Esterházy

Esterházy (also spelled Eszterházy, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. Since the 17th century, they were among the great landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary during the time it was part of the Habsburg Monarchy and later Austria-Hungary. During the history of the Habsburg empire, the Esterházys were consistently loyal to the Habsburg rulers. They received the title of count in 1626 and the Forchtenstein line received the title of Fürst (Ruling Prince) from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1712.Galanta, Slovakia (from 1421 owned by the House of Esterházy)Forchtenstein Castle, Austria (since 1622 until today owned by the family)Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt, Austria (since 1649 until today)Eszterháza Palace, Hungary (1681–1945)Former monastery at Edelstetten (in Neuburg an der Kammel, Bavaria) (since 1804 until today)Lackenbach estate, Austria (since 1618 until today)Želiezovce estate, Slovakia (where the composer Franz Schubert taught music to the Count's daughters)Csákvár Castle, Hungary (1778–1945)Pápa Castle, Hungary (1626–1945)Tata Castle, Hungary (1727–1945) Esterházy (also spelled Eszterházy, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. Since the 17th century, they were among the great landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary during the time it was part of the Habsburg Monarchy and later Austria-Hungary. During the history of the Habsburg empire, the Esterházys were consistently loyal to the Habsburg rulers. They received the title of count in 1626 and the Forchtenstein line received the title of Fürst (Ruling Prince) from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1712. The Esterházys arose among the minor nobility of the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary (today's southwest Slovakia), originally a branch of the Salamon clan (de genere Salamon) by the name Zerházi (de Zerhásház / de Zyrház / de Zyrhas). Their first known ancestor was Mokud (Mocud) from the Salamon clan, who was a military serviceman and landowner in the Csallóköz region of Western Hungary (today Žitný ostrov in southwestern Slovakia), and Pristaldus, a judicial office-holder in the court of Béla III of Hungary. The name Esterházy was first used by Benedict Zerhas de Zerhashaz (1508–1553), who in 1539 took over the wealth of his wife, Ilona Bessenyei de Galántha. Their son, Ferenc Esterházy (1533–1604) inherited the coat of arms and title of his mother and the full name of the family became Eszterházy de Galántha, Galanta being a small town east of Bratislava (Hungarian: Pozsony, German: Pressburg), now capital of Slovakia. The family rose to prominence under Count Nikolaus Esterházy (1583–1645) and his son, Prince Paul Esterházy (1635–1713). In the 17th century, after Nikolaus' acquisitions, the family split into four main family lines: In 1626 the Esterházys were granted the title of Count and in 1712, the older Forchtenstein line received the title of (Ruling) Prince by the Holy Roman Emperor. The success of the family arose from the steady accumulation of land, and loyalty both to the Roman Catholic Church and to the Habsburg Emperor. The latter factor was perhaps the most important. A consistent theme of Hungarian history was an ardent and sometimes violent wish to become free of Austrian rule, a wish that was finally fulfilled at the end of the First World War. The Esterházy princes were consistently loyal to the Habsburg monarchy, and on several occasions rendered vital services to it in times of crisis. These included the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683, and the outright occupation of Vienna by Napoleon in 1809. The family acquired its property in three principal ways: redistribution of land taken from Protestants in the Counter-Reformation, redistribution of land conquered from the Turks, and felicitous marriages. Most of these lands were situated in present-day Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The family ultimately became the largest landowners in the Habsburg Empire, and their income sometimes exceeded that of the Emperor. The family derived its name from the settlement Esterháza, Kingdom of Hungary. The settlement no longer exists, and is not to be confused with the later castle of the same name which they inhabited since the Middle Ages. Since 1421 they have been the owners of a property in Galánta. The most important seat of the Esterházys was Eisenstadt (Hungarian: Kismarton), since the heads of the family chose to make a castle in this tiny village their primary residence. A fortified stronghold had been built there in the 14th century; after the Esterházys acquired it they rebuilt it 1663–1672 to what is now the princely Schloss Esterházy. Their practical reason for choosing to create and maintain the princely court at Eisenstadt may have been that while the region was in Hungary, it had been mainly settled by Germans, and was situated rather close to the Habsburgs' Imperial residence, Vienna. (The region remained part of Hungary until 1921, when it was handed over to Austria according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain, 1919, and the Treaty of Trianon, 1920.)