Kálnoky family

The Kálnoky family is a Hungarian (Transylvanian) noble family. The Kálnoky family history can be traced back to medieval times.

History

In 1252 the family was documented in Székely Land,[1][2][3] in the eastern part of Transylvania, as comes (chief) of the Szekler 'Sepsi' tribe.

Since their first documentation, the family have been primores (magnates) of the Szekler people in Transylvania.

They are styled as Count Kálnoky Baron of Kőröspatak since 1697 when a Kálnoky was chancellor of Transylvania at the court of Vienna.

At the beginning of the 18th century, through multiple marriages, the Kálnoky's became close to Prince Constantin Brancoveanu, ruler of Wallachia. An entire generation grew up in Bucharest at the prince's court, and held public functions there.

To support Austria's Empress Maria Theresia in the Erbfolgekrieg (war of succession), the family established a regiment of hussars in 1741 which bore their name. The daughter of the Austrian empire's first chancellor married into the Kálnoky family, who thus inherited some of the chancellor's possessions in Moravia.

Two hundred years of military and political careers followed for the family in Austria. The Kalnoky's had a hereditary seat in the House of Lords in Vienna. Under Emperor Franz Joseph I, Count Gustav Kalnoky presided over the joint (Austrian and Hungarian) council of ministers, was minister of the Imperial House and of Foreign Affairs. Effectively, he was the emperor's right hand between 1881 and 1895.

Besides their outstanding military and political careers, the Kálnoky's have been known for their advantageous wedding strategies. Several members married heiresses of aristocratic families on the verge of extinction, thus considerably increasing the Kálnoky's assets and influence in central and western Europe. Count Hugo Kálnoky married countess Marie Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, a niece of British Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert. Countesses Kálnoky also married into the Houses of Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Liechtenstein and others.

Family related books and movies

Descendants

Male descendants live today in Australia, the United States, France, Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania (Transylvania).

See also

References

  1. Deutsches Adelsarchiv, C.A. Starke (Firm), Deutscher Adelsrechtsausschuss, Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Volume 105, C.A. Starke, 1993, p. 278
  2. Péter Pál Váradi, Váradi Péter Pál - Lőwey Lilla, Lilla Lőwey, Sepsziszentgyörgy és vidéke, Erdély Fotóalbumok, 2005, p. 21
  3. Magyar Heraldikai és Genealógiai Társaság, Közlöny, Volumes 9-11, 1891, p. 83-84
  4. "Forced Together, Nazis And Victims Bear 'Witness'".
  5. "Verschlungene Pfade - Boris Kálnoky sucht in seinem Buch "Ahnenland" die Seele seiner Familie".
  6. "Familie Berben: Sohn produziert, die Mutter spielt".
  7. "The White Knight of Transylvania".
  8. "Count Kalnoky's Estate in Transylvania".

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.