Salome Alt


Salome Alt, was the mistress to Wolf Dietrich Raitenau, reigning Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, from about 1593 until 1617.

Life

Born in Salzburg, Salome was the daughter of the merchant and city councillor Wilhelm Alt and a granddaughter of Ludwig Alt, former mayor of Salzburg. Contemporary sources describe her as a tall grown woman and belle of the city.
She met the Archbishop at a festivity, whereafter Raitenau took her to his Salzburg residence. While her parents forbade her to ever enter their home again, she was installed officially as the archbishop's common law spouse. The couple's first known child was born in 1593; in total, the partnership produced fifteen sons and daughters. Raitenau, mediated by his uncle Cardinal Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps, worked incessantly but ultimately in vain to obtain a papal dispensation to marry her. At last, upon a visit by Emperor Rudolf II in 1609, their children were officially relieved from their status as illegitimate.
Raitenau vested Salome with the noble title von Altenau and in 1606 had a shared retreat for them erected outside the Salzburg city walls, which later was rebuilt as Mirabell Palace by his nephew and successor Mark Sittich von Hohenems. A reflective and friendly balanced character, Salome was a haven of peace for her partner stuck in increasing internal and external conflicts. Despite her position as the archbishop's mistress, she was said to have no enemies at the Salzburg court throughout her life.
In 1611 Raitenau, deserted by his cathedral chapter and abandoned by Emperor Rudolf II, had to flee from the Salzburg court, after he entered into a fierce dispute with his mighty neighbour, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria, and Bavarian forces invaded the archiepiscopal estates. On his flight he was captured, deposed and imprisoned for life by his successor, Mark Sittich von Hohenems. Salome likewise was arrested, but released soon after and retired to Wels in Austria.
Though they were able to secretly communicate, the couple never met again. After Raiteneau's death in custody in 1617, she dressed in mourning like a widow for the rest of her life.