Leonhard of Gorizia

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Leonhard
Garay

Leonhard (1440 – 12 April 1500) was the last

count of Gorizia from the Meinhardiner dynasty. He ruled at Lienz and Gorizia (Görz) from 1454 until his death. He also held the title and rights as a count palatine of Carinthia
.

Family

Leonhard was born at

Nicholas II Garay
. In 1454 he succeeded his father, who left him an almost ruined county with two separate territories.

Leonhard married, in 1478, Paola

Ilok, the daughter of Nicholas of Ilok, King of Bosnia
.

During the negotiations for his marriage, Andrea da Schivenoglia, chronicler of the Gonzaga family, described the then 36-old Count of Gorizia as "pleasant and joyful" (piaxevolo et zoioso).[1]

Early reign

Leonhard at first ruled jointly with his brothers John II and Louis. John as the eldest apparently held most of the power while younger Louis did not exercise any political role and died between 1456 and 1457. The brothers had to face the hostility of Emperor Frederick III who aimed to seize their remaining "outer county" around the town of Lienz and the Puster Valley, separating the Habsburg hereditary lands of Tyrol and Carinthia, which had been possessions of the Meinhardiner dynasty until the 14th century.

Moreover, John and Leonhard picked a fierce inheritance conflict around the lands of the extinct

House of Graben von Stein, he recovered Lienz. Later Leonhard also get back the title and rights as a Count palatine of Carinthia
.

Succession

Historical sketch of the inheritance of the Princely County of Gorizia in favor of Austria in 1500. Protagonists from left to right around the castle of Gorizia and the Venetian opponent (flag and gold ducats): Administrator Virgil von Graben, Count Leonhard von Gorizia, King (Emperor) Maximilian I. as well as Lukas von Graben (zum Stein), son of Virgil and deputy administrator of Gorizia (sketch by Matthias Laurenz Gräff)

Facing the extinction of the dynasty, sickly Count Leonhard became subject to the competing pressures of both the Imperial Habsburg dynasty and the Republic of Venice, which both competed for his heritage. The Venice Ten, who since 1434 ruled over the Domini di Terraferma in Friuli, intended to seize the adjacent "inner county" centered on the town of Gorizia itself.

During his reign his administrator Virgil von Graben was persuaded by grand promises by King

Burghut. First, the Council of Ten of the Republic of Venice considered appointing Lukas von Graben as their supreme commander in Friuli. However, since Virgil von Graben ended the contract with Venice about the succession in the County of Gorizia and negotiated with Maximilian I, this appointment did not materialize.[5] In the end Leonhard leaned towards the Habsburgs and signed an inheritance treaty with Maximilian I. After the death of Leonhard on 12 April 1500 and the Gorizia inheritance in favor of the Habsburgs, the Venetians saw their failure solely in the actions of the lords Virgil and Lukas von Graben.[6]

Upon his death,

Gorizia and Gradisca from 1754). Leonhard's former deputy Virgil von Graben, who had played a vital role in the convergence to the Habsburg dynasty, took the position as a Stadtholder
in Lienz from them.

Preceded by
Count of Görz
1454-1500
jointly with John II
1454-1462
and Louis 1454-1457 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Treccani - la cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere".
  2. ^ wayback=20140113124200 Hermann Wiesflecker: Österreich im Zeitalter Maximilians I.: die Vereinigung der Länder zum ...
  3. ^ Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Band 56
  4. ^ Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Band 56
  5. ^ Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Band 56
  6. ^ Hermann Wiesflecker: Die Grafschaft Görz und die Herrschaft Lienz, ihre Entwicklung und ihr Erbfall an Österreich (1500). In: Veröffentlichungen des Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. Band 78, Innsbruck 1998, p 142, 144 (VeroeffFerd_78_0131-0149.pdf).
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