Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein (30 July 1569 – 12 February 1627) was the first Liechtenstein to become the Prince of Liechtenstein, thus he was the founder of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein

Princely Family of Liechtenstein

The Liechtenstein dynasty, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by constitutional, hereditary right over the nation of Liechtenstein...

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Karl was the elder son of Hartmann II, Prince of Liechtenstein (1544-1585) and his wife Anna Maria of Ortenburg (1547-1601). Emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 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

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...

 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

Duchy of Troppau

The Principality or Duchy of Troppau or Opava was based for centuries around the Upper Silesian city of Troppau . In the final four centuries of its existence, the Duchy belonged to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, and it was dissolved with the Habsburg Empire in 1918...

 to his possessions. In thanks for further aid at the Battle of White Mountain

Battle of White Mountain

The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 was an early battle in the Thirty Years' War in which an army of 30,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were routed by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor under Charles Bonaventure de Longueval,...

, Karl was appointed to the positions of proconsul and vice-regent of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 in 1622 and was bestowed with the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

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He also gained the Silesian Duchy of Jägerndorf and much confiscated "rebel property", and he commissioned the Liechtenstein dukedom.

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 (now Valtice, Czech Republic).

He was the 352nd Knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 of the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

 in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

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Marriage and issue

In 1592, Karl married Anna Maria Schembera Freiin von
Czernahora

Cerná Hora (Blansko District)

Černá Hora is a market town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 1,900 inhabitants.Name of the place come from a hill whose vegetation is darker than the neighbourhood....

 von Boskowicz und Schwarzenberg (1577-1625). They had at least four children:

• Princess Anna Maria (7 December 1597-26 April 1640)
• Princess Franziska Barbara (1604-1655)
• Prince Heinrich (died young)
• Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein (12 September 1611-5 April 1684)