Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske

Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske (in English: Mathias Franz Count of Chorinsky Baron of Ledske; ; ) (4 October 1720 in Pačlavice – 30 October 1786 in Kuřim, Moravia) was first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brno, Imperial and Royal senior Privy Counsellor of the Imperial and Royal Privy Council of the Habsburg monarchy and with his equally eminent brothers the first Counts of Chorinsky.

Family history and biography Mathias Franz was a descendant of an eminent and ancient Bohemian-Moravian-Silesian noble house well known in this region since the 15th century, with earlier origins leading from the Piast dynasty of Poland and a Chorynski branch of the "Abdank szlachta" nobility, in 1293 two noble Knight’s Babeslaus de Chorinsky and his son Laticus de Chorinsky served at the court of Henry V, Duke of Legnica and Duke of Silesia, seated in the Duchy of Silesia. today the village is named Ledská and is part of the Hřibiny-Ledská municipality in the present-day Czech Republic.

Already established and recognized for centuries, Mathias Franz together with his brothers On 16 October 1769 Mathias Franz received episcopal consecration as Titular Bishop of Samaria and Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hradec Králové, in 1776 Auxiliary Bishop of Olomouc. Sponsored and nominated for Bishop of Brünn (Brno) on 18 May 1777 by then Empress regnant Maria Theresia of the Holy Roman Empire, Pope Pius VI confirmed his appointment on 5 December 1777 as the first bishop of the newly established Roman Catholic Diocese of Brno, and in that same year he was officially installed in that city. In 1778 he became a senior privy counsellor (German title k.u.k. Wirklicher Geheimer Rat, roughly "imperial and royal right trusted counsellor") in the Imperial and Royal (German k.u.k.) Privy Council of the Habsburg monarchy.

Parents His parents were Franz Karl Baron of Chorinsky and Ledske and first wife Maria Catherina Baroness Kottulinsky of Kottulin and Krzizkowitz. From his father's first marriage stem four sons and three daughters, and upon the death of his first wife, one son from his father's second marriage to Maria Anna Countess of Hallweil. His father was Imperial and Royal Chamberlain (German title k.u.k. Kämmerer) and Counsellor (German k.u.k. Rat) on the Imperial and Royal Council of the Habsburg monarchy, as well as Imperial Governor of the Hradiště region in the Margraviate of Moravia, and Lord of the principalities Veselí and Pačlavice.

Coat of arms Blazon, altered and adopted post-1761: Gold (Or) shield, with two bison horns centred within, the right bison horn is black (Sable) with three silver (Argent) crayfish claws attached outwards, the left bison horn is silver (Argent) with three black (Sable) crayfish claws attached outwards, the shield (or mantel surrounding if present) is crowned with a nine pearl count-coronet ranking. The coat of arms is often found with a mantel surrounding; a purple cloak with ermine lining, tasselled and fringed with gold (Or) string, and shield supporters being two human male figures.

Some variations of the coat of arms are also seen with the addition of the bison horns represented again surmounted above a two-pearled leafed crown resting on a front facing barred Knight's helmet with jewelled necklace (a similar blazon as found on the original coat of arms borne prior to addition of the count-coronet ranking post-1761).

Miscellaneous As name spellings were historically fairly fluid, especially given the different languages used in the region, the main name of "Chorinsky" is also sometimes found in documents as Chorynski, Chorensky, Chorenski, Chorynsky and Chorinska (the last being a female form), and "Ledske" is found as Ledska, Ledetz and Letske.

Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis (née Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau), of the German Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, has paternal ancestors from the House of Chorinsky-Ledske. Her paternal great-great-grandfather is Victor Paul Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske (1838–1901) and her paternal great-grandmother is Franziska (Fanny) Anna Gräfin von Chorinsky Freiin von Ledske (1876–1963).