THUN-HOHENSTEIN, LEO, CONTE DI

He studied law at Prague and entered the judiciary and then the administrative career. In 1847 he served in Galicia under Count Rudolf Stadion; as a member of the Bohemian Diet, he intervened in writing in favour of the Czech national movement; in 1848 for a few months he was president of the government in Bohemia; from 28 July 1849, Minister of Worship and Education in the Schwarzenberg cabinet, he proved himself an opponent of Josephinism and a champion of harmonious cooperation between the State and the Church. After negotiations and discussions with the bishops, conducted in common accord with the Emperor and the minister, the imperial patents of 18 and 23 Apr. 1850 were indeed issued, abolishing the royal placet for communications between the episcopate and the Holy See and securing for the bishops the right to pronounce on candidates designated by the government for chairs of theology in universities or to teach religious instruction in schools. With the valuable assistance of F. Exner and H. Bonitz, he set about reorganising secondary education in Austria. He also worked to initiate negotiations with the Holy See for the Concordat concluded in 1855. Leaving office in Oct. 1860, the following year he became a member of the House of Lords, where he was one of the most listened-to and active members of the conservative wing. In 1868 he spoke during the debate on the marriage law bill, affirming on 21 Mar. 1868 that such a law was contrary to the Concordat and that, consequently, the government’s proposal, inspired by liberal and anticlerical spirit, tended towards a unilateral abrogation of the Concordat itself. He therefore proposed that the debate on the bill and that on education be postponed until modifications to the concordat text could be agreed upon with the Holy See. Despite Thun-Hohenstein’s efforts, the government, having obtained parliamentary approval, made the two laws effective. After supporting in 1871 in the Bohemian Diet the federalism of the Hohenwart ministry, Thun-Hohenstein retired from public life following the victory of the liberals. He nevertheless returned to political life in 1883.