The Fabulous life of the Comte de Bavière in Malta

Scandals, duels and diplomacy

The fabulous life of the

COMTE DE BAVIĂˆRE and Malta

THOMAS FRELLER

Scandals, duels and diplomacy

The fabulous life of the

Comte de Bavière and Malta THOMAS FRELLER

First published in Malta by Midsea Books Ltd 6 Strait Street, Valletta, Malta www.midseabooks.com Literary Copyright Š Thomas Freller, 2015 Editorial Copyright Š Midsea Books, 2015 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the previous written permission of the author.

Produced by Mizzi Design and Graphic Services Ltd Printed in Malta

ISBN: 978-99932-7-529-9

Contents

Preface........................................................................... v Acknowledgments...................................................... xi Chapter I – Father and son........................................ 1 Chapter II – Forging a career..................................... 15 Chapter III – Malta under threat............................... 45 Chapter IV – Duels, debts, and diplomacy............. 69 Chapter V – Business for the Order.......................... 81 Chapter VI – On the European battlefields............. 93 Sources and bibliography.......................................... 105 Archival sources................................................... 105 Printed sources...................................................... 108 Literature............................................................... 109 Endnotes....................................................................... 113 iii

Preface

The end came unexpectedly and suddenly; the bomb which had been shot from a large-calibre cannon from not too far away exploded close to MaximilienEmanuel-François-Joseph, Comte de Bavière, and tore his body into ‘two parts’, as an eyewitness reported.

This spectacular end in the Battle of Lauffeld (Lawfeld, in modern Belgium) on 2 July 1747 somewhat echoed one of the most spectacular lives and careers of the eighteenth century.

Novice and negotiator in the service of the Catholic chivalric Order of St John, candidate to the post of grand prior of Castille but married to his niece, lieutenant general in the French army and fighter in the vanguard of many battles, French envoy, lover of his father’s mistress, and protagonist of several scandals and duels, the so-called Comte de Bavière was one of the most notorious figures of his times and certainly merits a monograph.

Although a well-known figure in his lifetime, only very few modern historians have taken notice of the v

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chequered career and life of Maximilien-EmanuelFrançois-Joseph, Comte de Bavière.1 These authors more or less have completely ignored his contacts with the Order of St John. This subject is briefly mentioned in the excellent study by Ludwig Steinberger on the foundation of the Bavarian Langue of the Order of St John2 but completely ignored in Peter Claus Hartmann’s paper3 and by other modern commentators.

Malta and the Order of St John played a crucial part in the life of the Comte de Bavière. He aspired to high dignities in the Order and was twice present on the island when Malta was threatened by Ottoman attacks.

That this bastard son of the duke elector of Bavaria was received into an Order whose regulations insisted on extensive proofs of nobility4 showed that there was something going on behind the façades and the hollowness of this centennial institution had become obvious by then. This book will offer a glance behind these façades.

In the Ancien Régime, the legitimate children of princes were precious tools and pawns in the political scene; their marriages were decisive in forming alliances and sealing treatises. This applied especially to the house of Hapsburg whose possessions in early modern times increased tremendously through marriages and inheritances. All this was to coin the proverb Bella gerant alii tu felix Austria nube (‘Leave the others to make wars, you, happy Austria, marry’). But what became to the illegitimate children of the princes and royals? Many of them – of either sex – were also promoted to a high status and received prestigious positions. The Order of St John was seen by many caring princely parents as one means to provide their bastard sons with lucrative and high-ranking positions.

Malta and the Order not only played an important part in the life of Maximilien-Emanuel-Françoisvi

PREFACE

Apotheosis of Duke Elector Maximilian II Emanuel (engraving, c. 1695)

Joseph, but his father’s attention was also very often drawn to the island and the Order. For many years he tried to establish a Bavarian Priory of the Order. For this purpose, it was intended to sequestrate a rich Bavarian monastery and to convert it into a prestigious hospital. The funds and maintenance costs to run this hospital were to be provided through contributions of other Bavarian monasteries and convents. To assist the installation of the new priory, it was proposed to sequester half of the income of the rich provost of the pilgrim shrine of Altötting and other ecclesiastical funds. As will be shown, Duke Elector Maximilian II Emanuel’s efforts were really motivated by three main reasons: there was the aim to provide his favourite illegitimate offspring Maximilien-Emanuel-FrançoisJoseph with the prestigious position of prior, as well as the interest to improve his links with France and the vii

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Mediterranean powers, and to provide some members of his nobility with an excellent military and maritime training. As will be seen later, it was especially the bishops of Freising and archbishops of Salzburg who took the side of the representatives of the monasteries and strongly opposed against these plans.

Regrettably the sources do not throw much light on the character and ‘human’ profile of the protagonist of this book. Only a few of his letters have survived, and most of these deal with business affairs or matters of war and military aspects. To deduce from his military activities and the scandals he provoked that the Comte de Baviere was just an adventurer and only interested satisfying his ambitions and his career would not do justice to the figure of the homme du monde which prevailed at the time. In the seventeenth century, an important part of a young nobleman’s education had to be dedicated to learning the conduct proper to his class and all the sciences and knowledge required for his future life and career. These sciences and knowledge included Latin, French, and Italian, as well as history, state law, mathematics, geography, military sciences, drawing, music, fencing, riding, and the conduct in giving and receiving honour. In the lands of Germany, in Italy, or France, there were special ‘knight academies’ where the young noblemen were intensively trained in these subjects. Only after fulfilling this intensive programme were they found ready to be integrated in the noble society which more and more tended to be shaped by absolutism. Now, as knowledgeable men – especially in international affairs – they were ready for administrative, military, and diplomatic posts at court or to be entrusted with special missions.

From Maximilien-Emanuel-François-Joseph’s education, background, and the environment in which he grew up, we can assume a rather multi-faceted profile. This is, for viii

PREFACE

example, supported by his portrait by Louis Silvestre the Younger which depicts him playing the viola da gamba with manuscript notes placed at his left side pointing to his musical and literary interests. However, lack of first-hand sources do not make further conclusions possible and we have to limit ourselves mainly to the reconstruction of the facts and achievements of his life.

Before going medias in res, some last comments on the role of the bastard sons of princes or royals can be added. The words ‘bastard son’ certainly did not have the negative connotations in the seventeenth and eighteenth century it would later obtain through bourgeois historians who championed a profoundly changed moral attitude. In the period of the Ancien Régime the ‘lords of the blood’ or signori del sangue very often ranked immediately beneath the princes of the blood in terms of court precedence. Most absolute princes found no big difficulties – also from the part of the Church – to facilitate their legitimization and to incorporate their natural children into court service and administrative duties. The ‘lords of the blood’ were the recognized male bastards, the recognized female bastards, and, significantly, those men who married the latter and their offspring. Very often the illegitimate sons of seventeenth- or eighteenth-century princes played important roles at court, often acting as intimate advisers and holding key posts in the military or administration. Thus, the three strata, the nuclear royal or princely family, the princes of the blood, and the ‘lords of the blood’, constituted an extended dynasty and, accordingly, stood at the centre of court life and the pinnacle of the court’s hierarchy and etiquette. This court etiquette – in Bavaria as well as in other countries ruled by absolute princes – was also used to express distinctions between the three levels. Obvious means of distinction in Catholic Bavaria was, for example, ix

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precedence in public rituals as court processions on the most important religious feast days or regulations concerning governing dining in public at court. The form of the chair, the position at the ducal table, the type of service, and the identity and status of the servant, all indicated rank within the extended dynasty of the Wittelsbach family.

That the period of the absolute princes was also a period of the ‘culture’ of mistresses and bastard sons is well known. An attentive eyewitness, Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon, observed how especially Paris – then the centre of the elegant world – abounded with the natural sons of European princes and mistresses: ‘The example of the habits and the system of distribution of favours established by the former king [Louis XIV] made Paris the drainage ditch for people from all parts of Europe who are guided by voluptuousness and lasciviousness. …

Beyond the bastard sons of the French nobles, the city is the playground of the mistresses of the kings of England and Sardinia, and there are also two mistresses of the duke elector of Bavaria. ... There are also the bastard sons of the princes of England, Bavaria, Saxony, and Sardinia who have established themselves in the city; all of them have been promoted to a high status, and have accumulated riches and fortune …’5 It is interesting to observe that at the same time when the Comte de Bavière was making his career in the French army, another acquaintance of his and also a bastard son rose to high offices in the Order of St John. This was the young Balí d’Orléans, the natural son of the regent Duc d’Orléans and Mme d’Argenton.

He finally got promoted to the position of grand prior but died in 1748. The protagonist of this book had been dead a year by then.

x

Acknowledgements

Besides Louis J. Scerri, MA, for his essential help, the author would like to thank:

Mr Bernhard M. Baron;

Ms Maroma Camilleri, MA;

Dr Albert Friggieri;

Mr Michael Galea;

Mr M. Phil. (honoris causa) Joseph Muscat

Prof. Walter G. Rödel; †

Helmut Skupnik; † and the staffs of the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich; the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich; the Landesbibliothek Wiesbaden (Hesse); the National Library of Malta; the Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt a. M.; the Heimatmuseum Grafenau (Germany)

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Novice and negotiator in the service of the Catholic Order of St John, candidate to the post of grand prior of Castille, but bastard son of a prince and married to his niece, lieutenant general in the French army and fighting at the forefront of many battles, French envoy, lover of his father’s mistress, and protagonist of several scandals and duels, the Comte de Bavière was one of the most notorious and popular figures of his times. Based on the material of various European archives, this book finally presents the long-overdue biography of this colourful character.

ISBN 978-99932-7-529-9

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