THUN-HOHENSTEIN, LEO, count. — Statesman, born at Tetschen on 7 April 1811, died at Vienna on 17 December 1888.
He studied law at Prague and entered the judiciary, then the administrative service. In 1847 he served in Galicia under Count Rodolfo Stadion; a member of the Bohemian Diet, he intervened through his writings in favour of the Czech national movement; in 1848 he was president of the government in Bohemia for a few months; from 28 July 1849, as Minister of Religion and Education in the Schwarzenberg cabinet, he showed himself an opponent of Josephinism and a proponent of harmonious cooperation between the State and the Church. After negotiations and discussions with the bishops, conducted by common agreement with the Emperor and the ministry, the imperial patents of 18 and 23 April 1850 were in fact issued. These abolished the royal placet for communications between the episcopate and the Holy See and assured the bishops the right to express their views concerning candidates designated by the government for chairs of theology at the universities or for imparting religious instruction in the schools. Ably assisted by F. Exner and H. Bonitz, he undertook to reorganize secondary education in Austria. He also worked toward the beginning of negotiations with the Holy See for the Concordat concluded in 1855. Having left the ministry in October 1860, he joined the House of Lords the following year, where he was one of the most influential and active members of the conservative wing. In 1868 he spoke during the discussion of the proposed marriage law, asserting on 21 March 1868 that this law was contrary to the Concordat and that, consequently, the government proposal, dictated by a liberal and anticlerical spirit, tended toward a unilateral revocation of the Concordat itself. He therefore proposed that discussion of the bill and of the education bill be postponed pending arrangements, in agreement with the Holy See, for modifications to the concordatory text. Despite T.’s pleas, the government, having obtained Parliament’s approval, brought the two laws into force. After supporting the federalism of the Hohenwart ministry in the Bohemian Diet in 1871, T. withdrew from public activity following the victory of the liberals. He nevertheless returned to political life in 1883.