Eltz

At that time, Eltz lived in a small manor on the banks of the River Elz, a tributary of the Moselle, in what is now the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

In 1324 Pope John XXII had appointed Canon Arnold von Eltz Prince-Bishop of Cammin in Pomerania against the resistance of King Louis IV.

Canon Jakob zu Eltz was elected Prince-Archbishop of Trier in 1567; he was one of the strongest champions of the Counter-Reformation and allied himself with the Jesuits in opposing Lutheran and Calvinist influence in the region.

The additional "Great Palatinate" privilege entitled the Eltz lords to knight others in the name of the Emperor, select notaries public, legitimate illegitimate children, confer coats of arms and crests, appoint judges and clerks, and release serfs from service.

In 1736 Archbishop Philipp Karl von Eltz had acquired the Lordship of Vukovar in eastern Slavonia (present-day Croatia) affiliated with the Hungarian nobility.