The fact that the compliment was neither acknowledged nor returned by Count Herberstein annoyed him. After a short verbal »duel« and especially after the explanation by Dr. Menradt, who was in attendance, that Count Herberstein is suffering from hypochondria, Count Rechberg calmed down – or so it seemed. During the night he may have nonetheless decided that he cannot swallow his pride so easily. We can draw this conclusion because the next morning he returned to the Ballhaus accompanied by two acquaintances or »reinforcements«, Count Fugger, apparently a member of the entourage of the Prince-elector of Bavaria, and the local Count Philipp Lodron. From the testimony of Count Wurmbrand, we can draw a conclusion that the three were waiting specifically for Count Herberstein in one of the rooms. Franz Dismas Count Attems was at the time present in a different room in the building in the company of Franz Joseph Count Herberstein and possibly others. When at around 11 AM the three led by Count Rechberg entered the room, Herberstein took one of the smallswords lying there on the table. Count Attems testified that he took the smallsword even before they entered the room, but that seems less likely. Herberstein most likely saw the arrival of Rechberg, with two companions, no less, as a provocation and the second meeting of the counts resulted in a duel. The duel can be reconstructed quite accurately because of the preserved historical sources, mainly a sizable folder in the Landrecht fond of the Styrian Provincial Archives. Count Rechberg could rely on Count Philipp Lodron as his second. Count Herberstein wanted Franz Dismas Count Attems to be his second and did send a footman for him, but Attems did not oblige his request. According to the documents included in the judicial trial, it seems that Herberstein’s second was the Nob. Franz Anton Hasberg. The duel took place at the Karmeliterplatz. The square was named after the Carmelite monastery where today are the premises of the Styrian Provincial Archives. The two counts duelled in the square after 11 AM. Rechberg (or possibly Lodron, his second) stabbed the young Herberstein with the smallsword in the left side of his torso. Bleeding, he was carried back to the Ballhaus, where he died sometime before 11.45 AM, after receiving last rites. The next day the autopsy showed that he was stabbed at an upward angle between the fourth and fifth rib. The stab punctured his left lung and the artery, causing severe bleeding and pooling of the blood in the chest cavity, leading to death by choking on his own blood. He was buried in the family crypt at the Jesuit cemetery in Graz on 4 January. As a high-ranking and extremely influential Styrian noble family, the Herbersteins were probably in a position to obtain appropriate satisfaction with relative ease. When a duel ended tragically, the killer retreated to his estate, in most cases voluntarily. In practice, the retreat served as self-punishment (or selfhumiliation) and constituted relinquishment of all his functions and rights while awaiting pardon. In the case of Count Rechberg, the retreat was not particularly tragic, as he operated in Bavaria. He was possibly additionally protected due to the influence of the Prince-elector of Bavaria, as he was his chamberlain. He died a little over two years after the duel. In exchange for the ratification of the pardoning letter, he certainly had to pay a fine to the judicial court as well as for masses and possibly also do some other kind of penance to commemorate the victim. To the family of the victim, he surely had to pay appropriate reparations, i.e. blood money. About his second, Count Philipp Lodron, it is known that for participation in the killing of Count Herberstein he received safe conduct (salvus conductus) and, in order to be able to remain free during the trial, had to pay a security fee to prove he had no intention of fleeing. Count Lodron died in 1718. The death of Franz Joseph Count Herberstein was particularly tragic for the family, as it meant the end of the older sub-branch of the first Hrastovec family side-branch on the male side. His estate was inherited by his only living sibling, his sister Maria Barbara. With her death three years later the aforementioned family branch died out completely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Il contributo tratta del duello tra Franz Joseph conte di Herberstein e Franz Albrecht conte di Rechberg, più vecchio di lui. Durante il duello avvenuto all’inizio dell’anno 1713 il giovane conte Herberstein ricevette dal ciambellano del principe elettore di Baviera una pugnalata al petto a causa della quale poco tempo dopo morì. Una ricostruzione alquanto precisa di questo scontro è stata possibile grazie a fonti archivistiche ben conservate, in particolare quelle raccolte nell’ampio fascicolo degli atti giuridici del tribunale provinciale di diritto comune custoditi nell’Archivio provinciale della Stiria a Graz. La morte del conte di Herberstein fu tanto più tragica per il suo casato poiché con lui si estinse in linea maschile il ramo più antico della prima diramazione laterale dei Gutenhag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Članek obravnava dvoboj med Francem Jožefom grofom Herbersteinom in Francem Albertom grofom Rechbergom v začetku leta 1713. Mladi grof Herberstein je v dvoboju s precej starejšim komornikom bavarskega volilnega kneza prejel vbod v prsi, po katerem je kmalu zatem umrl. Precej natančna rekonstrukcija dvoboja je mogoča zaradi dobro ohranjenih virov, predvsem obsežnega fascikla deželnopravdnih spisov v Štajerskem deželnem arhivu v Gradcu. Smrt grofa Herbersteina je bila za rodbino toliko bolj tragična, ker je z njim v moški liniji izumrla starejša podveja prve stranske hrastovške veje. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Titel: |
TRAGIČEN VSTOP V NOVO LETO: SMRT FRANCA JOŽEFA GROFA HERBERSTEINA V DVOBOJU 2. JANUARJA 1713.
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | GRAHORNIK, Matjaž |
Zeitschrift: | Acta Histriae, Jg. 30 (2022-04-01), Heft 2, S. 263-296 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2022 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
ISSN: | 1318-0185 (print) |
DOI: | 10.19233/AH.2022.12 |
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