The Lieutenant-Governorship. Prince Albert of Saxony (1738–1822)
– his appointment and activity in Hungary
Instead of naming a new person to replace the deceased palatine (viceroy), Lajos Batthyány, Maria Theresa appointed a lieutenant-governor (locumtenens) of Hungary in 1765. The lieutenant-governorship was not an unknown institution in the kingdom. In the Middle Ages, the viceroy (palatine), elected by the Estates, stood in for the king in a number of fields. After 1526, Habsburg rulers did not reside in Hungary. If no viceroy was elected, they appointed a lieutenant-governor, a trustworthy, loyal person, to run the affairs of the country. The rights and privileges of the locumtenentes were never clearly defined, and it was always up to the monarch to decide their responsibilities.
There was a tendency after Charles III (IV) to select such persons from among chose associates of the Habsburg family. In 1732, Francis Stephen of Lorraine was chosen. He was the prospective husband of Maria Theresa and future Holy Roman Emperor, who held the office until 1741, when the new diet elected a new viceroy. His sphere of authority and role served as model in 1765 at the appointment of Prince Albert as locumtenens. The lieutenant-governors were granted various powers and titles: the chief responsibility of both princes was to preside at the sessions of the Lieutenant-Governor’s Council, the highest (administrative) government office in Hungary, founded in 1723. Both presided at the sessions of the Supreme Court of Justice (Septemvirate Court of Appeal) as Chief Justice of Hungary. Albert was in addition, High Sheriff and Chief Justice of the Jazygians and Cumans. Francis did not have this title (since the three privileged regions redeemed themselves only in 1745), but he had the right to grant up to 32 tenements held in villeinage. This mediaeval privilege of the viceroys was, however, kept by Maria Theresa for herself in 1765. According to Article 1659:76, the palatine was also High Sheriff of Pest-Pilis-Solt County. The monarch had the right to appoint a lieutenant-governor to that office. Both Francis of Lorraine and Prince Albert were granted the office, although they subsequently ran the county through administrators.
In both cases their close ties to the Habsburg house were decisive factors at the appointments. The Saxon prince, born in 1738, would go on to marry Princess Maria Christina, favourite daughter of Maria Theresa on April 8, 1766. Through her mother, Maria Josepha (daughter of Joseph I), who had fled to Vienna before the Prussian troops and seen the struggles of the Seven Years’ War, he himself was connected to the Habsburgs as well. The Hungarian lieutenent-governorship strengthened the social position of both prospective bridegrooms (and husbands), the office providing adequate social standing and dignity for them.
In 1765, the Queen established a new military position for Albert, hitherto non-existent in that form in Hungary. The rights of the viceroys included holding the position of the captain-general of the army of the realm. (In the 16–17th centuries, a representative of the Hungarian Estates holding command over foreign, billeted troops was viewed as potentially dangerous. This was probably one reason why monarchs failed to appoint viceroys, and after 1556, military affairs were decided in the War Council at Vienna.) Maria Theresa appointed Albert Captain-general (Capitain général) of Hungary in 1765. His instructions reveal that he was not to act independently, without royal decision, and he had to closely cooperate with the Hungarian High Command (Generalcommando), but this same office continued running affairs and correspondence.
The lieutenant-governorships of Francis of Lorrain and Prince Albert constituted a transition from the locumtenentes of the 16–17th centuries to the archduke-palatines elected around the turn of the 18–19th centuries (Alexander Leopold 1790–1795, Joseph 1796–1847, Stephen 1847–1848). According to another version, the appointment of archduke-locumtenentes was also considered. In the 17th century, Archduke Mathias was considered for the job; and in the 18th century, Maria Theresa meant to appoint her youngest son, Maximilian after Prince Albert. The latter and his spouse went on to occupy the office of governor and locumtenens in the Austrian Netherlands, granted them in the marital contract. This meant another step in the process that tightened the relations between the Austrian Hereditary Provinces and the Kingdom of Hungary, and thus restricted the influence of the Estates. The Hungarian Lieutenant-Governorships of Francis and Albert thus gained significance not only for political reasons, but for family and family-political considerations as well.
