Wratislaw, Johann Wenzel Graf#

b. Prague (Czech Republic), Jan. 25, 1669, d. Vienna, Dec. 21, 1712, diplomat. Brought about the alliance between Emperor Leopold I and England in 1701 in the War of the Spanish Succession; accompanied Emperor Karl Vl on his journeys to Spain and England; served as an intermediary between the Duke of Marlborough and the imperial troops (under Prince Eugène of Savoy) from 1705; confidant of Emperor Karl VI in Vienna. appointed Bohemian Chancellor by Emperor Joseph I, he commissioned J. B. Fischer von Erlach to build the Bohemian Court Chancellery (now the seat of the Austrian Administrative and Constitutional Courts). W. entered into negotiations with the Kuruc rebels protesting against Habsburg rule in Hungary and with the Swedish King Carl XII in Altranstaedt (led to the conclusion of a treaty on the improvement of the status of Silesian Protestants on Sept. 1, 1707). Together with Prince Eugène he managed to set up an office for external affairs and national defence ("Geheime Konferenz", in 1699). Died at the age of 43 due to obesity.

Literature#