Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
(săks`–wī`mär, zäks`ə-vī`mär), 1604–39, Protestant general in the Thirty Years WarThirty Years War,1618–48, general European war fought mainly in Germany. General Character of the War
There were many territorial, dynastic, and religious issues that figured in the outbreak and conduct of the war.
..... Click the link for more information. , duke of Weimar. Under Ernst von MansfeldMansfeld, Peter Ernst von
, 1580?–1626, military commander in the Thirty Years War. Illegitimate son of a governor for the Hapsburgs in Luxembourg, he rendered distinguished service in the imperial forces in the Netherlands and was legitimized; by 1607 he was styling
..... Click the link for more information. and the margrave of Baden, Bernhard fought against the imperial forces in defense (1622) of the Palatinate. He served in the Netherlands and later allied himself (1631) with King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, after whose death at Lützen (1632) he took command. In 1633, Bernhard became joint commander of the army of the Heilbronn Confederation, created under Swedish auspices. The Swedish government also granted him the newly created duchy of Franconia, formed out of the captured German bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg. His capture of Regensburg (1633) made him the hero of the Protestants. In 1634 he suffered a crushing defeat by the imperial army at Nördlingen and soon afterward lost Franconia. Bernhard and his army were taken into French pay in 1635. Victories at Breisgau and Breisach (1638) brought him control over Alsace and the Upper Rhine. He died suddenly of a fever.