A Family Feud Continued

A marriage in 1638 reignited the twenty-year dormant feud between the Barons Trapp and the Someda. Michele Tranquillini of Mori, a small village southwest of Trento, married Cornelia, the daughter of Giovanni Battista Someda by his second wife, Baroness Susanna Trapp. The dowry that Giovanni Battista was willing to give with his daughters didn't meet Michele Tranquillini's demands. There is the likelihood that an agreement was struck between the two men, because in 1638, Michele voiced his claim to the Corte di Caldonazzo. Nothing came of Michele's claim until 1641, when Oswald III Trapp died unexpectedly, leaving a widow and a child heir. The Someda seized this opportunity, allied themselves again with the Barons Welsperg zu Raitenau und Primör, and reclaimed possession of the Trapp estate and its jurisdiction over Caldonazzo by right of the agreement of 1616,^[41] when Oswald sold the property and its rights to the Someda.
Now exiled from her home, Oswald's widow Maria Anna suddenly faced bankruptcy. She luckily had good connections in the like of her brothers-in-law Baron Ferdinand Trapp, lord of Castel Beseno and Ernst Trapp, a canon of the Cathedral of Trento, both of whom came to her aid. Ferdinand and Ernst convinced Ferdinand's godfather the Prince-Bishop of Trento, Cardinal Ludwig Madruzzo, to support his sister-in-law. Other family members came to Maria Anna aid, including Ferdinand Trapp's other godfather, Count Paris Lodron, fellow canon of Ernst Trapp in Trento and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and godmother Countess Elisabeth Wolkenstein-Trostburg. Maria Anna's brother-in-law, Count Sigismund Arco, and brother Count Wolfgang Dietrich Thun of Castel Thun also joined forces to force Giulio Cesare Someda, Michele Tranquillini, and Baron Sigmund Wolfgang Welsperg from the Trapp estate.^[42] This was a case in which ancient alliances and common interests replaced centuries old rivalries between the dynast families of Tyrol, forcing the Someda to finally renounce any and all claims to the property and rights of the Corte.

These very powerful relatives and friends of Baroness Maria Anna Trapp could do actually very little in the way of stabilizing the Corte's income. Much of its proprietary goods had been destroyed. The Someda had nothing to do with the Corte's assets, however. The property had been abandoned for years due to clashes with the Venetians around 1616 to 1618, conflicts between the Barons Trapp and the Prince-Bishop of Trento, and accusations of treason against the Trapp by the Archduke. By about 1629, the Trapp brothers were restored to their offices, and confirmed their loyalty to the Archduke, which was equivalent to an imperial pardon.^[43] Paying homage to an archduke restored titles, rank, and office to the Trapp. It didn't restore the Trapp's fortune, which had deteriorated. It also did not eliminate the Trapp debts. But regaining possession to the Corte in 1641 inevitably secured a better future for Maria Anna Trapp and her young son.

With the death of her husband, Maria Anna was made the legal guardian of her son Oswald Hercules. Financially, Maria Anna could barely support herself and son, because Oswald III left very little. The next potential guardian would have been Oswald's brother Ferdinand, but he was also near bankruptcy and had the burden of supporting his wife and four youngest children. Also, the fraternal feud between Oswald III and Ferdinand had relentlessly damaged relations between the two families, a feud over the lordship of Folgaria, the neighboring fiefdom to Caldonazzo. It seems as if the brothers had been at odds with each other since at least 1605, and possibly as early as 1599, when their father died.^[44] Ferdinand, the younger son, inherited the Castel Beseno, founding that branch of the family, and Oswald received the Magnifica Corte di Caldonazzo. Due to these fraternal disputes, it is understandable why Oswald would entrust his wife with full guardianship of his only son and heir. He would rather entrust her with guardianship and a bankrupt estate than place his family into the graces of his brother.

As guardian to her son, Maria Anna was responsible to financially supporting her son. Luckily, her son, as heir of Oswald III, inherited the title and rights of Baron of the Holy Roman Empire, the dignity, rights, and privileges as Oberst-Erblandhofmeister, the privileges of a Herr und Landmann in Tirol, in addition to the ancient ancestral rights as Lord of Caldonazzo, all of which had been restored to his father and uncles in 1629.^[45] But even with such dignities and privileges, the debts Maria Anna had to pay were too overwhelming. She may have even been forced to appear in creditors court in Innsbruck. This seems very likely, because in doing so, she would have had the opportunity to then plead her case. And her case would have been made stronger by the influence of her familial and political connections, especially with the current regent of Tyrol herself, the Archduchess Claudia.

Archduchess Claudia of Austria-Tirol was the widow of Leopold V of Tyrol, and daughter of Ferdinando I de' Medici and Cristina de Lorraine, Grand Duke and Duchess of Tuscany. In 1641, Claudia's son Ferdinand Karl was still a minor, so his mother ruled Tyrol; she had in fact been regent of Tyrol since 1632. Claudia continued her husband's policies of encouraging commercial development and cultivating the arts, making Innsbruck one of the most important cultural centers of Europe. Claudia ruled effectively, and her upbringing at the Tuscan court under the guardianship of her mother and grandmother provided her with a superior education. Claudia had in fact be raised by her mother and grandmother since the age of five, her father having died in 1609. The matriarchal childhood definitely influenced Claudia's regental decisions, which would have impacted the ladies of the Innsbruck court, which would have included Baroness Maria Anna Trapp. For this reason, Baroness Maria Anna Trapp's probable appearance in creditors court was a fortunate event, because, as the presiding judge, Archduchess Claudia ordered all creditors to defer all debt payments inherited by Maria Anna. In 1642, Archduchess Claudia intervened in the legal proceedings dealing with the dispute between the Someda de Chiaromonte and the Trapp. Seven years later, Maria Anna was forced to entrust the family's silver to the state commissioner and treasury. In the following year, 1650, the Prince-Bishop of Trento issued an order, officially reversing the terms of 23 January 1617, effectively relinquishing the Someda of their administrative rights to Caldonazzo in favor of Baroness Trapp. Then, in 1654, when Oswald Hercules was twenty and had succeeded to his inheritance, Massimiliano Someda, Giovanni Battista's son by Chiara von Piloss appeared in court with Oswald Hercules and handed over the key to Caldonazzo, which ended the thirty-five year old conflict over the lordship to Caldonazzo.^[46]