LEGENDS AROUND THE ORIGINS OF THE THUN FAMILY
Introduction
When looking into the history of the Thun family, it is inevitable that you will encounter all kinds of legends that aim to shed light on the obscure origins of this noble family.
One of these origin stories was popularised by the family itself, seeking to legitimise itself in the 17th and 18th centuries. When the head of the family was elevated to the status of count in 1629, they wished to redefine the family tradition to reflect this higher prestige. Many noble houses therefore sought to relate their origins to an older family or an important personality.
A variety of legends about their origins
A particularly popular theory was for families to claim descent from a ruling house, or a family of Roman patricians, and the Thun family also sought to become part of this tradition. They sought to link their origins to the Martyr, Vigil, who had come to Trento with his parents, where he was elected bishop. Christoph Simon von Thun, Grand Prior of the Order of Malta and a counsellor to Emperors Ferdinand II and III believed that Sigmund von Thun, the Imperial Orator at the Council of Trento had documents in his possession that bore witness to Roman origins, but that these documents had been consumed in a fire at Castle Thun that also killed Sigmund himself. For that reason, Christoph Simon approached Archbishop Leopold of Tirol with a request for copies from the archive in Innsbruck. However, Leopold responded that he had found nothing of the kind, but that he believed that the family had moved to the Non Valley from Rome in the year 383. The matter was settled easily: in a declaration, dated 29 September 1629, a number of noble families signed a statement that the Thun family originated in Rome. [1] Leopold also confirmed this and it thus became an accepted truth. However, there was still no great work of historiography that could tell the tale.
The first work among many was a 1654 dissertation by a certain Domenico Federici (Eliotropio di Gloria), in which St. Vigil was described as a member of the Thun family. The treatise was dedicated to the then Prince-Bishop of Salzburg Guidobald von Thun, presumably upon his appointment as bishop.
Shortly thereafter, a further work on the apparent origins of the Thun family appeared: Vincenzo Armanni dedicated a work to Wenzel von Thun-Hohenstein, Bishop of Passau, in 1668, in which he asserted a connection between the Thun family and the ancient Roman Capizucchi family. [2]
by Armando Friedenfels, a Premonstratensian priest from Prague, which attempted to demonstrate their relationship to St. Romedius. [3]
As early as 1674, the Thun family's connections to the Capizucchi and their descent from St. Vigilus was repeated in a work by the Tyrolean genealogist, Franz Adam von Brandis, "Ehren-Kräntzel“ [4] and was treated as fact from that point onwards.
A few years later, the panegyric „Gloriosus Sanctus Romedius ex comitibus […] nec non gloriosa domus comitum de Thun [..]“ by Armando Friedenfels, a Premonstratensian priest from Prague, which attempted to demonstrate their relationship to St. Romedius. [3]
As early as 1674, the Thun family's connections to the Capizucchi and their descent from St. Vigilus was repeated in a work by the Tyrolean genealogist, Franz Adam von Brandis, "Ehren-Kräntzel“ [4] and was treated as fact from that point onwards.
Swiss origins
A further, persistent legend is also incorporated into the standard literature, namely the family's origins from the area around the Swiss town of Thun on Lake Thun. A mere coincidence of names and an apparently similar heraldic crest cannot, however, constitute sufficient proof of such an origin. These suspicions have been placed into context by an etymological and historic analysis. The town of Thun, on Lake Thun, first appears as "Lacum Dunensis" [5]. The name is derived from the Celtic word, "dunum," which refers to a fortification or a palisade. The root of the Thun family's name is different, namely "Ton." The similarity between the town's crest and the original crest of the Thuns does not constitute evidence, either: heraldic options in the Middle Ages were limited and such similarities are common.
And yet, this particular origin has persisted in many standard works on the history of the nobility and even in Siebmacher's famous Book of Heraldry. [6]
[MT]
Bibliography
Ammann Hektor, Origins of the Town of Thun (Special printing in the "Journal Of Swiss History“ XIIIth volume, Issue 3 1933)
Armanni Vincenzo, „Della nobile, & antica Famiglia de’ Capizucchi baroni Romani diramata da un medesimo stipite con quella de’ conti di Tun prosapia grande, e famosa della Germania“, Rome, 1668.
Brandis Franz Adam von, On the Evergreen Wreath of the Tyrolean Noble Eagle/Or a collation of the most dignified writings and histories/A series of successive histories of the Princely Counts of Tyrol from Noë to the present day, Bolzano, 1678.
Glückselig Legis, Denkwürdigkeiten des Grafenhauses Thun-Hohenstein, Prag 1866.
Meraviglia-Crivelli Rudolf, The Bohemian Nobility, in Siebmacher's Great Book of Heraldry, Volume 4, Issue 9, Nuremberg, 1886
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[1] Statement of 29 September 1629, Litomerice Local Archive, Decín Tetschen sub-archive / Bodenbach, signature I, 330.
[2] Vincenzo Armanni, „Della nobile, & antica Famiglia de’ Capizucchi baroni Romani diramata da un medesimo stipite con quella de’ conti di Tun prosapia grande, e famosa della Germania“, Rome, 1668.
[3] Armando Friedenfels, Gloriosus Sanctus Romedius ex comitibus […] nec non gloriosa domus comitum de Thun [..], Prague, 1699.
Brandis Franz Adam von, On the Evergreen Wreath of the Tyrolean Noble Eagle/Or a collation of the most dignified writings and histories/A series of successive histories of the Princely Counts of Tyrol from Noë to the present day, Bolzano, 1678.
[5] cf. Hektor Ammann, Origins of the Town of Thun (Special printing in the "Journal Of Swiss History“ XIIIth volume, Issue 3 1933) pp. 7-8.
[6] cf. e.g., the Bohemian volume: Rudolf Meraviglia-Crivelli, The Bohemian Nobility, in Siebmacher's Great Book of Heraldry, Volume 4, Issue 9, Nuremberg, 1886, p.177 and Table 77.
