erstvo vnitra Ceske republiky STATN{ USTREDNi ARCHIV V PRAZE 149 01 Praha 4 - Chodovec, Archivni 4, telefon: 614 21 115, fax: 614 47 240, podatelna telefon: 614 47 240 e-mail: sua@mver.cz Ee. aa Ms. Linda L. Fisher 1041 Old Country Road Severna Park, Maryland 21146 USA Dne: 29.10.2001 Nato matin: SUA; 77763/01-01 Vytizujellinka: Sedlaéek Véc: lohann Adam Fischer von Fischerbach -nobility diploma Dear Ms. Fisher, In reply to your request of 28 August, 2001 we are sending you a copy of the draft of the nobility diploma granted to Johann Fischer von Fischerbach on 8" May 1703. The original of the draft is deposited in the archive group Ceska dvorské kancelat (the Czech Royal Chancery, refence number IV D 1) Yours sincerely, MET PhDr.Eva DraSarova Director of the Central State Archives in Prague PHi odpovédi uvadejte, prosim, na8i znacku, BANKOVNI SPOJENt: CNB Praha 1, poboéka 701, ¢.1. 17513-881/0710, ICO 00007064 1270.98Diploma of Nobility for Johann Adam von Fischersbach: [a circular stamp appears at this point]' A. Dept. Joh. Gétterstorffer” IV. D. Nobility Status for Fischer von Fischersbach’ We herewith recognize publicly with this letter and announce to one and all, in the name of the honorable imperial and royal’ sovereign and by virtue of the power and authority vested in us by the same, that you are so impacted and so honored, along with others having been recognized with the status of nobility as a result of excellence, and surrounded by those noble families and in accordance with regulation, will, and demeanor of the Almighty — via the timely instance of death —now and then work with each other in decisions of grace when a worthy one, having landed in reverence, each more pronounced, are distributed to the same nobility families and faithful and deserving vassals, and with you, honorable sir, with your noble virtues, this also is true, and the virtues are meritorious of yet higher honors, and this would then be expanded and consummated via an elevation in status to nobility, all the more for the glory and splendor of the illumination with which you are adorned, and to further ever more noble deeds on the part of vassals and upright individuals, and to give an incentive, a desire, and occasion for this, we too, adorned by the virtues of the same Honorable Imperial and Royal Highness therein, in order to further the Almighty power’s godly regulation, gracious will, and providence, also born [???] and reborn [?] to us, are at all times inclined toward goodness and gentleness, toward all in our ancestral land, the principality, and we attempt to further with the faithful vassals honor, utility, and acceptance, particularly however the inner desire to lift oneself up to a higher level of worthiness, and we bestow on these persons imperial and royal grace, privilege, and freedoms, which their ancestors and they themselves have always possessed, and they have experienced the noble virtues, reason, and goodness of our ancestral land and principality, and of the states’ honor, accepted by us and dedicated toward our welfare. When we then have noticed, have perceived, and have regarded this, the noble goodness, custom, virtue, reason, and fitness of those who are (now) equal to us, Johann Adam Fischer otherwise has additionally been praised, on account of the imperial and royal spirit that he brought to the faithful service and learned through the teaching of his ancestors, and not alone from their marriage, which they have ' The first thing in the left margin is a circular stamp containing typed letters. 1 cannot read most of the letters, but the letters at the top may be K.K,, standing for kaiserlich und koniglich in today’s spelling. That abbreviation means “imperial and royal” and was used commonly in the Austria-Hungry region. ? There is no explanation for this name in the left margin, and the name does not appear in the body of the document. > The above words are written in the left margin. The main body of the document follows. * In the handwritten portions the abbreviation looks like kaysl. kngl.Diploma of Nobility, page 2: brought to Bohemia’ over two hundred years ago, as well as in the civil realm and in the military realm, with others also following in their best footsteps, moving around the highly praised august house of Austria [?]° with attention to goodness and bloodlines in that time, faithful and constant, most accomplished of all the vassals, so that those all around them were killed in the multifaceted and difficult war and then landed in the most difficult of poverty, and this also was the same of the nobility that they previously had wished to lead them, and the same were forsaken and had much in the way of need throughout the way, and the prescribed means and goods nonetheless had to see them through, honorably, until they finally, by means of good fortune and their own merits, were rewarded little by little for themselves, and they also had managed and had arrived at the previous honor and worthiness of their class, in order for the documentation, however, to arrive at this, the same who himself turned to our imperial war service in an unparalleled manner, who served with our valued general van Diimewald via two years as page, and after that via three years as adjutant outside of Venchmissel [?], Ostere, Gran, Caschow, and Perig in Vagb[??],’ and also additionally shall come to have been recognized on the Maltese and other related theaters in the first company before Santa Maura, in the second one before Nauarin Vechio, and Nauarin Nouv [7] Madon and Napoli di Romania, and in the third at Castelnouv, in the fourth with Negro-ponte, and in the fifth one at Malnasia and Canea in Candia, and also in the same time period in winter in three different courses and in Algeres, Tripolini, and Tunesia, proving himself at all times as virtuous and upstanding in behavior, to such an extent that all of the generals to a man have been inclined thereto that they shall recognize this, until he finally landed in our duchy of Schlestein [?] after the war had been completed, his head of the household deceased from the above-noted causes of the suspended difficult war, adorned for his troubles with a knight’s residence Siebengriin that he himself had set out for after war duty, which he also would like until his 30" year as it would be suitable for a living previous soldier, who carried out the profession in a praiseworthy way, following as before as he exited all war and landed in princely Saxony* in state civil service in our ancestral land of Bohemia, where he administered all of the sovereign teams in charge of the princely properties over many years both faithfully and honorably, until he finally became ill and ended his life.” Such was what his ancestors and deceased father instilled in him. Said Johann Adam Fischer also, from the time of > Here it looks like a poetic German word for Bohemia. Later there are abbreviations that could stand for Bohemia, and in one instance toward the end of the document it looks like the scribe used the everyday German word for Bohemia rather than the poetic word. © This looks like an abbreviation for Austria. According to the 1905 Muret-Sanders dictionary, the German word that precedes this abbreviation, Erzhaus, had a specific meaning in reference to the ruling Austrian family: the august house of Austria, A general meaning of this word would be “the princely house of a high dignitary of the empire.” 7 These words are written in a Latin-style script, which leads me to believe that they are foreign place names. The preposition in German is ambiguous, though. Grammatically it is possible that the words also are the names of commanding officers. ® This is the only reference in the document to Saxony. There are several different places that have the name Saxony or some variation thereof. The largest and most well known is a state in eastern Germany not far from Bohemia. ° The passage is a bit confusing, but I believe that the above passages describing military service refer to the virtues ofan ancestor rather than to Johann Adam Fischer himself.