Count Ludwig von Cobenzl

Who was Count Ludwig von Cobenzl?

Johann Ludwig Joseph Graf von Cobenzl was a diplomat and politician of the Habsburg Monarchy.

Von Cobenzl was born in Brussels, and was the cousin of the diplomat Philipp Graf von Cobenzl, and a protégé of Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz. In 1779, he became minister at St. Petersburg.

In 1795, during the Third Partition of Poland, he negotiated a large portion of land for the Habsburgy Monarchy that had gone empty in the Second Partition.

In 1800, he became foreign minister of the Habsburg Monarchy. As such, he signed the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801, and recognized the imperial title of Napoleon. In 1805, the Austrian Empire took part in the War of the Third Coalition, and was defeated at the Battle of Austerlitz, which led to Cobenzl's dismissal.

Cobenzl was a member of the Illuminati under the name of Arrian. He died, aged 55, in Vienna.