Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein

Who was Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein?

Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein was the first Liechtenstein to become the Prince of Liechtenstein, thus he was the founder of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein.

Karl was the elder son of Hartmann II, Baron of Liechtenstein and his wife Countess Anna Maria of Ortenburg. Emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire appointed Karl to Chief Intendant, an important position at his court. Karl held this position until 1607. In a dispute over land between the Emperor and heir to the throne, Archduke Mathias, Karl sided with Mathias who made Karl a hereditary prince in thanks for Karl's aid, in 1608. In 1614 Karl joined the regency of the Duchy of Troppau to his possessions. In thanks for further aid at the Battle of White Mountain, Karl was appointed to the positions of proconsul and vice-regent of Bohemia in 1622 and was bestowed with the Order of the Golden Fleece.

He also gained the Duchy of Troppau on 28 December 1613 and the Silesian Duchy of Jägerndorf on 15 March 1622 and much confiscated "rebel property", and he commissioned the Liechtenstein dukedom.

Became a Catholic in 1599. In 1605 Karl established the first branch North of the Alps of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, at Feldsberg in Lower Austria.