Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis

Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis
Lamoral Claudius Franz of Thurn and Taxis
Born	1621 Brussels
Died	13 December 1676(1676-12-13) Antwerp
Noble family	Thurn und Taxis
Spouse(s)	Anna Franziska Eugenia of Horne
Father	Leonhard II, Count of Taxis
Mother	Alexandrine de Rye, Comtesse de Varax

Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis (baptized on 14 February 1621 in Brussels; died 13 September 1676 in Antwerp) was a German nobleman and Imperial Postmaster. He took over the post of Imperial Postmaster General from his mother when he came of age in 1646. In 1650, he obtained permission from the Emperor to change his family name into von Thurn, Valsassina und Taxis, but then opted for the shorter von Thurn und Taxis or, in French, de la Tour et Tassis. He and his mother were instrumental in the organization of the Imperial postal system. After the end of the Thirty Years' War, he successfully competed against the many postal systems of the German states. He was, however, unable to regain a legal monopoly. He also participated in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Westphalia.

Lamoral II Claudius Franz was the only son of Leonhard II, Count of Taxis and his wife Alexandrine de Rye, Comtesse de Varax. His father died unexpectedly in 1628, when he was seven years old and he inherited the posts of Imperial Postmaster General and Postmaster of the Spanish Netherlands. Until he came of age, his mother acted as his guardian and provided him with a thorough education, teaching him about the postal sector and languages, including Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish.

Lamoral Claudius Francis began acting as Postmaster General when he came of age, at the age of 25, signing documents himself, even before he was officially appointed. One of his first acts in office was his confirmation of the appointment of his cousin John Baptista of Taxis as Postmaster in Augsburg on 27 February 1646. Lamoral Claudius Francis was confirmed as Postmaster General by Emperor Ferdinand III on 11 September 1646.

Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War, during the peace negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster, he set up a postal courier link between Detmold and Osnabrück and one between Osnabrück and Bückeburg. He also set up a postal route from Cologne via Lünen to Münster and a route from Münster to Osnabrück. He continued to operate the route his mother had set up from Cologne via Roermond to Brussels. After the Peace of Westphalia, he was responsible for shifting the postal service from Innsbruck to Brussels back to its traditional route.