Georg Christian, Fürst von Lobkowitz

Not to be confused with Georg Christian, Prince of Lobkowicz.

Johann Georg Christian, Prince von Lobkowitz (or Lobkowicz), (August 10, 1686 – Vienna October 4, 1755) was an Austrian Generalfeldmarschall.

He was a member of the old Bohemian princely family of Lobkowicz, and was a son of Philip Hyacinth Joseph, 4th Prince of Lobkowicz and Duke of Sagan (1680–1737). He founded the Hořin-Měleník branch of the Lobkowicz family.

Johann Georg Christian married Countess Henriette von Waldstein-Wartenburg (1702 - 1780) in Prague on November 11, 1718. They had 10 children. Two of their sons were killed in battle and two other sons became Knights in the Order of the Golden Fleece.

He fought under Eugene of Savoy against the Turks in the first half of the 18th century. In 1732 he became Governor of Sicily, and on November 28, 1739 was made a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. In 1741 he attained the rank of field marshal.

During the War of the Austrian Succession, he fought the French and Bavarians between Prague and Munich, and was later Governor of the Duchy of Milan between 1743 and 1745. Subsequently, he became the commander-in-chief of the Habsburg forces in Italy, where he lost the Battle of Velletri against the army of King Charles III of Spain.

In 1745 Christoph Willibald Gluck accepted an invitation to become house composer at London's King's Theatre, travelling to England in the company of Georg Christian. Either Gluck or Georg Christian bought a copy of Handel's Messiah.[1]

References

  1. ↑ This copy was used around 1789 by Mozart for his adaption of this oratorio (K. 572), and is now in the Lobkowicz Palace collections.

Sources

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