Albrecht von Wallenstein

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Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein
September 14, 1583 – February 25, 1634 (aged 50)

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Place of birth Heřmanice, Bohemia

Place of death Eger, Bohemia
Allegiance  Holy Roman Empire
Years of service ? - January 24, 1634
Battles/wars Thirty Years' War

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein (German: pronunciation (help·info);

Czech: Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna;[1]September 24, 1583 – February 25,
1634)[2], also known as Albrecht von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician,
who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period
(1625–1629) of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), to the Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II. He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg
Monarchy and one of the major figures of the Thirty Years' War.

A successful generalissimo who had made himself ruler of the lands of the Duchy of
Friedland in northern Bohemia, Wallenstein found himself released from service in 1630
after Ferdinand grew wary of his ambition. Several Protestant victories over Catholic
armies induced Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein, who again turned the war in favor of the
Imperial cause. Dissatisfied with the emperor's treatment of him, Wallenstein considered
allying with the Protestants. However, Ferdinand had the general assassinated at Eger
(Cheb) in Egerland by one of the army's officials, Walter Devereux.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Early life
 2 Thirty Years' War
 3 Treachery and death
 4 Significance and legacy
 5 References

 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Isabelle von Harrach

Wallenstein, born in Heřmanice, Bohemia, into a poor Protestant branch of an old noble
family,[2] lost both his parents, Vilém of Waldstein and Markéta of Smiřický at the age of
12. His maternal uncle, Albrecht Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, raised him and sent
him to the school of the Unity of the Brethren at Košumberk Castle (Eastern Bohemia)
and to the Protestant grammar school at Goldberg in Silesia. From 1599 Wallenstein
continued his education at the University of Altdorf and then at the universities of
Bologna and Padua.[3]

Wallenstein then joined the army of Rudolf II in Hungary, where he saw, under the
command of Giorgio Basta, two years of armed service (1604–1606) against the Ottoman
Turks and Hungarian rebels.[3] In 1606 he converted to Catholicism due to his friendship
with Jesuits and with the Habsburgs. Wallenstein later would owe allegiance to the
Imperial Habsburg Monarchy as a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Even
though he was religious, Wallenstein did not become a zealot. Three years later he
returned to Bohemia and soon married Lucretia of Landek, a rich widow three years older
than himself, whose estates in Moravia he inherited after her death in 1614.[3] He used his
wealth to win favour, offering and commanding 200 horses for Archduke Ferdinand of
Styria for his war with Venice in 1617, thereby relieving the fortress of Gradisca from
Venetian siege.[4] He later endowed a monastery in her name, and had her reburied there.
In 1617 Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina, daughter of Count Harrach. She bore
him two children, a son who died in infancy and a surviving daughter.[3] Examples of the
couple's correspondence survive. Both marriages made him one of the wealthiest men in
the Bohemian Crown.

[edit] Thirty Years' War

The Wallenstein Palace in Prague.

The Thirty Years' War began in 1618 when the estates of Bohemia rebelled against
Ferdinand of Styria and elected Frederick of Palatine, the leader of the Protestant Union,
as their new king. Wallenstein associated himself with the cause of the Catholics and the
Habsburg dynasty. Sympathizing with the Bohemians, he used his position as
commander of the troops of the Moravian estates to escape with the Moravian treasure-
chest to Vienna. There, however, the authorities told him that the money would go back
to the province — but he had shown his loyalty to Ferdinand, the future Emperor.

Wallenstein equipped a regiment of cuirassiers and won great distinction under Charles
Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy in the wars against Ernst von Mansfeld
and Gabriel Bethlen (both supporters of the Bohemian revolt) in Moravia. Wallenstein
recovered his lands (which the rebels had seized in 1619) and after the Battle of White
Mountain (8 November 1620) he secured the estates belonging to his mother's family and
confiscated tracts of Protestant lands. He grouped his new possessions into a territory
called Friedland (Frýdlant) in northern Bohemia. A series of successes in battle led to
Wallenstein becoming in 1622 an imperial count palatine, in 1623 a prince, and in 1625
Duke of Friedland.[5] Wallenstein proved an able administrator of the duchy[6] and also
sent a large representation to Prague to emphasize his nobility.
Self image Wallenstein depicted as Mars, the God of war, riding the sky in a chariot
pulled by four horses. Ceiling decoration in the main hall of the Wallenstein Palace

In order to aid Ferdinand (elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1619) against the Northern
Protestants and to produce a balance in the Army of the Catholic League under Johann
Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Wallenstein offered to raise a whole army for the imperial
service following the bellum se ipsum alet principle, and received his final commission
on 25 July 1625. Wallenstein’s success as a military commander brought him fiscal
credit, which in turn enabled him to receive loans to buy lands, many of them being the
former estates of conquered Bohemian nobles. Wallenstein also used his credit to grant
loans to Ferdinand II, who then repaid him through lands and titles.[7] Wallenstein's
popularity soon recruited 30,000 (not long afterwards 50,000) men.[8] The two armies
worked together over 1625–1627, at first against Mansfeld.

Having beaten Mansfeld at Dessau (25 April 1626), Wallenstein cleared Silesia of the
remnants of Mansfeld's army in 1627.[8][9] At this time he bought from the emperor the
Duchy of Sagan (in Silesia). He then joined Tilly in the struggle with Christian IV of
Denmark,[10]and afterwards gained as a reward the Duchies of Mecklenburg, whose
hereditary dukes suffered expulsion for having helped the Danish king. This awarding of
a major territory to someone of the lower nobility shocked the high-born rulers of many
other German states.[11]

Wallenstein assumed the title of "Admiral of the North and Baltic Seas". However, in
1628 he failed to capture Stralsund, which resisted the Capitulation of Franzburg and the
subsequent siege with assistance of Danish, Scottish and Swedish troops, a blow that
denied him access to the Baltic and the chance of challenging the naval power of the
Scandinavian kingdoms and of the Netherlands.[9] Though he succeeded in defeating
Christian IV of Denmark in the Battle of Wolgast and neutralizing Denmark in the
subsequent Peace of Lübeck,[12] the situation further deteriorated when the presence of the
Imperial catholic troops on the Baltic and the Emperor's "Edict of Restitution" brought
King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden into the conflict.[9] He attempted to aid forces of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, which were
fighting Sweden in 1629; however, Wallenstein failed to engage any major Swedish
forces and this significantly affected the outcome of the conflict.[13]
Over the course of the war Wallenstein's ambitions and the exactions of his army had
made him a host of enemies, both Catholic and Protestant princes and non-princes.
Ferdinand suspected Wallenstein of planning a coup to take control of the Holy Roman
Empire. The Emperor's advisors advocated dismissing him, and in September 1630
envoys were sent to Wallenstein to announce his removal.[5] Wallenstein gave over his
army to General Tilly, and retired to Jitschin (Jičín), the capital of his Duchy of
Friedland. There he lived in an atmosphere of "mysterious magnificence".[14]

However, circumstances forced Ferdinand to call Wallenstein into the field again.[5] The
successes of Gustavus Adolphus over General Tilly at the Battle of Breitenfeld and on the
Lech (1632), where Tilly was killed, and his advance to Munich and occupation of
Bohemia, demanded action.[14] In the spring of 1632 Wallenstein raised a fresh army
within a few weeks and took the field. He drove the Saxon army from Bohemia and then
advanced against Gustavus Adolphus, whom he opposed near Nuremberg and after the
Battle of the Alte Veste dislodged. In November came the great Battle of Lützen, in
which Wallenstein was forced to retreat but in the confused melee, Gustavus Adolphus
was killed. Wallenstein then withdrew to winter quarters in Bohemia.[14]

In the campaigning of 1633 Wallenstein's apparent unwillingness to attack the enemy

caused much concern in Vienna and in Spain. At this time the dimensions of the war
grew more European. Wallenstein had, in fact, started preparing to desert the Emperor: he
expressed anger at Ferdinand's refusal to revoke the Edict of Restitution. History records
little about his secret negotiations; but rumors told that he was preparing to force a just
peace on the Emperor in the interests of united Germany, at the same time hesitating —
as he used to do in other respects — and trying to stay loyal to the Emperor as far as
possible. With this apparent "plan" he entered into negotiations with Saxony,
Brandenburg, Sweden, and France. But apparently the Habsburgs' enemies tried to draw
him to their side. In any case, he gained little support. Anxious to make his power felt, he
at last resumed the offensive against the Swedes and Saxons, winning his last victory at
Steinau on the Oder in October. He then resumed negotiations.

[edit] Treachery and death

In December Wallenstein retired with his army to Bohemia, around Pilsen. Vienna soon
definitely convinced itself of his treachery, a secret court found him guilty, and the
Emperor sought for serious means of getting rid of him (a successor-in-command, the
later emperor Ferdinand III, was already waiting). Wallenstein was aware of the plan to
replace him, but felt confident that when the army came to decide between him and the
Emperor the decision would be in his favour.[14]

On January 24, 1634 the Emperor signed a secret patent (opened only to certain of
Wallenstein's officers) removing him from his command. Finally an open patent charging
Wallenstein with high treason was signed on February 18, and published in Prague.[5]
Losing the support of his army, Wallenstein now realized the extent of his peril, and on
February 23 with a company of some hundred men, he went from Pilsen to Eger (Cheb),
hoping to meet the Swedes under Duke Bernhard. After having arrived at Eger, however,
certain senior Scottish and Irish officers in his force assassinated him on the night of
February 25.[14]

The Killing of Wallenstein

To carry out the assassination, a regiment of dragoons under the command of an Irish
Colonel Butler[15] and the Scots colonels Walter Leslie and John Gordon first rushed upon
Wallenstein's trusted officers Terzky, Kinsky, Illo and Neumann whilst the latter
banqueted at Cheb Castle (which had come under the command of John Gordon himself),
and massacred them. Terzky alone managed to fight his way out into the courtyard, only
to be shot down by a group of muskeeters.[11]

A few hours later, an English captain, Walter Devereux, together with a few companions,
broke into the burgomaster's house at the main square, where Wallenstein had his
lodgings (again courtesy of John Gordon), and kicked open the bedroom door,
whereupon Devereux ran his halberd through the unarmed Wallenstein, who, roused from
sleep, is said to have asked in vain for quarter.

The Holy Roman Emperor may not have commanded the murder, nor may he definitely
desired it; but he had given free rein to the party who he knew wished "to bring in
Wallenstein, alive or dead." After the assassination, he rewarded the murderers with
honour and riches.[16]

Wallenstein was buried at Jitschin (Jičín).

[edit] Significance and legacy

The Czech National Museum produced a large exhibition about Wallenstein at the
Wallenstein Palace in Prague (current seat of Senate) from 15 November 2007 till 15
February 2008. He is also the subject of Schiller's play trilogy Wallenstein. One of the
episodes in Erich Kästner's "The 35 May" depicts Wallenstein in his afterlife being
engaged in a fierce war with Hannibal and emphasizes both generals' callous disregard
for the lives of their soldiers - underlining Kästner's pacifist views.
Wallenstein's particular genius lay in recognizing a new way for funding war: instead of
merely plundering enemies, he called for a new method of systematic "war taxes". Even a
city or a prince on the side of the Emperor had to pay taxes towards the war. He
understood the enormous wastage of resources that resulted from tax exactions on princes
and cities of defeated enemies only, and desired to replace this with a "balanced" system
of taxation; wherein both sides bore the cost of a war. He was unable to fully realize this
ambition; and in fact his idea led to the random exploitation of whole populations on
either side, until finally, almost fifteen years after his death, the war had become so
expensive that the warring parties were forced to make peace. In any case, Wallenstein's
idea inspired many, among them, Colbert, to "pluck the goose with a minimum of
screeching".

Composer Bedřich Smetana honored Wallenstein in his 1859 symphonic poem

Wallenstein's Camp, which was originally intended as an overture to a play by Schiller