Albrecht von Wallenstein

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For the board game, see Wallenstein (board game).
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein (also Waldstein; Czech: Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna;[1] September 24, 1583 – February 25, 1634)[2] was a Bohemian soldier and politician who gave his services (an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men) during the Danish Period of the Thirty Years' War to Ferdinand II for no charge except the right to plunder the territories that he conquered.

A successful generalissimo who ruled the Duchy of Friedland in northern Bohemia, Wallenstein was 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).

Contents

[edit] Early life

Wallenstein was born in Heřmanice, Bohemia, into one of the wealthiest Protestant families.[2] His parents, Wilhelm von Waldstein and Margarete Smiricky, died when he was 12 years old so he was raised by his maternal uncle, Albrecht Slawata von Koschumberg. He was educated at the school of the Brothers of the Common Life at Koschumberg and the Jesuit college at Olmütz (Olomouc).[2] From 1599 he continued his education at the University of Altdorf and then at Bologna and Padua.[3]

Wallenstein then joined the army of Rudolf II in Hungary, under the command of Giorgio Basta.[3] In 1606, he converted to Catholicism through his friendship with Jesuits and the Habsburgs. Wallenstein later would owe allegiance to the Imperial Habsburg Monarchy as a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.[citation needed] Even though he became religious, Wallenstein did not become a zealot. Three years later, he returned to Bohemia, and soon married Lucretia Nikossie von Landeck, 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. He later endowed a monastery in her name, and had her reburied there. Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina, daughter of Count Harrach, in 1617. She bore him two children, a son who died in infancy and a surviving daughter.[3] Examples of the couple's correspondence survive.

[edit] Thirty Years' War

At the beginnings of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 with unrest in Bohemia, Wallenstein associated himself with the Imperial cause. His estates seized by Protestants, he escaped with the treasure-chest to Vienna. He equipped a regiment of cuirassiers and won great distinction under Karel Bonaventura Buquoy in the war against Ernst von Mansfeld and in the army which opposed Gabriel Bethlen in Moravia. Wallenstein recovered his lands and, after the Battle of White Mountain, 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 in 1622 to him being made an imperial count palatine, in 1623 a prince, and in 1625 Duke of Friedland.[4]

In order to aid Ferdinand against the Northern Protestants and produce a balance to the Army of the Catholic League under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Wallenstein offered to raise a whole army for the imperial service in 1626. Wallenstein's popularity soon brought 30,000 (not long afterwards 50,000) men.[5] The two armies worked together over 1625–1627, at first against Mansfeld.

Having beaten Mansfeld at Dessau, Wallenstein cleared Silesia of the remnants of Mansfeld's army in 1627.[5][6] At this time he bought from the emperor the Duchy of Sagan. He then joined Tilly in the struggle with Christian IV of Denmark,[7] and afterwards was rewarded with the Duchies of Mecklenburg, whose hereditary dukes were expelled 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.[8]

Wallenstein assumed the title of "Admiral of the North and Baltic Seas". However, in 1628 Wallenstein failed to capture Stralsund, which received help from Swedish troops, a blow that denied access to the Baltic and the chance of challenging the naval power of the Scandinavian kingdoms and the Netherlands.[6] The situation was further degraded when the emperor's "Edict of Restitution" brought King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden into the conflict.[6] 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.[9]

Over the course of the war Wallenstein's ambitions and the exactions of his army had created a host of enemies, both Catholic and Protestant princes. Then Ferdinand II suspected Wallenstein of planning to take control of the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor was advised to dismiss him and in September 1630 envoys were sent to Wallenstein to announce his removal.[4] 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".[10]

Soon Emperor Ferdinand II was forced to call him into the field again.[4] The successes of Gustavus Adolphus over General Tilly at the Battle of Breitenfeld and on the Lech (1632), when Tilly was killed, and his advance to Munich and occupation of Bohemia, demanded action.[10] 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 and the other imperialists were defeated, but Adolphus was killed. Wallenstein then withdrew to winter quarters in Bohemia.[10]

In the campaigning of 1633 Wallenstein's apparent unwillingness to attack the enemy caused much concern. He was, in fact, preparing to desert the emperor, angered at Ferdinand's refusal to revoke the Edict of Restitution. He began to prepare to "force a just peace on the emperor in the interests of united Germany."[citation needed] With this plan he entered into negotiations with Saxony, Brandenburg, Sweden, and France. But he attracted little support, and anxious to make his power felt, he at last assumed the offensive against the Swedes and Saxons, winning his last victory at Steinau on the Oder in October. He then resumed the negotiations.

[edit] Treachery and death

In December Wallenstein retired with his army to Bohemia, around Pilsen. It was soon suspected in Vienna that he was treacherous and the emperor sought for means of getting rid of him. Wallenstein was aware of the plans against him, but felt confident that when the army came to decide between him and the emperor the decision would be in his own favour.[10]

On January 24, 1634 the emperor signed a secret patent removing him from his command, and a patent charging Wallenstein with high treason was signed on February 18, and published in Prague.[4] Losing the support of his army, Wallenstein realized the extent of his danger, and on February 23 with a company of some hundreds of men, he went from Pilsen to Eger (Cheb), hoping to meet the Swedes under Duke Bernhard. After the arrival of the party at Eger, certain senior Scottish and Irish officers in his force, most notable being an Irish count, Walter Butler, loyal to the emperor, killed him, probably at the orders of the emperor on the night of February 25.[10] Wallenstein was buried at Jitschin (Jičín).

Currently a large exhibition about Wallenstein is being prepared by the Czech National Museum and will be held at the Wallenstein Palace in Prague (current seat of Senate) from 15 November 2007 till 15 February 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hughes-Hallett, Lucy. Heroes: A History of Hero Worship. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-4399-9.
  2. ^ a b c Schiller, Friedrich. (1911) Schillers Wallenstein, Macmillan & co., ltd.
  3. ^ a b c d Ripley, George & Charles Anderson Dana. (1858) The New American Cyclopaedia, D. Appleton and Company. pp. 185-189.
  4. ^ a b c d Schiller, J. Friedrich Von. (1980) Robbers and Wallenstein, Penguin Classics. pp. 12-13. ISBN 0-14-044368-1.
  5. ^ a b Eggenberger, David. (1985) An Encyclopedia of Battles, Courier Dover Publications. p. 161. ISBN 0-486-24913-1.
  6. ^ a b c Fuller, J. F. C. (1987) A Military History of the Western World, Da Capo Press. p. 46-47. ISBN 0-306-80305-4.
  7. ^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2005) Western Civilization, Thomson Wadsworth. p. 414. ISBN 0-534-64604-2.
  8. ^ Wedgwood, C. V. (1961) The Thirty Years War, Anchor Books. p. 219-220.
  9. ^ Dahlquist, Germund Wilhelm & Carl Von Clausewitz. (2003) Principles of War, Courier Dover Publications. p. 81. ISBN 0-486-42799-4.
  10. ^ a b c d e Ingrao, Charles W. (2000) The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815, Cambridge University Press. pp. 45-46. ISBN 0-521-78505-7.

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