Albrecht von Wallenstein

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Wallenstein, Albrecht E. W. von, Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburg (1583-1634). A typical military entrepreneur of the 17th century, the Bohemian apostate Protestant Wallenstein is a complex and somewhat mysterious figure. He acquired some considerable wealth and estates in Moravia by an advantageous marriage to a wealthy widow. When his wife died in 1614, he raised a cavalry regiment for imperial service in the war against Venice, and after the Protestant defeat at the White Mountain in 1620 he bought up the lands of the vanquished rebels at nominal cost, eventually ruling vast tracts of land in the north-east of Bohemia which he ran as a semi-independent fiefdom.

In 1625 he rose to the command of the new imperial army funded by the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II for service in the Thirty Years War against the Protestant princes of Germany. Wallenstein was victorious against Mansfeld at Dessau in 1626, and went on to defeat the Hungarians and Danes on behalf of the emperor. For these services he demanded and obtained the duchy of Mecklenburg. Thereafter he began to pursue his own designs, unilaterally laying siege to Stralsund in 1628. His ruthless exaction of tribute from the areas where his army operated led to his dismissal at the demand of the German electors in 1630. Shortly thereafter the new model Swedish army invaded the empire commanded by the talented Gustavus Adolphus.

After Tilly was defeated at Breitenfeld and later killed, the emperor recalled Wallenstein, who fared no better at Lützen although Gustavus was killed. During the following lull, Wallenstein dealt himself an independent hand in the politics of Germany (see politics, the military in), entering into a complicated intrigue with Saxony, Sweden, Brandenburg, and France. He became too powerful and too clever for his own good, because while it is not easy to establish whether the emperor, Richelieu, or the Protestant electors paid for it to be done, he was assassinated by his own men.

— Toby McLeod

The Bohemian soldier of fortune Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein (1583-1634) was one of the major figures in the Thirty Years War. His administrative and financial talents made him one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe.

Albrecht von Wallenstein was born on Sept. 24, 1583, at Hermanitz in Bohemia of noble family. Reared in the Utraquist (Protestant) faith, he converted to Catholicism before 1606 and attached himself to the court of the Hapsburg archduke (later emperor) Matthias, with whom he shared a strong interest in astrology. Marriage with a rich widow in 1609 added large Moravian estates to his possessions.

In 1618, when the Protestant Bohemian nobles rebelled against Matthias's aggressively pro-Catholic successor, Ferdinand II, Wallenstein remained loyal to the Hapsburgs. Although he did not participate in their decisive victory in 1620 near Prague, wholesale confiscation of rebel property enabled him to purchase the vast estates of Reichenberg and Friedland. By 1622 he was one of the largest landholders in the kingdom, a status Ferdinand II recognized in 1624 by granting him the title Duke of Friedland. Wallenstein's second marriage, in 1623 to Isabella von Harrach, brought him into the Emperor's most intimate circle.

Wallenstein's astonishingly rapid acquisition of enormous wealth and influence resulted from his ability to grasp every possible advantage from a political system dependent on mercenary armies. From the beginning, he organized his own estates to provide recruiting areas and supporting industries for equipping his regiments, whose services he offered at great profit. He was coldly calculating, shrewdly acquisitive, and enormously ambitious. But his talents as a commander in the field were mediocre.

Wallenstein was named imperial commander against the allied Protestant German and Danish forces in 1625. His first campaigns were disappointing in spite of the astonishing speed he had shown in raising and equipping the army. In 1627, with larger forces at his disposal, he swept the Danes out of Silesia and northern Germany, and by 1629 the Emperor could impose peace on Germany. Wallenstein's price for his services included payment of his debts, large new grants of land, and the duchy of Mecklenburg, this last making him a sovereign prince of the empire.

Overestimating the security of his position in Germany, Ferdinand II dismissed Wallenstein from command in 1630. The Swedish invasion of the same year, however, undid the earlier victories, and Ferdinand II again had to call on Wallenstein's services. The Emperor was at his general's mercy, and the price was exorbitant. The terms of their agreement are still a mystery, but they included, in addition to money and new estates, virtual independence from political or religious interference in territories won back from the Protestant forces. Wallenstein began his last campaign in 1632 by driving the Saxons from Bohemia and then forcing Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus) to withdraw from Bavaria. On Nov. 16, 1632, the Swedish army struck Wallenstein's forces at Lützen. Wallenstein withdrew from the field, abandoning his artillery, but Gustavus himself was killed, and the Swedish army retired leaderless.

Wallenstein had been incredibly lucky, and at this point he contemplated using his unprecedented powers as commander in chief to impose a peace on Germany with terms which fell far short of fulfilling Ferdinand's own policies. Wallenstein's own intentions are unfathomable, but both sides feared him as both competed for his allegiance. It is quite possible that he hoped to gain the Bohemian crown for himself. Whatever his motives were, he had decided by the end of 1633 to break with Ferdinand II, and he began negotiating with the Protestant princes. The Emperor again ordered Wallenstein's dismissal in January 1634 and, to prevent betrayal, ordered loyal officers to imprison him and bring him to Vienna, or if necessary, to kill him. Worn down by illness and enmeshed in the tangle of his own conspiracies, Wallenstein could not complete his negotiations with his former enemies before he was caught by officers loyal to the Emperor at the fortress of Eger in Bohemia. These officers shot Wallenstein on the night of Feb. 25, 1634.

Further Reading

The two standard works on Wallenstein are in German. The best study in English remains Francis Watson, Wallenstein: Soldier under Saturn (1938). Extensive material on Wallenstein is in Cicely Veronica Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War (1939).

Additional Sources

Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Sir, Great captains unveiled, New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.

Mann, Golo, Wallenstein, his life narrated, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976.

Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel von, Herzog von Friedland und Mecklenburg, Fürst von Sagan (Hermanič nr. Königgrätz, 1583-1634, Eger), was a general in the Thirty Years War (see Dreissigjähriger Krieg). Of noble origin, he became a devout Roman Catholic, but was nevertheless addicted to horoscopes. By marriage he acquired great wealth in Moravia. The Emperor Ferdinand I rewarded him with the title count and the rank of colonel for assistance against Venice.

After the suppression of the Bohemian revolt (see Majestätsbrief) Wallenstein bought confiscated estates, notably Friedland and Reichenberg, which he developed into a state, which Ferdinand acknowledged by granting Friedland the status of a principality in 1624. His second wife, Isabella Katharina von Harrach (m. 1623), had valuable contacts with the court at Vienna. Wallenstein advanced Ferdinand large sums of money and raised a formidable army, with which he proved his worth as imperial general against the Danish invasion. Although aided by Tilly, the general of the Catholic League (see Katholische Liga), Wallenstein became the most successful commander on the imperial side. The secret of his popularity was that he offered the best pay and living conditions, by living off the country, whether friendly or hostile. By 1627 he had conquered Silesia, and only the successful resistance of Stralsund frustrated his plans to pursue the Danish king into his own land. Ferdinand rewarded him with the Silesian principality of Sagan and the Duchy of Mecklenburg. In May 1629 Wallenstein concluded the Peace of Lübeck with Denmark. The princes of the Catholic League, headed by Maximilian I of Bavaria, persuaded Ferdinand to dismiss Wallenstein, whom they considered to be a dangerous rival to their dynastic interests (1630). Wallenstein retired for two years to his Bohemian estates, contemplating an alliance with the Swedish invader, Gustavus Adolphus, whose successes, however, forced Ferdinand to recall his general.

Wallenstein was able to assume the supreme command of the imperial army on his own terms. He was defeated at Lützen (16 November 1632), in which battle, however, Gustavus Adolphus was killed. Wallenstein, at the zenith of his power, desired peace, though his motives have been disputed. He was both a sick and an ambitious man, but his concern for his private fortune appears to have been greater than his care for the common good. By the time he took up winter quarters near Pilsen in the following year, he had become subject to criticism as a military leader, and rumours, both false and true, about his secret negotiations with the enemy were carried to the Viennese court. Wallenstein, alarmed at the increasing insecurity of his position, bound his officers by personal oath. But his generals Gallas, Aldringen, and Piccolomini were won over to the Emperor, who twelve days later (24 January 1634) resolved to remove Wallenstein and his officers Ilow and Trčka. On 22 February Wallenstein was publicly declared a traitor. He withdrew to Eger, where he was taken by surprise and murdered in his sleeping quarters on 25 February 1634. The conspiracy against him had largely been in the hands of Piccolomini and, in the last stage, in those of colonels Butler and Lesley, and the Commandant of Eger, John Gordon. The assassin, the English Captain Devereux, and his helpers were richly rewarded.

Wallenstein, treated in a number of plays since the 17th c., is the subject of Schiller's trilogy Wallenstein and is a minor character in Grillparzer's tragedy Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg. 20th-c. German treatments take into account Schiller's play Wallenstein, as well as his historical studies on the subject, and the Geschichte Wallensteins by L. von Ranke (1869). They include a novel, Wallenstein, by A. Döblin (1920); the study Wallenstein by Ricarda Huch (1915) and the extensive biography Wallenstein. Sein Leben by Golo Mann (1971).

Wallenstein, A. W. E. Von (originally Waldstein; 1583–1634), Bohemian noble, soldier, and statesman who played an important role in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein was born in Bohemia (today the Czech Republic). Given a Protestant upbringing, he converted to Catholicism in 1606. In 1609, his Jesuit confessor arranged his marriage to a wealthy widow who may have been some ten years his senior. When she died in 1614, he inherited all her estates. During the Bohemian rebellion that began in 1618, he remained loyal to the ruler, the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II (ruled 1619–1637), and profited enormously from the latter's victory over the rebels. He was appointed governor of the kingdom of Bohemia and bought up a large number of confiscated estates so that he came to possess most of northeastern Bohemia. These estates were consolidated into Friedland, of which he became duke in 1623.

In 1625, when the emperor decided to raise an army of his own to counter the threat from Christian IV of Denmark (ruled 1596–1648), Wallenstein was the obvious choice to be commander in chief; he was appointed on 7 April. It is often said that he raised and paid for this army at his own expense, and there is certainly some truth to it: he was able to put together a force of over 24,000 without recourse to the imperial treasury. His great personal wealth and his ability to obtain loans were important factors, but Wallenstein's primary aim was to sustain his forces with requisitions from any territory they occupied. He also used his duchy of Friedland as a source of supplies.

During the Danish phase of the war (1625–1629), Wallenstein enjoyed considerable military success. He defeated the Protestant commander, Count Ernst of Mansfeld, at Dessau in 1626, and early in 1627 he marched into Holstein and Jutland (the Danish mainland) before turning east into Mecklenburg and Pomerania. The dukes of Mecklenburg had supported Christian IV, so the emperor deprived them of their titles, transferred their confiscated estates to Wallenstein (February 1627), and the following year made him the sole duke of Mecklenburg (January 1628). This arbitrary move caused some disquiet among all hereditary rulers.

The campaign of 1628 was anticlimactic. The complete defeat of Denmark turned out to be an impossibility: although the emperor appointed Wallenstein "General of the Oceanic and Baltic Seas" in February 1628, without a fleet the Danish islands were beyond his reach. He attempted to capture the port of Stralsund in the summer of 1628 (May–July), but without success. Although he defeated Christian again at Wolgast in September, Wallenstein warned the emperor that if peace were not made, Sweden might undertake a full intervention. He also warned that the cost of maintaining his 100,000-strong army was placing an intolerable burden on the north German states. Peace was made at Lübeck (July 1629).

Wallenstein's success and his financial exactions from friend and foe alike created enormous resentment and, with the coming of what was thought to be peace, the princes turned on him at the Electoral Diet in Regensburg and made a formal request for his dismissal on 16 July 1630. Surprisingly, Ferdinand agreed to comply; the general was dismissed on 13 August. Equally surprising was the fact that Wallenstein also complied. Indeed, it would appear that he had come to feel that the maintenance of such a large army was unsustainable and greeted the end of his responsibility with relief. Although there are some indications that Ferdinand had come to distrust his general, his dismissal deprived the emperor of military power just as he faced invasion from the Swedish king, Gustavus II Adolphus.

The success of Gustavus II Adolphus in 1631 forced the emperor to recall Wallenstein, and he was appointed commander in chief (with considerable powers) once again in April 1632. Although he was not victorious at the Battle of Lützen in November, the death of the Swedish king in that battle created a new political situation. Surprisingly, Wallenstein did not go on the offensive, but sought to conduct negotiations with all concerned parties in an effort to bring peace (and probably to obtain territory and titles for himself). However, his independence, his alleged double-dealing, his reliance on astrological predictions, and his bizarre behavior (it was asserted that on arrival in any town he ordered all dogs and cats to be killed because he did not like the noise they made) undermined his credibility with everyone. By now he had become a liability to the emperor, who saw him as a traitorous conspirator (and dispensable now that Spanish aid was imminent). Accordingly, in January 1634 he ordered Wallenstein's capture (or liquidation), and the following month he was assassinated—by an Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scotsman.

Wallenstein was the most important military entrepreneur in the Thirty Years' War, and his alleged treason and murder have overshadowed the considerable success he had in his first imperial generalship (1625–1630), when he raised the emperor to the zenith of his power. An enigmatic figure, his life became the subject of a dramatic trilogy by the German poet, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller.

Bibliography

Asch, Ronald G. The Thirty Years' War: The Holy Roman Empire and Europe, 1618–1648. New York and London, 1997. An up-to-date survey of the war of manageable length that keeps the focus on Germany. Wallenstein is not neglected.

Benecke, Gerhard, ed. Germany in the Thirty Years' War. 2nd ed. London and New York, 1997. Currently the definitive work on the war, with a full set of notes and a comprehensive bibliography that lists all the essential works in German. For Wallenstein, see especially pp. 262–263 of the bibliographical essay.

—GRAHAM DARBY

"Wallenstein" redirects here. For other uses, see Wallenstein (disambiguation).

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein
September 14, 1583 – February 25, 1634
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Place of birth	Hermsdorf, 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 (help·info) (also Waldstein; Czech: Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna^[1] September 24, 1583 – February 25, 1634), ^[2] a Bohemian soldier and politician, gave his services (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 1 Early life 2 Thirty Years' War 3 Treachery and death 4 Significance and legacy 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Isabelle von Harrach

Wallenstein, born in Hermsdorf, Bohemia, into a poor Protestant branch of an old noble family,^[2] lost both his parents, Wilhelm von Waldstein and Margarete von Smiřicky at the age of 12. His maternal uncle, Albrecht Slawata von Chlum und Koschumberg, raised him and sent him to the school of the Unity of the Brethren at Koschumberg 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 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. 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 Bohemia and Moravia.

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.^[4] Wallenstein proved an able administrator of the duchy^[5] 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.^[6] Wallenstein's popularity soon recruited 30,000 (not long afterwards 50,000) men.^[7] 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.^[7][8] 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,^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[8] Though he succeeded in defeating Christian IV of Denmark in the Battle of Wolgast and neutralizing Denmark in the subsequent Peace of Lübeck,^[11] 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.^[8] 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.^[12]

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.^[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".^[13]

However, circumstances forced Ferdinand to call Wallenstein into the field again.^[4] 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.^[13] 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.^[13]

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.

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.^[13]

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.^[4] 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.^[13]

The Killing of Wallenstein

To carry out the assassination, dragoons under the command of the Irish general Walter Butler 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.^[10]

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.^[14]

Wallenstein was buried at Jitschin (Jičín).

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 35th of 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".

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} Schiller, Friedrich. (1911) Schiller's Wallenstein, Macmillan
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. ^ See for example the Wallenstein biography of Golo Mann.
6. ^ J.P. Cooper, “The New Cambridge Modern History” The Thirty Years’ War 1st ed. (New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. 1970), 323.
7. ^ ^{a b} Eggenberger, David. (1985) An Encyclopedia of Battles, Courier Dover Publications. p. 161. ISBN 0-486-24913-1.
8. ^ ^{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.
9. ^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2005) Western Civilization, Thomson Wadsworth. p. 414. ISBN 0-534-64604-2.
10. ^ ^{a b} Wedgwood, C. V. (1961) The Thirty Years War, Anchor Books. p. 219-220.
11. ^ Lockhart, Paul Douglas (2007). Denmark, 1513-1660: the rise and decline of a Renaissance monarchy. Oxford University Press. pp. 166-171. ISBN 0199271216. http://www.google.de/books?id=TkteH2TrSSsC&pg=PA166. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
12. ^ Dahlquist, Germund Wilhelm & Carl Von Clausewitz. (2003) Principles of War, Courier Dover Publications. p. 81. ISBN 0-486-42799-4.
13. ^ ^{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.
14. ^ The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition

• Golo Mann. Wallenstein, his life narrated, 1976, Holt, Rinehart and Winston (ISBN 0030918847).
• Luca Cristini. 1618-1648 la guerra dei 30 anni . volume 1 da 1618 al 1632 2007 (ISBN 9788890301018)
• Luca Cristini. 1618-1648 la guerra dei 30 anni . volume 2 da 1632 al 1648 2007 (ISBN 9788890301025)

External links

• The Thirty-Years-War
• An Exhibition at Prague, Czech Republic, Europe - Dedicated to Albrecht von Wallenstein

• Media related to Albrecht von Waldstein at Wikimedia Commons
•  Spahn, M. (1913). "Albrecht von Wallenstein". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Albrecht_von_Wallenstein. 
•  "Wallenstein, Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

Persondata
NAME	Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Waldstein
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Bohemian general of the Thirty Years' War to Ferdinand II
DATE OF BIRTH	September 24, 1583
PLACE OF BIRTH	Heřmanice, Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH	February 25, 1634
PLACE OF DEATH	Cheb, Bohemia

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