See Remains of Schwarz, with a sketch of his life, 1826; Memoirs of Life and Correspondence, by H. N. Pearson, 1834, 3d ed. 1839; Life, by H. N. Pearson, 1855.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt is a limited hereditary sovereignty, its constitution resting on laws of 1854 and 1870, though a diet has met at intervals since 1816. The present diet consists of sixteen members elected for six years, four chosen by the highest taxpayers, the others by general election. The diet must be summoned every three years. The budget for 1885-87 estimated revenue and expenditure each at £101,210; £57,670 was the estimated income from the public lands and forests. The public debt was £230,350. The troops of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt have been incorporated with the Prussian army since the convention of 1867. The principality has one vote in the Reichstag and one in the federal council.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt is the cadet branch of the family. In 1710 the count was made a prince, in spite of the remonstrances of the elector of Saxony, although he was prevented from taking his seat in the imperial college until 1754. The principality entered the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807 and the German League in 1815. In 1819 it redeemed the Prussian claims of superiority by surrendering portions of its territory.

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is a limited hereditary sovereignty, its constitution resting on a law of 1857. The diet consists of five representatives elected by the highest taxpayers, five by general election, and not more than five nominated for life by the prince. The first ten members are elected for four years, which is also the financial period. There is a ministry with five departments—for the prince’s household, domestic affairs, finance, churches and schools, and justice. The budget for each year in the period 1884-87 estimated the income at £112,475 and the expenditure at £1000 less. The public debt in 1885 was £199,625. The troops of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen have been incorporated with the Prussian army by convention since 1867. The principality has one vote in the Reichstag and one in the federal council.

The house of Schwarzburg is one of the oldest and noblest in Germany; and tradition traces its descent from Witikind and the kings of the Franks. Its historical ancestors were the counts of Käfernburg, from whom the counts of Schwarzburg sprang about the beginning of the 13th century. The name Giinther became the distinctive name for the members of this house (corresponding to Heinrich in the Reuss family), the various Günthers being at first distinguished by numbers and afterwards by prefixed names. Various subdivisions and collateral lines were formed, but by 1599 all were extinct but the present two. Count Günther XL., who died in 1552, was the last common ancestor of both lines. Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is the senior line, although its possessions are the smaller. In 1697 the count was raised to the dignity of imperial prince by the emperor Leopold I. The prince had to pay 7000 thalers to the elector of Saxony and 3500 to the duke of Saxe-Weimar, and numerous disputes arose in connexion with the superiorities thus indicated. In 1807 Schwarzburg-Sondershausen entered the Confederation of the Rhine and became a sovereign state. In 1816 it joined the German League, and redeemed with portions of its territory all rights of superiority claimed by Prussia, Its domestic government has gradually, though not very quickly, improved since that time,—the oppressive game-laws in particular having been abolished. A treaty of mutual succession was made between the two families in 1713.

1820), Austrian field-marshal, was born on 15th April 1771 at Vienna. He fought in 1789 under Lacy with distinction against the Turks and became major in 1792. In the French campaign of 1793 he held command of a portion of the advanced guard under the duke of Coburg, and in 1794 his impetuous charge at the head of a cavalry regiment greatly contributed to the victory of Cateau-Cambrésis. After the battle of Würzburg in September 1796 he was raised to the rank of major-general, and in 1799 to that of field-marshal in command of a division. At the defeat of Hohenlinden in 1800 his promptitude and courage saved those under his command from being surrounded and taken prisoners. In the war of 1805 he held command of a division under General Mack, and when Ulm capitulated to Napoleon in October he cut his way through the hostile lines with some cavalry regiments. At the special request of the emperor Alexander he undertook an embassy to St Petersburg in 1808, but two days before the battle of Wagram he arrived in the camp and assumed command as general of the cavalry. After the peace of Vienna he was sent to Paris to negotiate a marriage between Napoleon and the duchess Maria Louisa. From this time he secured Napoleon’s special confidence and esteem, and at his request took command of the Austrian auxiliary corps in the Russian campaign. In August he received the command of the seventh or Saxon army corps; after gaining some slight advantages over the Russians, he was compelled to retreat before superior forces to the duchy of Warsaw, where, according to instructions from Napoleon, he remained for some months inactive at Pultusk. In 1813 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and, after defeating·Napoleon at Leipsic in October, carried the campaign to a successful issue by entering Paris in March 1814. On the conclusion of the war he became president of the Aulic Council. He died from paralysis at Leipsic on 15th October 1820.

See Prokesch-Osten, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des Feldmarschall's Fürsten Schwarzenberg, Vienna, 1823; Berger, Das Fürstenhaus Schwarzenberg, Vienna, 1866.