Charles VI Signed Catherine I Russian War Alliance Royal Proclamation Broadside

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Charles VI Signed Catherine I Russian War Alliance Royal Proclamation Broadside:
$27500.00

For your consideration is an original imperial mandate personally subscribed in manuscript by Emperor Charles VI, issued in Arce Nostra Luxemburg (from Our Fortress of Luxembourg) on 24 August 1724, that stands as an early documentary articulation of HabsburgRomanov strategic alignment in the face of Ottoman expansion. Far from a routine anti-Turkish proclamation, this broadside captures a decisive diplomatic moment: by formally acknowledging the military posture of Catherine I of Russia and framing imperial policy as solidarity in defense of Christendom, Charles VI publicly signaled a convergence between Vienna and St. Petersburg during the geopolitical crisis that followed Russias Persian Campaign (17221723) and the negotiations culminating in the Treaty of Constantinople (1724). The mandate thus represents a foundational expression of the HabsburgRomanov alignment that would later mature into coordinated campaigns in the Austro-Turkish conflicts of the 1730s, marking a formative stage in one of the most consequential power partnerships of eighteenth-century Europe.

Printed in formal Latin and opening with the full imperial titulatureNos Carolus Sextus Divina Favente Clementi Electus Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustusthe document enumerates the Emperors composite dominions across the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy. The dating clause, located in the final lines of the text, reads: quae dabantur in Arce Nostra Luxemburg die vigesimo quarto mensis Augusti anno millesimo septingentesimo vigesimo quarto, translated: Given in Our Fortress of Luxembourg on the twenty-fourth day of the month of August in the year one thousand seven hundred twenty-four. The place of issueLuxembourg, within the Austrian Netherlandssituates the mandate within Charles VIs western administrative sphere during a period of heightened European recalibration.

The text records that intelligence received by the Imperial Council of War confirmed that the Russian Empress had taken up arms in response to disturbances proceeding from the Ottoman Porte. Charles VI declares that, as a Christian sovereign charged with the protection of Christendom and the security of his crown lands, he recognizes the justice of her cause and resolves to unite his own arms with those of the Russian Empire. The proclamation exhorts all faithful subjectsecclesiastical and secular aliketo contribute counsel, assistance, and resources to ensure that the incursions of the common enemy may be repelled and peace preserved. In substance, the document is not a declaration of open Austro-Ottoman war; rather, it is a formal statement of diplomatic solidarity and strategic positioning at a critical juncture in Eastern European power politics.

At the conclusion appears the autograph Carolus, executed in iron-gall ink with a pronounced sweeping paraph, confirming direct imperial sanction. Beneath the printed attestation clause, Ad Mandatum Sacrae Caesareae & Catholicae Majestatis proprium, appear the manuscript signatures of Count Philipp Ludwig Wenzel von Sinzendorf, Imperial Vice-Chancellor and principal architect of Habsburg foreign policy, and Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, then Privy Secretary and later State Chancellor under Maria Theresa. The triad of subscriptionssovereign, chancellor, and secretaryreflects the complete administrative hierarchy of the Reichshofkanzlei and confirms the documents status as a fully executed imperial act.

Printed on fine laid paper with visible chain lines and retaining its original filing folds, the broadside measures approximately 16.25 14.25 inches and remains well preserved, with light age toning consistent with eighteenth-century archival storage. Broadsides of this type were produced in functional numbers for administrative dissemination; however, only a limited portion would have received personal sovereign subscription. The survival of an example bearing the autograph of Charles VI, together with the authenticating signatures of Sinzendorf and Bartenstein, renders this sheet materially rarer than the general print run would suggest. As a formally subscribed imperial proclamation issued from Luxembourg and explicitly acknowledging Empress Catherine I within the evolving anti-Ottoman diplomatic framework of 1724, it represents a significant and uncommon witness to the emergence of HabsburgRomanov geopolitical cooperation and to the ceremonial authority of the Baroque Holy Roman Empire at a pivotal moment in European statecraft.