Emmanuel Graf[1] von Mensdorff-Pouilly (24 January 1777 – 28 June 1852) was an army officer in theImperial-Royal Army of the Austrian Empire, and vice-governor ofMainz. He was the uncle ofQueen Victoria and the godfather of her husband,Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
TheHouse of Mensdorff-Pouilly originated from the barony ofPouilly inStenay, on theriver Meuse inLorraine. Albert-Louis, Baron de Pouilly et de Chaffour, Comte de Roussy (1731–1795) and his wife, Marie Antoinette de Custine (1746–1800) emigrated together with their children during theFrench Revolution. Their sons, Albert (1775–1799) and Emmanuel (baptised atNancy on 24 January 1777), took the name Mensdorff from a community in the county of Roussy,Luxembourg.
The brothers entered military service againstrevolutionary andNapoleonic France, and Albert was killed in battle in 1799. At the start of theWar of the Fifth Coalition, Emmanuel held the rank of major. On 13 April 1809, he was wounded while leading a company of the 8th Jäger in action nearAmberg.[2] By 23 April, he had recovered enough to partake in the cavalry battles at the start of theBattle of Ratisbon.[3] He was decorated with theMilitary Order of Maria Theresa for his services in the war.
In 1810, he was given command of the Galician regiment ofUhlans „Erzherzog Carl“ Nr. 3. Serving as a commander of a cavalry brigade inBohemia, Mensdorff-Pouilly became commander of theFortress of Mainz. From 1829 to 1834, Mensdorff-Pouilly also served as vice-governor of Mainz.
After again having served in Bohemia, Mensdorff-Pouilly became vice-president of theHofkriegsrat in 1840. He retired from the army in 1848 with the rank offeldmarschallleutnant. During theRevolutions of 1848, Mensdorff-Pouilly was sent as a commissioner toPrague, where he tried in vain to impress on thePrince of Windisch-Grätz the necessity to avoid bloodshed.
Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly marriedPrincess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, eldest daughter ofFrancis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, on 22 February 1804 atCoburg. Through this marriage, he was the brother-in-law of KingLeopold I of Belgium and the uncle of bothQueen Victoria andPrince Albert of the United Kingdom, and of KingFerdinand II of Portugal.
Emmanuel and Sophie had six sons:
Emmanuel was createdGraf (Count) von Mensdorff-Pouilly on 29 November 1818 in Vienna. In 1838, he purchasedSchloss Preitenstein in thePlzeň Region of Bohemia, which remained the property of the Mensdorff-Pouilly family until 1945.
He received the following orders and decorations:[4]
Austrian Empire:[5]
Belgium: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold,13 March 1845[6]
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order,March 1834[7]
Kingdom of Prussia:
Kingdom of Saxony:Commander of the Military Order of St. Henry, 1st Class,1816[10]
United Kingdom:Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (military),30 May 1842[11]
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