BOHEMIA, Schlick - Counts of Passaun-Weisskirchen

(this is partially a translation of a German Wikipedia article, it may not be 100% accurate in grammar or wording but it's the best I could find)

The Counts of Schlick (czech Šlikové) were originally a patrician family with roots in Bohemia and in Germany.

The rise of the family began in the first half of the 15th Century, when Kaspar Schlick, for his diplomatic services of the Emperor Sigismund to the Baron (1422) and Reich Counts (1437), was titled and given a patent for a coat of arms. Their area in addition included the counties of Bassano (Passaun) in Northern Italy and the Weisskirchen (Holíc) in today's western Slovakia, in addition to others. The source of their wealth was the silver mines at St. Joachimsthal and minting of coins (Joachimstaler, the first dollar size silver coin). After the silver discoveries at the beginning of the 16th Century they had the royal right to mint coins. The Bohemian crown usurped the family's right to mint coins in 1528. That right was returned in 1626. It was finally lost for good in 1806 when the whole region was absorbed by Napoleon, although the last official coins had been minted decades prior.

The noble family played an important role in the Czech corporate state in the first century of the Habsburg reign. They occupied important positions in the estate's management or were officers of the Habsburg rulers. In the early 1520's numerous members sympathized with the Lutheran Reformation, while others remained Catholic. Major representatives of the family stood for the right of the stands against the rulers of one. They took an active part in the uprisings against the Habsburgs in 1547 and 1618-1620. After the Battle of White Mountain they lost their assets, which were confiscated by the emperor. One of the leaders of the Bohemian insurgents, Joachim Andreas von Schlick, was executed in 1621. The part of the family that remained faithful to the Habsburgs received a portion of the estates of Messrs. Waldstein.

The arms of the family itself are the three annulets on a field divided in a manner called tierced en chapé. The lion holding the church represents the land of Weisskirchen, and the escutcheon shield has the charge of Passaun, two panthers holding a tower.

1 Kreuzer