Erzherzog Maximilian III. von Österreich - Schreiben an die Oberösterreichische Regierung - 1604

A characteristic Habsburg autograph from the early 17th century: Archduke Maximilian III of Austria, called the Deutschmeister, confirms in a legal matter the already issued judgment against a notary from Weingarten and expressly rejects his renewed petition for clemency.

Maximilian III of Austria (1558–1618), nicknamed “the Deutschmeister,” Archduke of Austria, Grand Master of the Order of the German Empire and Landesfürst of Tyrol and the Austrian Vorlanden. A German-language letter, dated Innsbruck, November 9, 1604. A single-sided folded sheet on handmade paper, about 30 × 41 cm, watermark Crown. With his own signature “Maximilian,” countersigned by the court secretary Johann Juncker; with contemporary chancellery and intake notes.
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The letter concerns the notary Carl Wegel from Weingarten, who, after a judgment already rendered against him, had turned to the Archduke with another petition. From the text it appears that Wegel was held liable for an offense described as an “Unfles” (misconduct) and accordingly sought mercy or a revision of his case.

Maximilian firmly rejects this petition. He explicitly confirms the already rendered judgment—“let it stand with the already issued punishment”—and orders the competent authority to reject the petitioner’s renewed plea. The letter thus provides an immediate glimpse into the princely land court and supplication practice of the Habsburg Vorlande at the beginning of the 17th century.

The directive is addressed to the “verordneten Oberösterreichischer Regierung.” By “Oberösterreich” in the then Habsburg administrative usage did not refer to the present-day federal state, but to the group of territories administered from Innsbruck, comprising Tyrol and the Austrian Vorlanden, within whose jurisdiction even the Upper Swabian Weingarten belonged. Contemporary registry notes document the further course of business: the order drawn up on November 9 in Innsbruck was presented/registered at the government on November 11, 1604.

Maximilian III, son of Emperor Maximilian II and brother of Emperor Rudolf II, belonged to the prominent Habsburg princes of his generation. Since 1590 he had been Grand Master of the German Order and, from 1602, took over the government of Tyrol and the Vorlanden. The letter, issued only two years after his accession, bears his distinctive handwritten signature “Maximilian”; the chancery formula Ad mandatum Serenissimi Domini Archidux proprium confirms the issuance by the personal command of the Archduke.
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Overall, an attractive and well-preserved Habsburg autograph from 1604 with a striking handwritten signature and numerous contemporary chancery notes, showing the usual folding creases as well as small tears or defects at the fold intersections and minor edge chafing.