View source for Zierotin

{{Short description|Czech noble family}}
[[File:Žerotín_gróf_címere_1740.JPG|thumb|Coat of arms of Counts of Zierotin]]
The '''House of Zierotin''' or '''House of Žerotín''' ({{langx|cs|Žerotínové}}) was a Czech [[Bohemian nobility|noble family]] in the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]], one of the oldest and most illustrious noble families from [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]]. The ancestors of the family were first mentioned around 1200. The family achieved the rank of [[Imperial Count]]s in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The family died out at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, but its indirect lines continue to exist. Several properties were returned to the Mornstein-Zierotin after fall of [[Communist regime in Czechoslovakia|Communist rule]] in 1989.
==History==
[[File:Wappen der Grafen von Zierotin, Freiherren von Lilgenau 1740.png|thumb|Coat of arms of the Zierotin-Lilgenau family]]
According to romantic [[legend]], the Zierotins were the offspring of Prince [[Oleg of Drelinia]], brother of [[Vladimir I of Kiev]], and therefore the family uses in its [[coat of arms]] a royal crown (or more properly the crown of [[Grand Prince]]) and  princely [[mantling]]. The heraldic device is a blazon of arms in gules (red) with a lion sable (black), crowned, on three mountains argent (silver). The crest is the crowned lion rampant.
The ancestors of the family were the Bludov family. The oldest documented member of this family was Blud of Bludov, who was the [[burgrave]] of the castle in [[Přerov]] in 1213–1215.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rapotín za Žerotínů 1494 - 1602|url=https://www.rapotin.cz/obec/informace-o-obci/historie/rapotin-za-zerotinu-1494-1602/|publisher=Obec Rapotín|language=cs|access-date=2024-07-19}}</ref> He had two sons, Oneš (1209–1249) and Viktor.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091007221832/http://www.eridanus.cz/Zeme%282/mapa/Evropa/Vy%281chodni%281_Evropa/C%282eska%281_republika/Kultura/Literatura/Palacky%281_Frantis%282ek/De%282jiny_na%281rodu_c%282eske%281ho/Priloha_F.htm František Palacký: Dějiny národa českého]</ref> He was the probable founder of [[Bludov (Šumperk District)|Bludov]] that his family and then the Zierotin family have owned since time immemorial.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historie obce Bludov|url=https://www.bludov.cz/historie-obce|publisher=Obec Bludov|language=cs|access-date=2024-07-19}}</ref>
Members of the family were judges, governors, patrons of art and politicians. The most famous is Karel the Elder of Zierotin (1564–1636). He was head of the family in the times when the Zierotin family had the largest property in [[Moravia]]. He was highly educated, spoke several languages and was an able politician. He was a friend of [[Henry IV of France]] and brother-in-law of [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]]. For several years until 1614, he held the position of the Moravian governor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Příběh největšího Moravana své doby, kterého měli Češi za zrádce|url=https://olomouc.rozhlas.cz/pribeh-nejvetsiho-moravana-sve-doby-ktereho-meli-cesi-za-zradce-6389658|publisher=[[Czech Radio]]|language=cs|date=2014-05-15|access-date=2024-07-19}}</ref>
Other notable members were Johan Karl of Zierotin (1719–1776), directeur des spectacles of [[Frederick II of Prussia]] and friend of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]; Karel Emanuel of Zierotin (1850–1934), peer of the [[Austrian Empire]] and governor of Moravia (1900–1906); and Ladislav Velen of Zierotin (1579–1638), head of the uprising against the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]].
The male line of this family died out in 1985. The female line died out in 2016. There are several lines of the family that are not direct descendants of the founders of the family: Mornstein-Zierotin, Klinger-Zierotin and Zierotin-Lilgenau.<ref>{{cite web |last=Beneš|first=Josef|title=Urození Žerotínové se vrátili do Meziříčí|url=https://valassky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/urozeni-zerotinove-se-vratili-do-mezirici-20190820.html|publisher=Deník.cz|language=cs|date=2019-08-20|access-date=2024-07-19}}</ref> After the fall of the [[Communist regime in Czechoslovakia|Communist rule]] in 1989, several properties were returned to Karel Mornstein-Zierotin, including [[Bludov Chateau]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ing. Karel Mornstein-Zierotin|url=https://www.pametnaroda.cz/en/mornstein-zierotin-karel-1939|work=Memory of Nations|publisher=[[Post Bellum]]|access-date=2024-07-19}}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Moravian noble families]]
[[Category:Bohemian noble families]]