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- BIOGRAPHY
Sigmund Friedrich was born in 1549, the elder son of Georg Sigismund, Freiherr von Herberstein, and Margarethe von Pörtschach. With his wife Freiin Maria Magdalena von Welz, daughter of Graf Georg Christoph von Welz and Anna Thurzó de Bethlenfalva, he had a daughter Salome who would have progeny, marrying Freiherr Rupert von Rindsmaul.
Sigmund Friedrich was a chamberlain and privy councillor to both Archduke Karl and his son Emperor Ferdinand II, and was the last representative of the Evangelical Faith to fill the office of Governor of Styria, from 1595 to his death. He was also governor of Carinthia for the same period. Already as a councillor and senior administrator he pressed vigorously for the rights of the Protestant estates and attempted to counter the influence of the increasingly pervasive Catholic counsellors at the court in Graz. However he was unable as governor to hold back the Counter-reformation or to prevent the expulsion of his fellow Protestants who were not members of the nobility.
The Protestant nobles believed themselves safe until the victory of Emperor Ferdinand II at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 destroyed this illusion. On 1 August 1628 the emperor decreed that all Protestant nobles had to leave Inner Austria within one year. Many noble families had already split into Protestant and Catholic branches, so that their possessions would not fall into the wrong hands. Sigmund Friedrich died in 1621, but his very elderly widow had to undergo a forced conversion to avoid going into exile.
The EMP Museum in Seattle has an exhibit of a suit of field armour from about 1580 worn by Sigmund Friedrich.
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