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001 - Part 1 · History of the Thirty Years War

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Speaker 1: Part one of the History of the Thirty Years War,
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Speaker 1: Volume three. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Alan Winteroud. History
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Speaker 1: of the Thirty Years War, Volume three by Friedrich Schuller,
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Speaker 1: translated by Reverend A. J. W. Morrison, Part one, The
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Speaker 1: glorious Battle of Leipzig, effected a great change in the
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Speaker 1: conduct of Gus Davis Adolphus, as well as in the
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Speaker 1: opinion which both friends and foes entertained of him. Successfully
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Speaker 1: had he confronted the greatest general of the age and
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Speaker 1: had matched the strength of his tactics and the courage
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Speaker 1: of his Swedes against the elite of the Imperial Army,
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Speaker 1: the most experienced troops in Europe. From this moment he
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Speaker 1: felt a firm confidence in his own powers. Self confidence
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Speaker 1: has always been the parent of great actions. In all
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Speaker 1: his subsequent operations, more boldness and decision are observable. Greater
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Speaker 1: determination even amidst the most unfavorable circumstances, a more lofty
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Speaker 1: tone towards his adversaries, a more dignified bearing towards his allies,
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Speaker 1: and even in his clemency something of the forbearance of
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Speaker 1: a conqueror. His natural courage was farther, heightened by the
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Speaker 1: pious ardor of his imagination. He saw in his own
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Speaker 1: cause that of Heaven, and in the defeat of Tilly,
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Speaker 1: beheld the decisive interference of Providence against his enemies, and
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Speaker 1: in himself the instrument of divine vengeance. Leaving his crown
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Speaker 1: and his country far behind, he advanced on the wings
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Speaker 1: of victory into the heart of Germany, which for centuries
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Speaker 1: had seen no foreign conqueror. Within its bosom, the warlike
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Speaker 1: spirit of its inhabitants, the vigilance of its numerous princes,
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Speaker 1: the artful confederation of its states, the number of its
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Speaker 1: strong castles, its many and broad rivers had long restrained
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Speaker 1: the ambition of its neighbors. And frequently, as its extensive
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Speaker 1: frontier had been attacked, its interior had been free from
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Speaker 1: hostile invasion. The Empire had hitherto enjoyed the equivocal privilege
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Speaker 1: of being its own enemy, though invincible from without. Even now,
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Speaker 1: it was merely the disunion of its members and the
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Speaker 1: intolerance of religious zeal that paved the way for the
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Speaker 1: Swedish invader. The bond of union between the states, which
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Speaker 1: alone had rendered the Empire invincible, was now dissolved, and
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Speaker 1: Gustavus derived from Germany itself the power by which he
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Speaker 1: subdued it. With as much courageous prudence he availed himself
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Speaker 1: of all that the favorable moment afforded, and equally at
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Speaker 1: home in the cabinet and the field, he tore us
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Speaker 1: under the web of the artful policy with as much
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Speaker 1: ease as he shattered walls with the thunder of his cannon.
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Speaker 1: Uninterruptedly he pursued his conquests from one end of Germany
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Speaker 1: to the other, without breaking the line of posts which
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Speaker 1: commanded a secure retreat at any moment, and whether on
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Speaker 1: the banks of the Rhine or the mouth of the
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Speaker 1: leeche alike, maintaining his communication with his hereditary dominions. The
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Speaker 1: consternation of the Emperor and the League at Tilly's defeat
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Speaker 1: at Leipzig was scarcely greater than the surprise and embarrassment
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Speaker 1: of the allies of the King of Sweden at his
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Speaker 1: unexpected success. It was beyond both their expectations and their wishes,
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Speaker 1: annihilated in a moment was that formidable army, which, while
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Speaker 1: it checked his progress and set bounds to his ambition,
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Speaker 1: rendered him in some measure dependent on themselves. He now
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Speaker 1: stood in the heart of Germany alone, without a rival,
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Speaker 1: or without an adversary who was a match for him.
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Speaker 1: Nothing could stop his progress or check his pretensions, if
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Speaker 1: the intoxication of success should tempt him to abuse his victory.
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Speaker 1: If formerly they had dreaded the Emperor's irrestible power, there
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Speaker 1: was no less cause now to fear everything, for the
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Speaker 1: Empire from the violence of a foreign conqueror, and for
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Speaker 1: the Catholic Church from the zeal of a Protestant king.
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Speaker 1: The distrust and jealousy of some of the combined powers,
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Speaker 1: which a stronger fear of the Emperor had for a
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Speaker 1: time repressed, now revived, and scarcely had Gustavus Adolphus, merited
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Speaker 1: by his courage and success, their confidence when they began
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Speaker 1: covertly to circumvent all his plans. Through a continual struggle
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Speaker 1: with the arts of enemies and the distrust of his
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Speaker 1: own allies, must his victories henceforth be won. Yet, resolution, penetration,
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Speaker 1: and prudence made their way through all impediments. But while
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Speaker 1: his success excited the jealousy of his more powerful allies
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Speaker 1: France and Saxony. It gave courage to the weaker and
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Speaker 1: emboldened them openly to declare their sentiments and join his party.
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Speaker 1: Those who could neither vie with Gustavus Adolphus in importance,
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Speaker 1: nor so from his ambition, expected the more from the
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Speaker 1: magnanimity of their powerful ally, who enriched them with the
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Speaker 1: spoils of their enemies and protected them against the oppression
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Speaker 1: of their stronger neighbors. His strength covered their weaknesses, and
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Speaker 1: inconsiderable in themselves, they acquired weight and influence from their
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Speaker 1: union with the Swedish hero. This was the case with
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Speaker 1: most of the free cities, and particularly with the weaker
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Speaker 1: Protestant states. It was these that introduced the king into
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Speaker 1: the heart of Germany. These covered his rear, supplied his
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Speaker 1: troops with necessaries, received them into their fortresses, while they
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Speaker 1: exposed their own lives in his battles. His prudent regard
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Speaker 1: to their national pride, his popular deportment, some brilliant acts
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Speaker 1: of justice, and his respect for the laws were so
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Speaker 1: many ties by which he bound the German Protestants to
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Speaker 1: his cause. While the crying atrocities of the imperialists, the Spaniards,
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Speaker 1: and the troops of Lorraine powerfully contributed to set his
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Speaker 1: own conduct and that of his army in a favorable light.
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Speaker 1: If Gustavus Adolphus owed his success chiefly to his own genius,
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Speaker 1: at the same time, it must be owned he was
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Speaker 1: greatly favored by fortune and circumstance. Two great advantages gave
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Speaker 1: him a decided superiority over the enemy. While he removed
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Speaker 1: the scene of war into the lands of the League,
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Speaker 1: drew their youths as recruits, enriched himself with booty, and
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Speaker 1: used the revenues of their fugitive princes as his own.
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Speaker 1: He at once took from the enemy the means of
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Speaker 1: effectual resistance, and maintained an expensive war with little cost
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Speaker 1: to himself. And Moreover, while his opponents, the princes of
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Speaker 1: the League, divided among themselves and governed by different and
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Speaker 1: often conflicting interests, acted without unanimity and therefore without energy.
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Speaker 1: While their generals were deficient in authority, their troops and obedience,
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Speaker 1: the operations of their scattered armies without concert. While the
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Speaker 1: general was separated from the lawgiver and the statesman, these
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Speaker 1: several functions were united in Gustavus Adolphus, the only source
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Speaker 1: from which authority flowed, the sole object to which the
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Speaker 1: eye of the warrior turned, the soul of his party,
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Speaker 1: the inventor as well as the executor of his plans
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Speaker 1: in him. Therefore, the Protestants had a center of unity
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Speaker 1: and harmony which was altogether wanting to their opponents. No wonder, then,
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Speaker 1: if favored by such advantages, at the head of such
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Speaker 1: an army, with such a genius to direct it, and
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Speaker 1: guided by such political prudence, Gustavus Adolphus was irresistible. With
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Speaker 1: the sword in one hand and mercy on the other,
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Speaker 1: he traversed Germany as a conqueror, a lawgiver, and the
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Speaker 1: judge in a short time, almost as the tourist of pleasure.
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Speaker 1: The keys of towns and fortresses were delivered to him,
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Speaker 1: as if to the native sovereign. No fortress was inaccessible,
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Speaker 1: no river checked his victorious career. He conquered by the
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Speaker 1: very terror of his name. The Swedish standards were planted
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Speaker 1: along the whole stream of the Main. The Lower Palatinate
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Speaker 1: was free. The troops of Spain and Lorraine had fled
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Speaker 1: across the Rhine and the Moselle. The Suedes and Hessians
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Speaker 1: poured like a torrent into the territories of Mentz of
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Speaker 1: Wurtzburg and Bamberg, and three fugitive bishops at a distance
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Speaker 1: from their seas, suffered dearly for their unfortunate attachment to
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Speaker 1: the emperor. It was now the term for Maximilian, the
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Speaker 1: leader of the league, to feel in his own dominions
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Speaker 1: the miseries he had inflicted upon others. Neither the terrible
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Speaker 1: fate of his allies, nor the peaceful overtures of Gustavus, who,
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Speaker 1: in the midst of conquest, ever held out the hand
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Speaker 1: of friendship, could conquer the obstinacy of this prince. The
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Speaker 1: torrents of war now poured into Bavaria. Like the banks
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Speaker 1: of the Rhine. Those of the Lech and the Danau
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Speaker 1: were crowded with Swedish troops creeping into his fortresses. The
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Speaker 1: defeated elector abandoned to the ravages of the foe, his
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Speaker 1: dominions hitherto unscathed by war, and on which the bigoted
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Speaker 1: violence of the Bavarians seemed to invite retaliation. Munich itself
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Speaker 1: opened its gates to the invincible monarch and the fugitive
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Speaker 1: Palatine Frederic the Fifth, in the forsaken residence of his rival,
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Speaker 1: consoled himself for a time for the loss of his dominions.
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Speaker 1: While Gustavus Adolphus was extending his conquests in the south,
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Speaker 1: his generals and allies were gaining similar triumphs in other provinces.
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Speaker 1: Lower Saxony shook off the yoke of Austria. The enemy
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Speaker 1: abandoned Mecklenburg, and the imperial garrison retired from the banks
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Speaker 1: of the Viser and the Elbe. In Westphalia and the
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Speaker 1: Upper Rhine, William Landgrave of Hesse, rendered himself formidable, the
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Speaker 1: Duke of Weimar in Thuringia and the French in the
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Speaker 1: Electorate of trev While to the eastward, the whole Kingdom
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Speaker 1: of Bohemia was conquered by the Saxons. The Turks were
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Speaker 1: preparing to invade Hungary, and in the heart of all Austria,
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Speaker 1: a dangerous insurrection was threatened. In Vain. Did the Emperor
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Speaker 1: look around to the courts of Europe for support. In Vain,
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Speaker 1: did he summon the Spaniards to his assistance. For the
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Speaker 1: bravery of the Flemings afforded them ample employment upon the rhine.
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Speaker 1: In vain did he call upon the Roman court and
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Speaker 1: the whole Church to come to his rescue. The offended
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Speaker 1: Pope sported in pompous processions and idle anathemas with the
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Speaker 1: embarrassments of Ferdinand, and instead of the desired subsidy, he
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Speaker 1: was shown the devastation of Mantua. On all sides of
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Speaker 1: his extensive monarchy, hostile arms surrounded him, with the states
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Speaker 1: of the League now overrun by the enemy. These ramparts
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Speaker 1: were thrown down behind which Austria had so long defended herself,
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Speaker 1: and the embers of war were now smoldering upon her
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Speaker 1: unguarded frontiers. His most zealous allies were disarmed. Maximilian of Bavaria,
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Speaker 1: his firmest support, was scarce able to defend himself. His armies,
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Speaker 1: weakened by desertion and repeated defeat, and dispirited by continued misfortune,
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Speaker 1: had unlearnt under beaten generals that warlike impetuosity, which as
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Speaker 1: it is the consequence, so it is the guarantee of success.
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Speaker 1: The danger was extreme. An extraordinary means alone could raise
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Speaker 1: the imperial power from the degradation into which it has fallen.
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Speaker 1: The most urgent want was that of a general, and
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Speaker 1: the only one from whom he could hope for the
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Speaker 1: revival of his former splendor had been removed from his
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Speaker 1: command by an envious cabal. So low had the Emperor
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Speaker 1: now fallen, that he was forced to make the most
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Speaker 1: humiliating proposals to his injured subject and servant, and meanly
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Speaker 1: to press upon the imperious Duke of Friedland the acceptance
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Speaker 1: of the powers which no less meanly had been taken
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Speaker 1: from him. A new spirit began from this moment to
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Speaker 1: animate the expiring body of Austria, and the sudden change
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Speaker 1: in the aspect of affairs bespoke the firm which guided
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Speaker 1: them to the absolute King of Sweden. A general equally absolute,
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Speaker 1: was now opposed, and one victorious hero was confronted with another.
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Speaker 1: Both armies were again to engage in the doubtful struggle,
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Speaker 1: and the prize of victory, already almost secured in the
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Speaker 1: hands of Gustavus Adolphus, was to be the object of
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Speaker 1: another and a severer trial. The storm of war gathered
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Speaker 1: around Nuremberg. Before its walls, the hostile armies encamped gazing
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Speaker 1: on each other with dread and respect, longing for and
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Speaker 1: yet shrinking from the moment that was to close them
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Speaker 1: together in the shock of battle. The eyes of Europe
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Speaker 1: turned to the scene in curiosity and alarm, while Nuremberg
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Speaker 1: in dismay, expected soon to lend its name to a
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Speaker 1: more decisive battle than that of Leipzig. Suddenly, the clouds broke,
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Speaker 1: and the storm rolled away from Franconia to burst upon
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Speaker 1: the plains of Saxony. Near Lutzen fell the thunder that
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Speaker 1: adminisced Nuremberg. The victory half lost, was purchased by the
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Speaker 1: death of the king. Fortune, which had never forsaken him
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Speaker 1: in his lifetime, favored the King of Sweden, even in
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Speaker 1: his death, with a rare privilege of falling in the
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Speaker 1: fullness of his glory and an untarnished fame. By a
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Speaker 1: timely death, his protecting genius rescued him from the inevitable
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Speaker 1: fate of man, that of forgetting moderation in the intoxication
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Speaker 1: of success, and justice in the plenitude of power. It
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Speaker 1: may be doubted whether had he lived longer, he would
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Speaker 1: still have deserved the tears which Germany shed over his grave,
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Speaker 1: or maintained his title to the admiration with which posterity
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Speaker 1: regards him as the first and only just conqueror that
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Speaker 1: the world has produced. The untimely followed their great leader
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Speaker 1: seemed to threaten the ruin of his party. But to
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Speaker 1: the power which rules the world, no loss of a
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Speaker 1: single man is irreparable. As the helm of war dropped
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Speaker 1: from the hand of the falling hero, it was seized
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Speaker 1: by two great statesmen, Oxenstern and Richelieu, Destiny still pursued
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Speaker 1: its relentless course, and for full sixteen years longer the
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Speaker 1: flames of war blazed over the ashes of the long
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Speaker 1: forgotten king and soldier. I may now be permitted to
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Speaker 1: take a cursory retrospect of Gustavis Adolphus in his victorious career,
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Speaker 1: glance at the scene in which he alone was the
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Speaker 1: great actor. And then, when Austria becomes reduced to extremity
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Speaker 1: by the successes of the Swedes and by a series
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Speaker 1: of disasters, is driven to the most humiliating and desperate
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Speaker 1: expedients to return to the history of the emperor. As
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Speaker 1: soon as the plan of operations had been concerted at
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Speaker 1: Hall between the King of Sweden and the Elector of Saxony.
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Speaker 1: As soon as the alliance had been concluded with the
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Speaker 1: neighboring princes of Weimar and Anhalt, and preparations made for
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Speaker 1: the recovery of the Bishopric of Magdeburg, the king began
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Speaker 1: his march into the Empire. He had here no despicable
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Speaker 1: foe to contend with. Within the Empire, the Emperor was
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Speaker 1: still powerful throughout Franconia, Swabia and the Palatinate. Imperial garrisons
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Speaker 1: were posted with whom the possession of every place of
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Speaker 1: importance must be disputed sword in hand. On the Rhine
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Speaker 1: he was opposed by the Spaniards, who had overrun the
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Speaker 1: territory of the banished Elector Palatine, seized all its strong places,
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Speaker 1: and would everywhere dispute with him the passage over that river.
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Speaker 1: On his rear was Tilly, who was fast recruiting his
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Speaker 1: force and would soon be joined by the auxiliaries from Lorraine.
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Speaker 1: Every Papist presented an inveterate foe, while his connection with
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Speaker 1: France did not leave him at liberty to act with
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Speaker 1: freedom against the Roman Catholics, because status had overseen all
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Speaker 1: these obstacles. But at the same time the means by
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Speaker 1: which they were to be overcome. The strength of the
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Speaker 1: Imperials was broken and divided among different garrisons, while he
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Speaker 1: would bring against them one by one his whole united force.
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Speaker 1: If he was to be opposed by the fanaticism of
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Speaker 1: the Roman Catholics and the awe in which the lesser
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Speaker 1: states regarded the Emperor's power, he might depend on the
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Speaker 1: active support of the Protestants and their hatred to Austrian oppression.
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Speaker 1: The ravages of the imperialists and Spanish troops also powerfully
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Speaker 1: aided him. In these quarters, where the ill treated husbandman
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Speaker 1: and citizens side alike for a deliverer, and where the
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Speaker 1: mere change of yoke seemed to promise a relief. Emissaries
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Speaker 1: were dispatched to gain over to the Swedish side the
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Speaker 1: principal free cities, particularly Nuremberg and Frankfort. The first that
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Speaker 1: lay in the king's march, and which he could not
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Speaker 1: leave unoccupied in his rear was Airfort. Here the Protestant
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Speaker 1: party among the citizens opened to him without a blow
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Speaker 1: the gates of the town and the citadel from the
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Speaker 1: inhabitants of this, as of every important place which afterwards submitted,
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Speaker 1: he exacted an oath of allegiance. While he secured its
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Speaker 1: possession by a sufficient garrison to his ally, Duke William
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Speaker 1: of Weimar, he intrusted the command of an army to
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Speaker 1: be raised in Thuringia. He also left his queen in
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Speaker 1: Airfort and promised to increase its privileges. The Swedish army
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Speaker 1: now crossed the Thuringian forest in two columns by Gotha
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Speaker 1: and Arnstadt, and having delivered in its march the country
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Speaker 1: of Henneberg from the imperialists, formed a junction on the
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Speaker 1: third day near Konigschaffen on the frontiers of Franconia. Francis,
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Speaker 1: Bishop of Wurzburg, the bitter enemy of the Protestants and
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Speaker 1: the most zealous member of the League, was the first
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Speaker 1: to feel the indignation of Gustavus Adolphus. A few threats
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Speaker 1: gained for the Swedes possession of his fortress of Konigschaffen
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Speaker 1: and with it the key of the whole province. At
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Speaker 1: the news of this rapid conquest, dismay seized all the
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Speaker 1: Roman Catholic towns of the circle. The bishops of Wurzburg
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Speaker 1: and Bamberg trembled in their castles. They already saw their
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Speaker 1: seas tottering, their church profaned, and their religion degraded. The
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Speaker 1: malice of his enemies had circulated the most frightful representations
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Speaker 1: of the persecuting spirit and the mode of warfare pursued
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Speaker 1: by the Swedish king and his soldiers, which neither the
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Speaker 1: repeated assurances of the King nor the most splendid examples
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Speaker 1: of humanity and toleration ever entirely effaced. Many feared to
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Speaker 1: suffer at the hands of another what in similar circumstances
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Speaker 1: they were conscious of inflicting themselves. Many of the richest
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Speaker 1: Roman Catholics hastened to secure by flight their property, their religion,
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Speaker 1: and their persons from the sanguinary fanaticism of the Swedes.
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Speaker 1: The bishop himself set the example. In the midst of
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Speaker 1: the alarm which his bigoted zeal is caused, he abandoned
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Speaker 1: his dominions and fled to Paris to excite, if possible,
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Speaker 1: the French ministry against the common enemy of the religion.
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Speaker 1: The further progress of Gustavus Adolphus in the ecclesiastical territories
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Speaker 1: agree with this brilliant commencement Schweinsburt and soon Afterwards, Wurtzburg,
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Speaker 1: abandoned by the Imperial garrisons, surrendered, but Marienberg he was
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Speaker 1: obliged to carry by storm. In this place, which was
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Speaker 1: believed to be impregnable, the enemy had collected a large
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Speaker 1: store of provisions and ammunition, all of which fell into
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Speaker 1: the hands of the Suites. The king found a valuable
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Speaker 1: prize in the library of the Jesuits, which he sent
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Speaker 1: to Upsal, while his soldiers found a still more agreeable
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Speaker 1: one in the prelate's well filled cellars. His treasures the
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Speaker 1: bishop had in good time removed the whole bishopric followed
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Speaker 1: the example of the capitol and submitted to the Swedes.
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Speaker 1: The king compelled all the bishop's subjects to swear allegiance
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Speaker 1: to himself, and, in the absence of the lawful sovereign,
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Speaker 1: appointed a regency, one half of whose members were Protestants.
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Speaker 1: In every Roman Catholic town which Gustavus took, he opened
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Speaker 1: the churches to the Protestant people, but without retally aating
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Speaker 1: on the Papists the cruelties which they had practiced on
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Speaker 1: the former. On such only a sword in hand refused
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Speaker 1: to submit. Were the fearful rights of war enforced, and
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Speaker 1: for the occasional acts of violence committed by a few
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Speaker 1: of the more lawless soldiers in the blind rage of
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Speaker 1: the first attack, their humane leader is not justly responsible.
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Speaker 1: Those who were peaceably disposed or defenseless were treated with mildness.
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Speaker 1: It was a sacred principle of Gustavus to spare the
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Speaker 1: blood of his enemies as well as that of his
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Speaker 1: own troops. On the first news of the Swedish eruption,
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Speaker 1: the Bishop of Wurzburg, without regarding the treaty which he
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Speaker 1: had entered into with the King of Sweden, had earnestly
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Speaker 1: pressed the general of the league to hasten to the
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Speaker 1: assistance of the bishopric. The defeated commander had, in the meantime,
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Speaker 1: collected on the visa of the shattered remnant of his army,
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Speaker 1: reinforced himself from the garrisons of Lower Saxony, and effected
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Speaker 1: a junction in Hesse with Altringer and Fuguer, who commanded
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Speaker 1: under him again at the head of a considerable force,
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Speaker 1: till he burned with impatience to wipe out the stain
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Speaker 1: of his first defeat by a splendid victory from his
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Speaker 1: camp at Fulda, whither he had marched with his army.
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Speaker 1: He earnestly requested permission from the Duke of Bavaria to
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Speaker 1: give battle to Gustavus Adolphus. But in the event of
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Speaker 1: Tilly's defeat, the league had no second army to fall
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Speaker 1: back upon, and Maximilian was too cautious to risk again
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Speaker 1: the fate of his party on a single battle. With
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Speaker 1: tears in his eyes, Tilly read the commands of his
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Speaker 1: superior which compelled him to inactivity. Thus his march to
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Speaker 1: Franconia was delayed, and Gustavus Adolphus gained time to overrun
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Speaker 1: the whole bishopric. It was in vain that Tilly, reinforced
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Speaker 1: at Aschaffenburg by a body of twelve thousand men from Lorraine,
21:49
Speaker 1: marched with an overwhelming force to the relief of Wurtzburg.
21:53
Speaker 1: The town and citadel were already in the hands of
21:56
Speaker 1: the Suites, and Maximilian of Bavaria was generally blamed, and
22:00
Speaker 1: not without cause, perhaps for having, by his scruples occasioned
22:04
Speaker 1: the loss of the bishopric. Commanded to avoid a battle,
22:08
Speaker 1: Tilly contented himself with checking the further advance of the enemy,
22:12
Speaker 1: but he could save only a few of the towns
22:14
Speaker 1: from the impetuosity of the Swedes. Baffled in an attempt
22:18
Speaker 1: to reinforce the weak garrison of Hanau, which it was
22:21
Speaker 1: highly important to the Swedes to gain, he crossed the
22:24
Speaker 1: main near Seligenstadt and took the direction of the Bergstrasse
22:29
Speaker 1: to protect the Palatinate from the conqueror. Tilly, however, was
22:32
Speaker 1: not the sole enemy whom Gustavis Adolphus met in Franconia
22:36
Speaker 1: and drove before him. Charles, Duke of Lorraine, celebrated in
22:40
Speaker 1: the annals of the time for his unsteadiness of character,
22:44
Speaker 1: his vain projects, and his misfortunes. Ventured to raise a
22:48
Speaker 1: weak arm against the Swedish hero in the hope of
22:51
Speaker 1: obtaining from the Emperor of the electoral dignity. Deaf to
22:55
Speaker 1: the suggestions of a rational policy, he listened only to
22:58
Speaker 1: the dictates of heated ambition. By supporting the Emperor, he
23:02
Speaker 1: exasperated France, his formidable neighbor, and in the pursuit of
23:06
Speaker 1: a visionary phantom in another country, left undefended his own dominions,
23:10
Speaker 1: which were instantly overrun by a French army. Austria willingly
23:15
Speaker 1: conceded to him, as well as to the other princes
23:17
Speaker 1: of the league, the honor of being ruined in her cause.
23:21
Speaker 1: Intoxicated with vain hopes, this prince collected a force of
23:24
Speaker 1: seventeen thousand men, which he proposed to lead in person
23:28
Speaker 1: against the Swedes. If these troops were deficient in discipline
23:32
Speaker 1: and courage, they were at least attractive by the splendor
23:35
Speaker 1: of their accouterments, and, however sparing they were of their
23:38
Speaker 1: prowess against the foe, they were liberal enough with it
23:41
Speaker 1: against the defenseless citizens and peasantry whom they were summoned
23:44
Speaker 1: to defend. Against the bravery and the formidable discipline of
23:48
Speaker 1: the Swedes. This splendidly attired army, however, made no long stand.
23:53
Speaker 1: On the first advance of the Swedish cavalry. A panic
23:56
Speaker 1: seized them, and they were driven without difficulty from their
23:59
Speaker 1: ken tonments at Wurtzburg. The defeat of a few regiments
24:03
Speaker 1: occasioned a general route, and the scattered remnant sought a
24:07
Speaker 1: covert from the Swedish valor in the towns beyond the Rhine.
24:11
Speaker 1: Loaded with shame and ridicule, the Duke hurried home by
24:14
Speaker 1: Strasbourg too fortunate in escaping by a submissive written apology
24:19
Speaker 1: the indignation of his conqueror, who had first beaten him
24:22
Speaker 1: out of the field and then called upon him to
24:25
Speaker 1: account for his hostilities. It is related upon this occasion
24:29
Speaker 1: that in a village on the Rhine, a peasant struck
24:32
Speaker 1: the horse of the Duke as he rode past, exclaiming, hey, sir,
24:36
Speaker 1: you must go quicker to escape the great King of Sweden.
24:40
Speaker 1: The example of his neighbour's misfortunes had taught the Bishop
24:43
Speaker 1: of Bamberg prudence. To avert the plundering of his territories.
24:47
Speaker 1: He made offers of peace, though these were intended only
24:51
Speaker 1: to delay the king's course till the arrival of assistants.
24:55
Speaker 1: Gostavus Adolphus, too honorable himself to suspect dishonesty in another,
25:00
Speaker 1: readily accepted the bishop's proposals and named the conditions on
25:04
Speaker 1: which he was willing to save his territories from hostile treatment.
25:09
Speaker 1: He was the more inclined to peace, as he had
25:11
Speaker 1: no time to lose in the conquest of Bamberg and
25:14
Speaker 1: his other designs called him to the Rhine. The rapidity
25:18
Speaker 1: with which he followed up these plans cost him the
25:20
Speaker 1: loss of those pecuniary supplies which, by a longer residence
25:24
Speaker 1: and Franconia he might easily have extorted from the weak
25:28
Speaker 1: and terrified bishop. This artful prelate broke off the negotiation
25:32
Speaker 1: the instant the storm of war passed away from his
25:35
Speaker 1: own territories. No sooner a Gustavus marched onward than he
25:39
Speaker 1: threw himself under the protection of Tilly, and received the
25:42
Speaker 1: troops of the Emperor into the very towns and fortresses
25:46
Speaker 1: which shortly before he had shown himself ready to open
25:49
Speaker 1: to the Swedes. By this stratagem, however, he only delayed
25:54
Speaker 1: for a brief interval the ruin of his bishopric. A
25:57
Speaker 1: Swedish general, who been left in Franconia, undertook to punish
26:01
Speaker 1: the parafidity of the bishop, and the ecclesiastical territory became
26:04
Speaker 1: the seat of war and was ravaged alike by friends
26:07
Speaker 1: and foes. The formidable presence of the imperialists had hitherto
26:12
Speaker 1: been a check upon the Franconian states, but their retreat
26:16
Speaker 1: and the humane conduct of the Swedish king emboldened the
26:19
Speaker 1: nobility and other inhabitants of this circle to declare in
26:23
Speaker 1: his favor. Nuremberg joyfully committed itself to his protection, and
26:27
Speaker 1: the Franconian nobles were won to his cause by flattering
26:31
Speaker 1: proclamations in which he condescended to apologize for his hostile
26:35
Speaker 1: appearance in the dominions. The fertility of Franconia and the
26:39
Speaker 1: rigorous honesty of the Swedish soldiers in their dealings with
26:42
Speaker 1: the inhabitants brought abundance to the camp of the king.
26:46
Speaker 1: The high esteem which the nobility of the circle felt
26:49
Speaker 1: Fergus Davis, the respect and admiration with which they regarded
26:53
Speaker 1: his brilliant exploits. The promises of rich booty which the
26:56
Speaker 1: service of this monarch held out greatly facilitated the recruiting
27:00
Speaker 1: of his troops, a step which was made necessary by
27:04
Speaker 1: detaching so many garrisons from the main body. At the
27:07
Speaker 1: sound of his drums, recruits flocked to his standard from
27:10
Speaker 1: all quarters. The king had scarcely spent more time in
27:14
Speaker 1: conquering Franconia than he would have required to cross it.
27:18
Speaker 1: He now left behind him Gustavus Horn, one of his
27:21
Speaker 1: best generals, with a force of eight thousand men, to
27:24
Speaker 1: complete and retain his conquest, he himself, with his main army,
27:29
Speaker 1: reinforced by the late recruits, hastened toward the Rhine in
27:32
Speaker 1: order to secure this frontier of the Empire from the Spaniards,
27:36
Speaker 1: to disarm the ecclesiastical electors, and to obtain from their
27:40
Speaker 1: fertile territories new resources for the prosecution of the war.
27:45
Speaker 1: Following the course of the main he subjected, in the
27:48
Speaker 1: course of his march Selegenstadt Aschaffenburg Steinhelm the whole territory
27:53
Speaker 1: on both sides of the river. The imperial garrisons seldom
27:57
Speaker 1: awaited his approach and never attempted to resist. In the meanwhile,
28:01
Speaker 1: one of his colonels had been fortunate enough to take
28:04
Speaker 1: by surprise the town and citadel of Hanau, for whose
28:08
Speaker 1: preservation till he had shown such anxiety. Eager to be
28:12
Speaker 1: free of the impressive burden of the imperialists, the Count
28:15
Speaker 1: of Hanau gladly placed himself under the milder yoke of
28:18
Speaker 1: the King of Sweden. Gostavus Adolphice now turned his whole
28:22
Speaker 1: attention to Frankfort, for it was his constant maxim to
28:25
Speaker 1: cover his rear by the friendship and possession of the
28:28
Speaker 1: more important towns. Frankfort was among the free cities which,
28:32
Speaker 1: even from Saxony he had endeavored to prepare for his reception,
28:37
Speaker 1: and he now called upon it, by a summons from Offenbach,
28:40
Speaker 1: to allow him a free passage and to admit a
28:42
Speaker 1: Swedish garrison. Willingly would this city of dispense with the
28:47
Speaker 1: necessity of choosing between the King of Sweden and the Emperor,
28:50
Speaker 1: for whatever party they might embrace, The inhabitants had a
28:54
Speaker 1: like reason to fear for their privileges in trade. The
28:57
Speaker 1: Emperor's vengeance would certainly fall heavily upon them if they
29:01
Speaker 1: were in a hurry to submit to the King of Sweden,
29:03
Speaker 1: and afterwards he should prove unable to protect his adherents
29:06
Speaker 1: in Germany. But still more ruinous for them would be
29:10
Speaker 1: the displeasure of an irresistible conqueror, who, with a formidable army,
29:14
Speaker 1: was already before their gates, and who might punish their
29:17
Speaker 1: opposition by the ruin of their commerce and prosperity. In
29:21
Speaker 1: vain did their deputies plead the danger which menaced their fairs,
29:25
Speaker 1: their privileges, perhaps their constitution itself, if by espousing the
29:29
Speaker 1: party of the Swedes, they were to incur the Emperor's displeasure.
29:34
Speaker 1: Gause Davis Adolphus expressed to them his astonishment that when
29:38
Speaker 1: the liberties of Germany and the Protestant religion were at stake,
29:41
Speaker 1: the citizens in Frankfort should talk of their annual affairs
29:45
Speaker 1: and postpone for temporal interests the great cause of their
29:48
Speaker 1: country and their conscience. He had, he continued, in a
29:52
Speaker 1: menacing tone, found the keys of every town and fortress
29:55
Speaker 1: from the Isle of Rugen to the main, and knew
29:58
Speaker 1: also where to find a key to frank The safety
30:01
Speaker 1: of Germany and the freedom of the Protestant Church were,
30:04
Speaker 1: he assured them, the sole objects of his invasion. Conscious
30:08
Speaker 1: of the justice of his cause, he was determined not
30:10
Speaker 1: to allow any obstacle to impede his progress. The inhabitants
30:15
Speaker 1: of Frankfort, he was well aware, wished to stretch out
30:18
Speaker 1: only a finger to him, but he must have the
30:21
Speaker 1: whole hand in order to have something to grasp At
30:25
Speaker 1: the head of the army. He closely followed the deputies
30:28
Speaker 1: as they carried back his answer, and in order of
30:30
Speaker 1: battle awaited near Saxenhausen. The decision of the council if
30:35
Speaker 1: Frankfort hesitated to submit to the Swedes. It was solely
30:38
Speaker 1: from fear of the Emperor. Their own inclinations did not
30:41
Speaker 1: allow them a moment to doubt between the oppressor of
30:44
Speaker 1: Germany and its protector. The menacing preparations amidst which Gustavus
30:49
Speaker 1: Adolphus now compelled them to decide, would lessen the guilt
30:52
Speaker 1: of their revolt in the eyes of the Emperor, and
30:55
Speaker 1: by an appearance of compulsion, justified the step which they
30:58
Speaker 1: willingly took. The gates were therefore opened to the King
31:01
Speaker 1: of Sweden, who marched his army through this imperial town
31:05
Speaker 1: in magnificent procession and in admirable order. A garrison of
31:10
Speaker 1: six hundred men was left in Sachsenhausen, while the king
31:13
Speaker 1: himself advanced the same evening with the rest of his
31:16
Speaker 1: army against the town of Hawks in Menz, which surrendered
31:19
Speaker 1: to him before night. End of Part one