The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus AdolphusHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
The Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, 1594-1632 -- Fiction; Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 -- Fiction
Had the emperor at this moment acted wisely Oxenstiern's efforts would
have been in vain. Wallenstein, farseeing and broad minded, saw the
proper course to pursue, and strongly urged upon the emperor the
advisability of declaring a universal amnesty, and of offering
favourable conditions to the Protestant princes, who, dismayed at the
loss of their great champion, would gladly accept any proposals which
would ensure the religious liberty for which they had fought; but the
emperor, blinded by this unexpected turn of fortune and infatuated by
Spanish counsels, now looked to a complete triumph and to enforce his
absolute will upon the whole of Germany.
Instead, therefore, of listening to the wise counsels of Wallenstein he
hastened to augment his forces. Spain sent him considerable supplies,
negotiated for him with the ever vacillating Elector of Saxony, and
levied troops for him in Italy. The Elector of Bavaria increased his
army, and the Duke of Lorraine prepared again to take part in the
struggle which now seemed to offer him an easy opportunity of increasing
his dominions. For a time the Elector of Saxony, the Duke of Brunswick,
and many others of the German princes wavered; but when they saw that
Ferdinand, so far from being disposed to offer them favourable terms to
detach them from the league, was preparing with greater vigour than
ever to overwhelm them, they perceived that their interest was to remain
faithful to their ally, and at a great meeting of princes and deputies
held at Heilbronn the alliance was re-established on a firmer basis.
Before, however, the solemn compact was ratified scarce one of the
German princes and nobles but required of Oxenstiern the gratification
of private greed and ambition, and each bargained for some possession
either already wrested or to be afterwards taken from the enemy. To the
Landgrave of Hesse the abbacies of Paderborn, Corvey, Munster, and Fulda
were promised, to Duke Bernhard of Weimar the Franconian bishoprics,
to the Duke of Wurtemburg the ecclesiastical domains and the Austrian
counties lying within his territories, all to be held as fiefs of
Sweden.
Oxenstiern, an upright and conscientious man, was disgusted at the
greed of these princes and nobles who professed to be warring solely
in defence of their religious liberties, and he once exclaimed that he
would have it entered in the Swedish archives as an everlasting memorial
that a prince of the German empire made a request for such and such
territory from a Swedish nobleman, and that the Swedish noble complied
with the request by granting him German lands. However, the negotiations
were at last completed, the Saxons marched towards Lusatia and Silesia
to act in conjunction with Count Thurn against the Austrians in that
quarter, a part of the Swedish army was led by the Duke of Weimar into
Franconia, and the other by George, Duke of Brunswick, into Westphalia
and Lower Saxony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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