Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel von, Duke of Freidland

b. 1583; d.1634

German soldier, born in Bohemia. His father, an impoverished Czech aristocrat, was a protestant, but he early determined to embrace the Catholic faith. He took part in the war between the Archduke Ferdinand and the Venetians. On the outbreak of the Bohemian revolt he obtained the command of an army, defeated Count Mansfeld, and conquered a great stretch of country. He was created duke of Mecklenburg by the Emperor Ferdinand II. Dismissed in 1630 on the insistence of the German princes, he was recalled to combat Gustavus Adolphus and succeeded in curbing the Swedes, then he was defeated at Lützen. The Emperor had decided that Wallenstein had become too powerful for Hapsburg safety. He was charged with treachery, and murdered.

One of the most intriguing figures in German history, Wallenstein attracted much attention. His literary fame rests above all on the great trilogy of plays by Schiller (1798-99).

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