Verwandtschaftliche Exzellenz

In nobility studies, kinship and kinship-based unity are regarded as crucial resources through which Europe’s noble families—not least in the Holy Roman Empire—sought to maintain and expand their positions. In addition to marital alliances, internal loyalty-building, and the establishment of hierarchies, clergymen who had risen to high ranks played a particularly important role in securing their social prospects. Using the example of the Taunus Imperial Knight family of Kronberg and its preeminent representative, Johann Schweikard von Kronberg (1553–1626)—the Elector-Archbishop of Mainz during the Age of Confession—this assumption is critically examined. To this end, the article analyses the mechanisms, methods, and instruments used to foster unity; the structure of the dynastic network and its connections to other noble dynasties; the positions of the respective heads of the family, the other members of the von Kronberg family, and the families related by marriage in relation to one another; and, in particular, the position of the “excellent” relative Johann Schweikard within this network. Central to this analysis are questions regarding the degree to which family members were loyal, the senior members’ ability to foster loyalty, and the tension between individual wilfulness and the collective imperative of unity—a tension that preoccupied all noble families of the Middle Rhine region, both internally and in their relations with one another.