Jean Jacques Joseph d'Alt

Jean Jacques Joseph d'Alt (Fribourg, 27 July 1653 — Lugano, 9 October 1714) was a Swiss mercenary and administrator.

Portrait of Jean Jacques Joseph d'Alt in Gruyères Castle (c. 1704)

Biography

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Born into an important patrician family of Fribourg, d'Alt was the son of Tobie-Protais d'Alt, a member of the city's Council of Two Hundred.[1] He rose in rank among the local administration, culminating as bailiff of Gruyère between 1685 and 1690, and of Lugano between 1712 and 1714.[1] He acquired the lordship of Prévondavaux in 1691.[1]

d'Alt served in the French army during the Franco-Dutch War, from 1674 to 1678, as a captain in the Pfyffer Regiment.[1] He was colonel of a Swiss regiment fighting for Savoy at the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, for which he was awarded the Order of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus.[1] He was made a baron by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1704.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Pierre de Castella: Jean-Jacques-Joseph d'Alt de Tieffenthal in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
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