The History of the Thirty Years' War, Friedrich Schiller [audio ebook reader TXT] 📗

the Inn, and as often it was destroyed by the current. Never, during the whole course of the war, had the Imperialists been in so great consternation as at present, when the enemy were in the centre of Bavaria, and when they had no longer a general left who could be matched against a Turenne, a Wrangel, and a Koenigsmark. At last the brave Piccolomini arrived from the Netherlands, to assume the command of the feeble wreck of the Imperialists. By their own ravages in Bohemia, the allies had rendered their subsistence in that country impracticable, and were at last driven by scarcity to retreat into the Upper Palatinate, where the news of the peace put a period to their activity.

Koenigsmark, with his flying corps, advanced towards Bohemia, where Ernest Odowalsky, a disbanded captain, who, after being disabled in the imperial service, had been dismissed without a pension, laid before him a plan for surprising the lesser side of the city of Prague. Koenigsmark successfully accomplished the bold enterprise, and acquired the reputation of closing the thirty years' war by the last brilliant achievement. This decisive stroke, which vanquished the Emperor's irresolution, cost the Swedes only the loss of a single man. But the old town, the larger half of Prague, which is divided into two parts by the Moldau, by its vigorous resistance wearied out the efforts of the Palatine, Charles Gustavus, the successor of Christina on the throne, who had arrived from Sweden with fresh troops, and had assembled the whole Swedish force in Bohemia and Silesia before its walls. The approach of winter at last drove the besiegers into their quarters, and in the mean time, the intelligence arrived that a peace had been signed at Munster, on the 24th October.

The colossal labour of concluding this solemn, and ever memorable and sacred treaty, which is known by the name of the peace of Westphalia; the endless obstacles which were to be surmounted; the contending interests which it was necessary to reconcile; the concatenation of circumstances which must have co-operated to bring to a favourable termination this tedious, but precious and permanent work of policy; the difficulties which beset the very opening of the negociations, and maintaining them, when opened, during the ever-fluctuating vicissitudes of the war; finally, arranging the conditions of peace, and still more, the carrying them into effect; what were the conditions of this peace; what each contending power gained or lost, by the toils and sufferings of a thirty years' war; what modification it wrought upon the general system of European policy; - these are matters which must be relinquished to another pen. The history of the peace of Westphalia constitutes a whole, as important as the history of the war itself. A mere abridgment of it, would reduce to a mere skeleton one of the most interesting and characteristic monuments of human policy and passions, and deprive it of every feature calculated to fix the attention of the public, for which I write, and of which I now respectfully take my leave.


[End of The History of the Thirty Years' War.]


Notes: Separate sources indicate that at the beginning of this war there were about 15 million people in Germany, and at the end of the war there were about 4 million. If this is not surprising enough, war broke out again only 10 years after the conclusion of this war.

Please note that the original translation changed many foreign names, both of places and persons, into English forms. These have NOT been revised. Thus Ko"ln is still Cologne, Friedrich is still Frederick, etc. Some foreign names were NOT translated, and due to the limits of ASCII, vowels with umlauts have, according to custom, had an E added after them, i.e. Koeln. Also, in some cases variant spellings of names were used, and though an attempt was made, not all have been revised.

The following index is included as an aid to searching - although electronic texts can be easily searched for any word, it may prove helpful to know what some of the most important subjects are. Therefore, the index is included, minus the page numbers.


Aix-la-Chapelle, placed under the Ban.
Arnheim, Field-Marshal: communicates with Wallenstein;
marches into Saxon territory; offers alliance to Wallenstein.
Augsburg, Diet of.
Augsburg, Peace of.
Aulic Council.
Austria, House of: religious and political position; power under Charles V.
Avaux, D', Count. [See letter D.]

Baden, Margrave of, joins Frederick V.
Bamberg, Bishop of.
Banner, Swedish general: at Leipzig; enters Magdeburg; joins Oxenstiern;
relieves Domitz; attacks Imperialists at Wittstock; returns into Pomerania;
opens the campaign in 1638; retreats through Egra, and dies.
Bavaria, Duke of: makes cause with the Emperor; attends the Diet at Ratisbon.
Bavaria, Elector of: he demands Wallenstein's dismissal. [See Maximilian.]
Bavaria, invasion of, by the Swedes.
Bethlen Gabor, Prince: menaces Hungary; invades Hungary; marches to Vienna;
crowned King of Hungary; makes peace with the Emperor;
breaks truce with the Emperor. <variant in original: Bethlem Gabor>
Bohemia: condition of, and history; invasion of; peace proclaimed.
Bohemian Brethren, edict against.
Bohemian Compact.
Bohemian Diet: 1609; 1619.
Bohemian Insurrection.
Bohemian Letter of Majesty.
Bohemian Reformers at the Diet, 1609.
Brahe, Count, Swedish general.
Brandenburg: atrocities in; George William Elector of.
Bremen, Bishop of: assembles troops for Gustavus.
Breze, Marquis of.
Brunn, siege of.
Brunswick, Ulric, Duke of: forbids Swedes to recruit;
threatened by Oxenstiern.
Bucquoi: defeats Mansfeld; death of.
Buttler, Colonel.

Calvinists in the Palatinate and Empire.
Catholic League: formation of; impart their secrets to the Emperor.
Charles V., Emperor.
Charles Louis, Count Palatine.
Charnasse, agent of Richelieu.
Christian IV. of Denmark: appointed generalissimo.
Christian, Duke of Brunswick: serves in Holland; defeated by Tilly; death of.
Christian William, Administrator of Brandenburg:
enters Magdeburg in disguise.
Conde, Prince de. <Conde>
Conti Torquati, Imperialist.

Darmstadt: William, Landgrave of; George, Landgrave of.
D'Avaux negotiates treaty between Sweden and Poland.
"Defenders of Liberty", the.
Denmark, King of, sues for peace 1645.
Dettingen, Battle of.
Devereux, Captain.
Donauwerth: banned by the Aulic Council; Swedish officers at.

"Edict of Restitution" signed 1629.
Egra, Castle of, great banquet held at.
Enghien, Duke of, heroic conduct of.
England, political position of.
Evangelical Union: declaration in favour of, by Matthias;
moves in support of Bohemian Protestants.

Falkenberg, Dietrich, sent to Magdeburg.
Ferdinand I., Emperor: character of; position after Augsburg.
Ferdinand II.: his Popish announcement; as Archduke of Gratz;
as Archduke of Styria, becomes Emperor; Protestantism in Styria;
besieged in Vienna; chosen Emperor 1619; rewards Maximilian with Bohemia;
confiscates estates of Frederick; invests Maximilian with Palatinate;
attends Diet of Ratisbon; at Mantua; character of, by his confessor;
negotiations with Sweden; selects Wallenstein as general; gives orders
to spare Saxony; state of his dominions after the fall of Prague;
receives news of Lutzen; deprives Wallenstein of command;
issues orders for his seizure; orders masses for Wallenstein; death.
Ferdinand III.: King of Hungary and Bohemia; appointed generalissimo;
elected King of the Romans; becomes Emperor; defeat at Jancowitz;
conspires against Bavaria.
Feria, Duke of, Spanish general.
Feuquieres, French Ambassador at Dresden.
France: political position after Henry IV.; ambassadors at Ratisbon;
interests and claims of; triumph of her policy; declaration of war
against the Emperor; retreat of the army under Turenne from Bavaria.
Frankfort-on-the-Oder: sacked by the Swedes; Diet of.
Frederick V., Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia:
alienates his Bohemian subjects; defeated at Prague; joins Mansfeld;
deprived of the Palatinate; at Munich with Gustavus;
meets Gustavus after Leipzig; death.
Friburg, Battle of.
Friedland, Duke of. [See Wallenstein.]

Gabor, Bethlen. [See letter B.]
Gallas, Imperialist general: made generalissimo; Commander-in-chief;
in command under King of Hungary; overruns Ribses; defeated by Torstensohn.
Gebhard, Elector of Cologne.
German people, principles and religious zeal of.
Germany: its condition after Augsburg; at the accession of Rodolph;
after Wallenstein's death.
"God's friend, priests' foe", motto of Duke of Brunswick.
"God with us", war-cry of the Swedes.
Gordon, Colonel.
Gratz, Archduke of. [See Ferdinand II.]
Guebriant, Field-Marshal.
Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden: ascends the throne; early life, incident of;
position of; resources; concludes a treaty with France; with Magdeburg;
complaints against; appears before Berlin; treaty with Hesse Cassel;
with Saxony; meeting at Forgue; Battle of Leipzig; marches to the Rhine;
seats the Palatine in Munich; retrospect of his career from Halle to Lutzen
(all of Book III.); storms Marienburg; takes possession of Frankfort;
besieges Mentz; carries Oppenheim by storm; exposed to the malice
of the Jesuits; enters Nuremberg; besieges Ingoldstadt, narrow escape;
enters Munich; receives congratulations from Wallenstein;
hastens to the Upper Palatinate; seizes Nuremberg;
attacks Wallenstein's camp; marches to Neustadt; enters Naumberg;
death of, at the Battle of Lutzen; his body discovered;
review of his policy.
Gustavus Vasa.

Henderson, Colonel, Scotch officer, commands reserve at Leipzig.
Henry IV. of France, "Henry of Arragon", projects and views of.
Hepburn, Colonel, Scotch officer, anecdote of.
Hesse, Landgrave of: reply to Tilly's demands; concludes a treaty
with Gustavus; does important service for Gustavus.
Holland, political position of.
Holk, General, death of.
Horn, Gustavus: drives Imperialists from Alsace; conduct at Leipzig;
left to subdue Franconia; successes in Franconia; services at Lutzen;
marches to the Swedish frontier.
Hungary, its relations to Austria.
Hussites, account of the.

Illo, Count: confederate of Wallenstein; acts as Wallenstein's agent;
death of.
Imperialists: delegates of, at Prague; army reduced to distress;
overrun Bavaria.
Interim, the, system of theology.

James I., King of England, assists the Elector.
Jancowitz, Battle of.
Jesuits, the: banishment of; they work against Gustavus;
their oppression of the Protestants; in Vienna, mention of;
reference to, in Wallenstein's career.
"Jesus Maria", war-cry of the Imperialists.
Joseph, Father, agent of Richelieu.
Juliers, Duchy of: disputes succession to; "singular turn in the disruption".

Kinsky, Count.
Kinsky, Countess.
Klostergrab.
Koenigsmark, Swedish general.

Ladislaus, son of Segismund of Poland.
Lauenburg, Duke of.
Lavelette, Cardinal.
Leipzig: general convention of, 1631; Battle of.
Leslie, an officer of Wallenstein.
Letter of Majesty: issue of; explanation of; torn by Ferdinand.
Lorraine, Charles, Duke of, defeated by Gustavus.
Lubeck, Peace of.
Lutherans, the: their position stated; their oppression of the Calvinists.
Lutter, battle at.
Lutzen: mention of; Battle of; death of Gustavus.

Magdeburg: besieged by Tilly; assaulted; taken by the Swedes.
Mansfeld, Count Ernst: defeated at Budweiss; ravages the Palatinates;
enters the Dutch service; defeated at Dessau.
Mansfeld, Wolf, Count von, leaves Magdeburg to the Swedes.
Matthias, Emperor and Archduke: chosen as Austrian leader;
heads a revolt against the Emperor; acknowledged King of Bohemia;
ascends the throne; death of.
Maximilian II., Emperor and King of Hungary, government and position of.
Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria: Head of Catholic League; marches into Bohemia;
character and position of; makes secret treaty with France; perfidy of;
anxious for peace; tactics for supremacy; takes shelter in Salzburg.
Mazarin, Cardinal: and the Battle of Friburg; his diplomatic tactics
in the war. <variant in original: Mazarine>
Melander, a Calvinist: commands the Imperial forces;
mortally wounded at Egra.
Mentz, besieged and taken.
Moravian Brethren, doctrines