Thurn and Taxis.

Thurn and Taxis. PRINCES OF, a princely house with high rank, hereditary dignities, and vast possessions in Austria, Bavaria, Württemberg, Prussia, and Belgium, the heads of the two main lines being resident at Ratisbon and at Laucin in Bohemia. Descended from the Della Torre of Milan (whence the first part of their name), with a castle of Tasso or De Tassis (whence the second), members of this house have been distinguished in connection with posts. One established posts in Tyrol in 1460; another, ennobled in 1512, established the first post between Vienna and Brussels in 1576. His descendant became in 1595 grand-master of the posts of the Holy Roman empire, and secured the right of carrying on the posts of the empire which extended from Hamburg to Rome, and from Paris to Vienna, for himself and his heirs as a hereditary privilege. In 1681 the principality of Thurn and Taxis in the Netherlands was conferred on the head of the house; and in 1698 the princely rank and title were made hereditary, and passed to all members of the house. The postal privileges were gradually limited by the governments of the various countries; but it was not till 1867 that Prussia secured by treaty with the family the abolition of the monopoly.