Antoniotto Botta Adorno
Encyclopedia
Castelletto di Branduzzo
Castelletto di Branduzzo is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km south of Milan and about 14 km southwest of Pavia...
, 1688 - Torre d'Isola
Torre d'Isola
Torre d'Isola is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 30 km south of Milan and about 6 km northwest of Pavia...
, December 29, 1774) was a high officer of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and a plenipotentiary of the Austrian Netherlands.
Biography
He was born in BranduzzoCastelletto di Branduzzo
Castelletto di Branduzzo is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km south of Milan and about 14 km southwest of Pavia...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, to a noble family from Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
whose members included seven doge
Doge of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa, in what is now northern Italy, was technically a communal republic in the early Middle Ages, although it was actually an oligarchy ruled by a small group of merchant families, from whom were selected the Doges of Genoa.- History :...
s of that city. His mother had an alleged love affair with King Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
. A year after his birth his father, accused of an attempted coup, was expelled from the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. In 1700 Antoniotto's father died, and, as the family fiefs went to his elder brother Alessandro, he chose a military career.
He distinguished himself during the Siege of Belgrade (1717), where he fought alongside Eugene of Savoy. Promoted subsequently as lieutenant colonel, general and marshal, he received the supreme command of Austrian troops in northern Italy during the War of Austrian Succession. In 1746 he led the Austro-Savoyard right wing in the victorious Battle of Piacenza
Battle of Piacenza
The Battle of Piacenza was a pitched battle between a Franco-Spanish army and Austrian army near Piacenza on June 16, 1746. It formed part of later operations in the War of the Austrian Succession...
against the French-Spanish coalition. He succeeded the sick Josef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein
Josef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein
Wenzel I Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1712 and 1718, 1732 and 1745, and 1748 and 1772....
as Austrian Supreme Commander in Italy, and fought the retreating Franco-Spanish troops in the Battle of Rottofredo.
On September 7 of the same year, after occupying Genoa
Siege of Genoa (1746)
The Siege of Genoa took place in 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession when an Allied force of Austrians, Sardinians soldiers and British sailors besieged the capital of the Republic of Genoa. The city ultimately surrendered to the Austrian commander Antoniotto Botta Adorno, after being...
, he became Austrian governor of the city. He taxed Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
so hard (Ai Genovesi non lascerò altro che gli occhi per piangere; I will leave the Genoese only their eyes to weep), that he was chased on December 5 by a popular revolt led by Balilla
Balilla
Balilla was the nickname of Giovan Battista Perasso, a Genoese boy who started the revolt of 1746 against the Habsburg forces that occupied the city in the War of the Austrian Succession by throwing a stone on an Austrian official....
. Having lost the city, he was relieved of all military commands for the rest of the war.
After the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
, he became plenipotentiary of the Austrian Netherlands under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
. He reformed the army and tried to improve the conditions of the country. In 1753 he returned to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where he was prime minister of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...
.
In 1762 he was appointed as ambassador at Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
's court. Three years later he became regent of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after the death of emperor Francis I
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
.
He died at Torre d'Isola
Torre d'Isola
Torre d'Isola is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 30 km south of Milan and about 6 km northwest of Pavia...
, near Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, in 1774.