![]() ![]() One significant omission to me is that while Mortimer refers to Wallenstein's near incapacitation toward the end of his life due to health problems at the end of his life, he fails to mention it was due to a terminal case of syphilis, as was determined by exhumation of his remains in 1983. Being a major creditor to the Emperor, as well as having amassed vast holdings of land over the course of the war, Wallenstein was the ideal victim for the Emperor to settle his debts. Mortimer makes a good case that the assassination plot grew out of court intrigues by Wallenstein's detractors, coupled with the Emperor's cynical practice of financing the endless conflict with expropriations of property. It was asserted that he was planning to betray the Emperor and go over to the Swedes. In brief, his abilities as a logistical genius, and a competent, far-sighted general saved the Holy Roman Empire twice, but for this service he was assassinated by Emperor Ferdinand II. ![]() ![]() ![]() It also serves well as a reasonably brief biography of this figure, against the backdrop of the first fifteen years of this horrific conflict. This is an ably written attempt to clear away the legends that have grown up around Albrecht von Wallenstein, the brilliant Imperial commander during the first half of the Thirty Years War. ![]()
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