Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell
Encyclopedia
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Franz Josef I of Austria. O'Donnell was a descendant of the Irish noble dynasty of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell.
Family background
He was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, son of Count Maurice O’Donnell
Maurice O’Donnell
Comte Maurice O'Donnell de Tyrconnell , also known as Moritz Graf O’Donnell von Tyrconnell, was born in Vienna, and was a Austro-Irish Count.-Family background:...
(Moritz Graf O’Donnell) (1780–1843), and Christine (4 January 1788 – 19 May 1867), the legitimated daughter of Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne
Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne
Charles-Joseph Lamoral, 7th Prince de Ligne in French, Charles Joseph Lamoral 7te Fürst von Ligne : was a Field marshal and writer, and member of the princely family of Ligne.-Military service:He was the son of Field Marshal Claude Lamoral, 6th Prince of Ligne and Elisabeth Alexandrine...
. He married Franziska Wagner, who was not of noble birth, and the marriage was frowned upon. He died in his home in Salzburg, and is buried in the Salzburg Cemetery.
Military career
He was educated in DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, then joined the military and served in several engagements in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, including in 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...
in 1848, and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1849, resulting in many awards and promotion. He became aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Franz Josef I of Austria. He later served as Governor of Lombardy briefly from 18–22 March 1848.
Saved life of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
, János Libényi, who was a nationalist from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. The Emperor was taking a stroll with Count Maximilian O’Donnell on a city-bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
, inside Vienna, and at about 1pm, at the moment when he looked over the parapet to review an exercise of troops, Libényi approached him. Libényi immediately struck the Emperor from behind with a knife straight at the neck. Even though the Emperor was wounded and bleeding, his collar may have helped save his life. Count Maximilian O'Donnell struck Libényi down with his sabre http://www.wien-vienna.at/geschichte.php?ID=695. Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, quickly overwhelmed Libényi. For his deed he was later elevated to nobility by the Emperor and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Libényi was subsequently put on trial and condemned to death for attempted regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
. He was executed near the Spinnerin am Kreuz
Spinnerin am Kreuz
The German name Spinnerin am Kreuz is the title given to two separate Austrian stone-tower sculptures , one in Vienna and the other in the nearby city of Wiener Neustadt . They are related to the story of a wife spinning beside a cross...
in the Favoriten-district.
After the unsuccessful attack the Emperor's brother Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
, the later Emperor of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, called upon the Europe's Royal families for donations to a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a Votivgabe (a thank-you present to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
) for the rescue of the Emperor. It is located on Ringstraße
Ringstraße
The Ringstraße is a circular road surrounding the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria and is one of its main sights...
in the district of Alsergrund
Alsergrund
Alsergrund is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria . It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. The area is densely populated, with a lot of government-built housing. According to the census of 2001, there were...
close to the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, and is known as the Votivkirche
Votivkirche
The Votive Church in Vienna, Austria, is one of the most important neo-Gothic religious architectural sites in the world.- Origin :Located on Ringstraße in the Alsergrund district near the University of Vienna, the origin of the church derives from a knife-attack on Emperor Franz Joseph by...
.
Honours and awards
Maximilian O’Donnell already held a German HabsburgHabsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
title of Count, granted to his great-grandfather. However, after successfully rescuing the Emperor, he was additionally honoured and made a Count of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, but an error occurred in the Letters Patent, omitting one “n” from the family name, and the Austrian O’Donnells have since then usually used “O’Donell” as the standard version.
Maximilian was also honoured with orders of chivalry by several European monarchs, and made a Freeman of the cities of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Pest, Laibach (Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
), and others. He was also conferred with the Commander's Cross of the Royal Order of Leopold
Order of Leopold (Austria)
The Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold was founded by Franz I of Austria on 8 January 1808. The order's statutes stipulated only three grades: Grand Cross, Commander and Knight. During the war, in common with the other Austro-Hungarian decorations Crossed Swords were instituted to reward bravery in...
, and his customary O'Donnell arms were augmented by the initials and shield of the ducal House of Austria, with additionally the double-headed eagle of the Empire. These arms can still be seen emblazoned on the portico of no. 2 Mirabellplatz in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, where O'Donnell built his residence thereafter in the former gardens of Schloss Mirabell.
External links
- Vienna City Website with portraits of Emperor's Rescue http://www.wien-vienna.at/geschichte.php?ID=695