I. The proverb "all's fair in love and war" often holds true for martial law itself. The distance separating legal codes from lived and suffered reality is painfully measured in the experience of war victims. Of the shocking reports of daily life in the Thirty Years' War - the unbearable burdens placed on those forced to quarter infantry and cavalry squadrons, and sometimes even entire regiments, on their farms and estates, to sustain the military with their livestock and grain, and to relinquish horses and wagons for baggage trains and cavalry - one collection of documents, largely lost in the original, stands out in particular. In the following, a number of these letters, writings, and documents will serve to convey something of the reality of martial law in practice.

A certain Georg Behr (also known as "Jürgen" or "Jörg"), a well-to-do nobleman whose hereditary estates in western Pomerania near Triebsees were confiscated and redistributed by the Swedes, reported on events from the war and assembled a large number of related documents, apparently for the purpose of recovering his possessions after the war, whether by legal action or petition. The collection was acquired on the secondhand book market by Julius von Bohlen-Bohlendorf, who expanded it to include additional documents, some of them from eastern Pomerania. In addition to the reports, letters, and documents collected by Georg Behr, the volume now contained documents from Swedish military installations ranking as high as the generality. These documents primarily concern the estate then known as "Teufelsdorf" (or "Düwelsdorff," now Degelsdorf) near Triebsees on the Trebel north of Demmin and Anklam, an area that had become particularly embroiled in military events under the generals Hermann Wrangel and Johan Banér. The documents shed light above all on the practice of martial law, and in particular on the system of "contribution" practiced in Pomerania under Wrangel and his colleague Banér, who at that time was also his bitter rival for the supreme command of the Swedish forces in Germany.

After the Swedish victory over the imperial forces in Pomerania in February of 1631, Duke Bogislav XIV (1625-1637), Georg Behr's liege lord, was forced into an alliance with Gustav Adolf, thus obligating the Pomeranian nobility - Georg Behr included - to heavy contributions in support of their "ally" Sweden. According to Behr's report, an infantry squadron was quartered in Teufelsdorf "along with all their baggage and supplies"; within only 6 days, moreover, they had so ransacked the estate that "not a piece of bread or draft of beer remained, nor fish in the pond, to say nothing of other excesses, the base defilement and barbaric degradation of the church and the holy altar." Behr was saved from utter ruin only by an unusually drastic "disciplinary measure," likewise representative of "martial law." At first, his complaints and petitions were ignored, and he was informed (contrary to the truth, as he emphasized in his report) that he had previously been spared by the imperial forces. Finally, however, General Wrangel himself appeared, and on account of the grievances "gave the regimental major such a thrashing that the other officers came to their senses, acknowledged their injustices, and left the farm." According to Behr, however, the oppressive contributions continued and the land increasingly fell into ruin, even during the relatively peaceful years when Pomerania itself was not the theater of war.

With the childless death of Duke Bogislav XIV on March 10, 1637, Swedish-occupied Pomerania was left without a leader, since the occupying powers refused to turn over the land to its rightful heir Elector Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1619-1640). Since the formation of an interim government had foundered on Brandenburg's resistance, the representatives of the "remaining estates" were forced to perform the necessary duties, in particular the delicate one of handling complaints against the Swedish military administration by those forced to make contributions. In 1637, Pomerania became a battleground once again. That summer, the Swedes under Hermann Wrangel succeeded in holding the line of defense formed by the rivers Peene, Trebel, and Recknitz against the imperial forces under General Gallas, who was forced to withdraw to winter quarters in the region around Stralsund. Wrangel secured western Pomerania, while Banér betook himself to Stettin and eastern Pomerania. Georg Behr's estates lay in the midst of the line of defense on the Trebel and in the area of the "cantonment quarters," an exposed position which was to have disastrous consequences.

In the course of these operations, the Swedes confiscated all 200 of Georg Behr's horses in a single stroke, thus depriving him of the last of his transportation and draft animals. This left him - unlike his neighbors, who had managed to convey their most valuable possessions into the city by wagon - completely immobile and at the mercy not only of excessive billetings, but also of the burdensome "baggage and supply" contributions which were later levied as well as the pillaging of the "licentious soldiery" in the immediate surroundings and beyond. In addition, an officer and twelve dragoons had been billeted at the Teufelsdorf manor. An order issued by the quartermaster detailing their daily requirements does not shrink from open threats, should the supplies not be willingly delivered:

"Requisition list: the villages named, which are to convey victuals for the maintenance of my horsemen to my quarter in Dreibohm, must scrupulously provide the following, every day from the 3 [rd] of September on: daily 5 casks of beer, - 200 pounds of bread, - 60 bushels of oats, - 200 pounds of beef, - 4 wagonloads of good hay, - daily a variety of spices for me and my officers as needed, daily a quart of butter, - daily a half a bushel of salt, - daily 30 candles. For the kitchen of the cavalry captain and for the other officers as well, daily: 2 sheep, - 12 chickens, - 6 geese, - 30 eggs. - Such shall be delivered daily and without diminution, and if a village fails to supply what is required, the horsemen will fetch it themselves, which the villagers will not like at all.

Quarter Dreibohm, September 4, 1637

Georg Mittelstedt, Quartermaster mpr."

As Behr indicates in his report, complaints regarding the forced breakdown of all normal activity had elicited no response. Yet the Swedish military administration could not have been indifferent to these ruinous developments, since it shared an interest in the long-term preservation of agriculture and the continuation of production. Accordingly, in September, Hermann Wrangel issued orders promising military protection against plunderers during the threshing of the grain harvest, to be requested by the commandants of the garrison towns:

"As serious complaints are lodged daily regarding the much-published mandates and orders on account of the attacks, especially on the grain threshers in this region, for the prevention of which Your Excellencies [??? singular or plural?] have already made every effort, Major Rawen is hereby granted authority to request help from the commandants in the towns for the defense of those oppressed. Accordingly, all commandants, whether in Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, Wolgast, Demmin, Tribsees, or elsewhere, are hereby ordered to come to the aid of those in need at the request of the above-mentioned Commissar Rawen, with as many men as necessary, at the time and place which he will decide.

Loitz, September 25, 1637

H. Wrangel m.p."

Such protective measures, however, were apparently put into practice only sporadically. The generals' helpless responses to the pleas of the population reflect the military administration's inability to bring about improvement: the petitions unswervingly submitted to the Swedish alliance by the "remaining princely councilors of Pomerania, now present there" under their president Philipp Horn, requesting leniency for the aristocracy and their peasants, produced only threadbare palliatives. The complaints, sometimes addressed to Wrangel and Banér conjointly, essentially said the same thing: that the protective measures promised or even effected by the generality had remained fruitless. There had been no perceptible respite from the pillaging, burning, rape, and desecration of churches, as the following petition for the Wolgast region, submitted by the councilors to Field Marshall Wrangel, makes clear:

"... and in part from our notes, as well as from the field chamberlain, to whom we have provided a verbal report of the case, you will learn of the pillaging that occurs here and is perpetrated daily and hourly, of the ransacking of churches and the abominable torture of preachers and other inhabitants of the land who, in view of Your Excellency's recent decision in Loitz, considered it advisable to return to their farms.

"Now such deeds, unheard of among those of the same faith, do not decrease, but rather increase from day to day, so that the women, young and old, are often ravished to death and the old so tortured for the sake of money that they desire nothing more than death. Among other things, it came to pass last night that the hospital near the town was pillaged and those in it beaten and thrown out. In the same night, the bailiff Jacob Schröder from the stockyard near the town was arrested and taken away, and another three days before, Jacob Jeßke von Zipke. Moreover, the fields and mills have everywhere been destroyed.

"And since a number of the scoundrels were captured outside the gates here and arrested, we humbly submit to Your Excellency whether you will not take these prisoners and see that justice is done to them. In addition, we humbly request that Your Excellency will be pleased to prevent such aforementioned cruelty, violation, and pillaging insofar as is humanly possible, and to order, not only that the above-mentioned captives and other prisoners not go unpunished, but also, as we reminded the field chamberlain yesterday, that this city be provided with a garrison of infantry and the neighboring ones with letters of safe-conduct by the nobility.

"We herewith humbly commend Your Excellency to the gracious protection of the Most High, and ourselves to His favor. Barth, September 30, 1637. Your Excellency's humble servants, the remaining princely councilors of Pomerania, now present there."

Wrangel had no choice but to corroborate the deplorable events, though he was unable to guarantee redress, "since the licentious soldiery has wreaked such havoc with their pillaging, robbery, and innumerable other serious violations that there is more to be lamented than can be remedied." Nevertheless, a court-martial was administered immediately and without leniency. The petition had been dated September 30; the judicial proceedings, along with the executions, took place already on October 3.

The legal basis for the death sentence issued in these cases were the "Articles" of 1621 with addenda from 1631. Bad experiences with troop discipline had shown the need for the expansion and clarification of the military code, which in its initial form had failed to provide sufficient legal basis for prosecuting offenses such as the grave extortion of contributions, senseless destruction of schools, desecration of churches, presumption of privileges, absence without leave, and marauding:

"We Gustav Adolf by the grace of God, ... etc. hereby proclaim to all: since the order and discipline of war which have been introduced into our kingdom and become customary among our men of war have fallen into disrepair, and since disorder, disobedience, and insubordination have instead increased among the soldiers, to the frequent manifest hurt and extreme detriment of the Fatherland, we have resolved that the protection and welfare of the realm depends (next to God) on a well-ordered regiment with good and capable soldiers and an established military code."

In addition to the court-martial of October 3, Wrangel issued orders to the town commandants of Triebsees, Demmin, Loitz, and Anklam, instructing them to allow the victims of plundering to recover their goods and property and even permit them to enter the camp in order to identify their horses, cattle, and possessions. Moreover, in order that such measures not be in vain, all exports of cattle and horses from the region were temporarily halted. Orders such as these show that from time to time, the generality felt it necessary to take extraordinary measures to persuade the population of the good will of the military administration. In reality, however, only an interruption or at least a mitigation of the contributions would have helped, giving the local agriculture a chance to recover at all. Such measures, however, would have called the very system of contributions itself into question, a step not even the plaintiffs would have dared to suggest. Such a petition would doubtless have fallen upon deaf ears, even with Wrangel, who otherwise was most responsive to the concerns of the councilors.

Banér's reaction to these lamentable events differed markedly from that of Wrangel. In effect, Banér turned the tables on his accusers and accused them in turn of having been negligent in their efforts to supply the exacted contributions promptly and in full. If all demands had been met to the satisfaction of the military administration, he suggested, discipline among the troops would have been much better, and the soldiers' attempts to take the law into their own hands could have been much more easily suppressed:

"... I must protest, however, that the inhabitants of the land and those who suffer privation due to the present unrest have not taken timely precautions to secure the soldiers' provisions and in this way to hinder their presumption (which I by no means condone, but rather regard as an outrage) by depriving them of all pretext for marauding. Nevertheless, I will clearly show myself the enemy of such acts of violence, if the land and its inhabitants will make arrangements to keep the soldiery supplied, by means of which they will be much easier to hold together and keep in check."

The barefaced insinuation that the inhabitants of the land themselves shared the blame for their misfortune due to slackness in the delivery of contributions constitutes nothing less than intimidation from the highest quarter. Banér's letter, coming as it did from the top levels of leadership in the Swedish expedition army, differs in style and form from the above-quoted order of September 4, 1637, issued by quartermaster Georg Mittelstedt; as far as the necessity of the contributions is concerned, however, it manifests the same spirit.

Naturally Banér was familiar with the letter of the law, as the [?above-quoted?] "Patent" of October 6 already shows. To be sure, at that time he had promised to do what he could to prevent raids by marauding bands. This, however, was to be the extent of his intervention on behalf of the population. Where soldiers on legitimate errands resorted to force to procure the necessary contributions because their demands had not been met in full, Banér made it clear to those concerned that they could expect no help from him. For indeed, they themselves - if not personally, then at least others like them - had tested the soldiers' patience with their continual delays, much to be lamented on the part of the army administration and deserving of the soldiers' disfavor.

This warning, it seems, was Banér's real message. For the announcement that the "Patent" of October 6, 1637, was to be published up to 500 times made it clear that Banér was more interested in addressing the population than the soldiers, whose arrogance and lack of restraint it was supposedly intended to quell. This suspicion is confirmed by the fact that already at the beginning, immediately following the lament over the dreadful occurrences, it becomes apparent that Banér's primary concern is the maintenance of the army, even at the price of the suffering and impoverishment of the people. The securing of support for the troops was and remained his actual goal:

"Although Your Excellencies [??? singular or plural?] are of the opinion that the soldiers under your command have been deterred from their excessesÄrobbery and murder, pillage, burning, the ravishing of women and girls without regard for age or estate, the devastation of churches and houses of worship, the insulting of preachers and clergy, the desecration and destruction of the gifts of God, and other barbaric atrocitiesÄby the criminal proceedings repeatedly executed of late, most recently in Stettin on July 29, and that the captains and the officers subject to them have been encouraged to order and execute such discipline for their own good, above all to avert the wrath of God provoked through such diabolical behavior, that many regions and people may be preserved and that the army may be better supplied and not suffer need and want, just as the captains have averred, promised, and sworn to Your Excellencies [??? singular or plural?]."

To be sure, the remarks that follow once again call attention to the atrocities. But even here, it becomes clear that their prosecution is viewed only as a means of diminishing the danger that the uncontrolled and unplanned exaction of contributions poses for the stable flow of supplies to the army:

"Yet previous experience has shown that the soldiers, wherever they are, but especially in the invasion of western Pomerania, have continued their unchristian, reprehensible excesses, increasing them from day to day and now adding to them with the abominable and unprecedented torture and vexation of the poor farmers. They have so increased them and, due to the leniency of the officers, taken them to such an extreme that they have become habit, which has heretofore aroused the wrath of God to such an extent that the army has felt its effects in no small way. For this reason Your Excellencies [??? singular or plural?], out of concern for the supply of the army in your charge, have considered it necessary, for the protection of the occupied regions and the preservation of the inhabitants, but especially for the protection of the fruits and food already harvested as well as the tilled and sowed fields, to repeat your mandates again and again to the point of satiety."

Then the councilors are reminded in no uncertain terms that the rule of law among the mercenaries, despite orders of the strictest camp discipline and supervision by officers and lower officers, could be maintained only with a functioning supply system in which deliveries were made punctually and in full. Otherwise, the protection promised to the rural population and made available by the garrisons could not be guaranteed:

"Accordingly, remind and admonish the officers, and issue the command to the entire army subject to them, that they should carefully consider all that has been said. In order that the soldiers may receive their sustenance without diminution, each of the officers will keep the horsemen and squires together in his regiment, and aside from the necessary services will approve no errands. In addition, those who loiter in the streets for no good purpose and without an approved pass will be severely punished without consideration or further inquiry by their captain or regimental commander....

"In addition, the captains are to provide the farmers with appropriate and valid letters of safe-conduct, that they may not only remain with their families, but also enjoy the fruit of their labors unhindered, and thus also supply the army with its share of provisions. Accordingly, if further excesses occur, His Excellency will hold the officers accountable and punish them without mercy...."

The situation was entirely different, however, for those soldiers and officers ordered to collect contributions, even when the extent of the obligations and their methods of acquisition went far beyond the boundaries of moderation. Two cases in particular gave the councilors occasion to once again renew their appeals to the military leadership.

One such example of brazen extortion had been perpetrated on the inhabitants of the "Bublitz quarter," a requisition district in eastern Pomerania. Under a number of pretexts, the military collectors there had actually been able to exact signatures from those obligated to make contributions. At the beginning of the list of debts, the "Contribuenten und Stifts'stände" [???] are named as those liable for the maintenance of the regiment quartered in their district. Those obligated in this way, however, had been charged an excessive amount, more than they were either legally required to produce or could afford. Since their inability to pay the entire sum had elicited the wrath and capriciousness of the collectors, they had no choice but to sign the documents placed before them confirming the amount owed. In one case, they were forced to obligate themselves to pay 2,500 talers by a particular date; if they failed to meet the deadline, moreover, they were subject to "military execution" without recourse to a court of law. While this severity is not found in an otherwise parallel document concerning the delivery of 5,625 bushels of "corn or grain" at the price of a guilder a bushel, more lenient treatment in the case of delay is hardly to have been expected. Yet even these measures were not enough for the cavalry squadrons sent out to collect the contributions. To secure the payment of these immense unlawful claims, they devised an additional means of extortion, requiring two noblemen from the district to be surety for the entire contribution. The immensity of the burden placed upon the two nobles in the context of the levying of "lawful" contributions becomes apparent when we remember the plight of the manor at Semlow, cultivated by Georg Behr's cousin Christoff. At the height of the acute military activity on the Trebel from August 27 to September 16, 1637, four regiments had been quartered there, with damages totaling more than 6,027 guilders and ruining the manor as well as the villages belonging to it. Yet because the two noblemen could not afford these excessive sums and contributions, much too great for their lands, they were arrested, tortured, and incarcerated like prisoners of war or hostages, a state which was to continue until all demands had been met. The document that had been issued demanding the prompt payment of the 2,500 talers reads:

"We, the contributors [??? Contribuenten und Stifts'stände] assigned to the Bublitz Quarter, hereby certify and affirm before all that we have negotiated and resolved with cavalry captain Melchior von Filitz regarding the regiment of the Graf von Hoditz, quartered in the Bublitz estate, that we will pay him 2.500 talers. But because we were unable to pay the entire sum in such a short time, it was further arranged that we should at this time pay the lord cavalry captain as much money as we can amass. Because he has permitted us an extension until 14 days after the feast of St. Bartholomew for the remainder, we obligate ourselves by our honor, loyalty, faith, and honest words, that we will pay him the interest, as high a rate as it may be, at the appointed time. Should we fail, proceedings will be initiated against the defaulters according to military law, without respect for the rights possessed by individuals by reason of their position. Documented etc., Cößlin, July 30, 1637

Banér's response, at first quite unequivocal, censures the requisitioning of excessive contributions:

"For the time being, I do not approve of the high and excessive demands of the regiment, nor am I pleased with your action in taking captives, since the two noblemen in question can only be considered prisoners."

Nevertheless, he left the perpetrators unmolested, since he conceded the legal validity not only of the extorted promissory notes, but also of the excessive sums themselves, quite as if it were a matter of everyday IOUs of the sort common among soldiers for various obligations, considered binding when a debtor signed a note in the amount of his liability. The inappropriateness of this example as an analogy for the extorted promissory notes, however, was of little concern to Banér:

"... above all, the inhabitants of the quarter, of whom the two noblemen are not the least, should not have obligated themselves to such a high price before complaining to me, nor, in accord with this agreement, have signed a promissory note, as is the custom among soldiers; moreover, now that they have sworn to pay, they should not have defaulted and thus given the officers reason to imprison them as surety."

He did, however, release the captive noblemen, since members of allied powers were not to be treated as prisoners of war. Yet he did not free them from the liability they had been forced to assume for the contribution of the entire district. Rather, in a tone of concerned reasonableness, he explained the outrage of the imprisonment as an allegedly legitimate security equal to the total amount of the debt, a interpretation that was juridically hardly less questionable:

"Nonetheless, I will not neglect to bring the matter to an acceptable end, so that the above-named noblemen held as surety may be released."

His justification for this position becomes a lesson in martial law. He was tired, he said, of constantly dealing with the complaints of provisional governments in places where military strategy (ratio belli) and the exigencies of war (necessitas belli) made such measures necessary. Precisely because Pomerania numbered among the allies, the estates of the nobility with their dependent villages and manors should not neglect their responsibility in the cause of the war:

"To be sure, I will not conceal from the gentlemen that I am sorry, and that I in no way condone the soldiers' excesses. But it would be good, because at this time considerations of military strategy prohibit the exemption of this region - if one had taken precautions, the soldiers, as is proper and intended by me and the other army inspectors, could have been adequately disciplined, and famine would not have compelled us to exercise more leniency than one would wish, for the sake of supplying the army. The alliance was of course recommended by His most glorious and blessed Royal Majesty, resting in God, out of kingly grace, wise foresight, and love for this land; yet necessitas, which is often the occasion for changes, knows no limits, even if I wish with all my heart that the ratio belli had not repeatedly affected the Pomeranian quarters. But it has never been heard that an unpaid army could be kept confined and, as it were, reined in, as much as the gentlemen would wish it ..."

The tone becomes downright threatening when Banér accuses the councilors, themselves obligated to make contributions, of wanting to restrict the activity of the Swedish army out of selfish motives and of failing to concern themselves sufficiently with its provision. In addition, it rankled Banér that the provisional government took advantage of internal tensions between himself and Wrangel to complain about him to the latter:

"The reference made by the gentlemen to the agreements made with Field Marshall Wrangel regarding the quarters in western Pomerania is of course correct, but has nothing to do with the necessary method of procedure in eastern Pomerania, in which matter a clear distinction must be made. Naturally I must concede the validity of the complaints the gentlemen have so often made to Field Marshall Wrangel concerning the misconduct of my soldiers, though I am displeased to hear of these transactions and deplore the manner of their execution. I do not believe that the imperial troops, when they occupied this land a number of years ago, behaved much better, or that the land was better protected then than now, but rather that far greater deterioration was to be felt. God forbid that they should once again rule the land in this way. There is no doubt that the atrocities that they have continued to perpetrate to the highest degree in the vicinity and in the land of Mecklenburg would not be diminished here, but would rather increase and be enlarged. Nonetheless, I hope that the gentlemen do not desire to host them again, and herewith commend the gentlemen to divine protection.

Loitz, October 13, 1637."

Relations between Banér and the councilors, already strained in this letter, continued to deteriorate. When Wrangel, still in the same year, was recalled to Sweden - not least of all on account of the tensions with Banér - relations between Banér and the councilors had become so cool that the latter were forced to resign en masse on March 7, 1638, with no successors named. Banér, who was appointed new governor of Pomerania and commander-in-chief of the expedition army, demonstratively took up residence in the palace in Stettin. Banér had achieved his ends in full, with respect to both Wrangel and the landed nobility, who also had to consider the Pomeranian policy of Brandenburg.

In the end, the excesses of free raiding, as well as the no less oppressive methods of levying "lawful" contributions, showed themselves irremediable. To this extent Banér spoke from experience when he emphasized that even apart from the atrocities and crimes which he intended to prosecute with all the means at his disposal, "it has never been heard that an unpaid army could be kept confined and, as it were, reined in, as much as the gentlemen would wish it ..."

For both the marauding and the harsh collection of contributions derived from the same circumstance: namely, the decision of those in command that the state treasury should be burdened as little as possible, preferably not at all, by the costs of war. Rather, military expenses were to be covered largely by the land itself in which the war was waged. Gustav II Adolf and Oxenstierna had adopted this strategy, yet the same policy had also been recommended to the emperor by Wallenstein, and represented the modus operandi of all other armies as well. Funds from official sources such as the state treasury, negotiated subsidies from allies, and money borrowed from third parties covered only the smallest part of the actual costs of the war, providing initial financing at the most. The running expenses, on the other hand, were to be paid by the land where the soldiers fought and were stationed, regardless of whether it was friendly or enemy territory. As for as the comparison of the burdens placed on Pomerania under the Swedes with those exacted by the imperial troops under Wallenstein before their expulsion, Banér was justified in his statement that the Swedes, at least, did not cause more suffering than the Armada of the emperor had done. For that reason, the fate of Georg Behr was only one among many, even if he was one of the few whose suffering was documented.



II

Georg Behr's dealings with martial law, however, were not confined to mere property damage in the destruction and economic ruin of his possessions, but extended even to his own person. In 1637, shortly after his manor had been occupied by the cavalry squadron, Behr found himself in a transport under its protection which was surprised by imperial forces. The emperor's army had been informed by a spy of the crossing over the Trebel and, in a coup de main, had forced its way through in a spectacular fight, so that unanticipated swarms of imperial soldiers blocked convoys and were able to capture smaller military units. Under suspicion of espionage, Georg Behr was immediately arrested and interrogated in the imperial camp in the presence of General von Bredow. Because no charges could be brought against him, however, he was released, which in turn aroused the suspicion of the Swedes. Thus Behr, whose lands lay on the Trebel, was arrested by the Swedes and accused of showing the enemy the way over the Trebel and the Triebseer Pass. General Wrangel was not to be persuaded of his innocence, evidently because he needed a scapegoat for the heavy blow the Swedish defenders had suffered on the Trebel, for which treason was the only conceivable explanation. Accordingly, Georg Behr's short imprisonment by the imperial forces was interpreted as a feint, intended to disguise his collaboration with the enemy. His lands were considered forfeit, confiscated, and given to officers from Braunschweig-Lüneburg in the service of Sweden. But when once again no concrete evidence could be produced against Behr and his harsh imprisonment could no longer be justified, he was released on bail. From then on, he could no longer make a living under Swedish rule, and so joined the imperial dragoons in the service of Graf von Puchheim as a cavalry captain. Soon after the first skirmishes, however, he was recaptured by the Swedes and once again accused of espionage. Their suspicions seemingly confirmed by his service for the enemy, Behr was sentenced to run the gauntlet and therewith to certain death. Significantly, the execution was to take place on the site of the alleged treason, the Triebseer Pass.

And yet by a merciful twist of fate, he was saved from this demise by an entirely different side of martial law. The brief notification sent to General Banér concerning the court-martial, saying that the proceedings had been concluded and the execution was imminent, was intercepted by the imperial forces and delivered to General von Bredow. The message to Banér read:

"P. S. Otherwise nothing of consequence has occurred with the Armada, except that today Captain Erich Schlange captured Jürgen Behren and brought him into our camp. Tomorrow he will run the gauntlet here at the pass, where the imperial General Sergeant-Major Bredow came through."

What now transpired is hardly to be believed, but nonetheless bears witness to an aspect of martial law to which both sides felt equally obligated. Between friend and foe there existed in fact a common code of honor based on "Christian conscience," which was absolutely binding on both sides. For when von Bredow learned of the sure sentence of death passed on Behr, he wrote a long explanation to Wrangel and Banér in which he revealed the identity of the one who had helped him over the pass and averred that Georg Behr was not that person. Furthermore, von Bredow's letter testifies to Georg Behr's good name and identifies, in a verifiable way, an officer from Hamburg as the one who had given the help of which Behr was accused. Georg Behr, therefore, was innocent. Von Bredow writes:

"... my Christian conscience compels me to attest with a specially prepared statement that the above-named Behr neither knew of these things nor participated in them, and thus to remonstrate in good faith before the General as well as Field Marshall Banér. In view of this situation, I would also request that Behr be cleared of unfounded suspicion and permitted to enjoy the fruits of my intercession and that of others previously, that the General, well-known for his discretion, since the above-named Behr is his prisoner, cooperate with Field Marshall Banér to the end of permitting Behr to be redeemed for a tolerable ransom, that by this means the honorable and ancient custom of war not be violated nor evil consequences arise on either side. All this will redound to the honor of my lord General and will ever be remembered by us. With confidence in the equity of his decision and without praejudicio, I remain my lord General's obliging servant. Bredow, Freiherr, mppr."

The principles to which von Bredow appeals are stated openly in the letter. After a description of the matter (here omitted), which is kept as neutral as possible, von Bredow reminds his readers of the Christian conscience that has moved him to take up the cause of Georg Behr. There follow the reasons for Behr's innocence, which in the context of normal military jurisdiction would have sufficed to permit a successful "remonstration" (appeal) to Wrangel and Banér, the highest judges. Finally, von Bredow ends with a plea for a compassionate assessment of the position in which the innocent Behr finds himself for the above-named reasons, and therewith appeals to the last opportunity to reconsider the verdict even apart from a formal "remonstration." In order that von Bredow's intercession - coming as it did from the ranks of the enemy - carry the necessary weight and not be dismissed as hostile interference in a legal proceeding otherwise concluded, he appeals to Wrangel's and Banér's "discretion," in accord with which they may see fit to treat Behr as a simple prisoner of war, who according to long-standing military tradition was to be released for an equitable ransom. As he further implies, moreover, though without praejudicio, reason may dictate to the generals that if the Swedes hope for reciprocity and fairness in comparable situations in the future, they should conduct themselves accordingly.

Not only did this letter "from the other side" arrive, and just in the nick of time, it was also understood. The results show the efficacy of this appeal to the shared values of martial law and military custom, perhaps precisely because it came from the enemy, and to ignore it was to risk similar treatment should the Swedes ever find themselves in the same position. The judgment against Behr was immediately thrown out and he became a prisoner of war. But since the other side had shown such spectacular interest in him, the ransom was set so high it could no longer be paid. Here the Swedes declined to follow von Bredow's suggestion to set a moderate price ("permitting Behr to be redeemed for a tolerable ransom"). Finally, Behr was released on his word of honor, but the malicious slander of former neighbors led to renewed arrest. Only the tireless efforts of his wife and the expenditure of her own fortune effected Behr's release on security, after testimonals had been presented by aristocratic friends and even imperial officers.

Yet even the last phase of his life began with a blow of fate. In 1643, after the now largely impoverished Behr had rented some land near Neustadt in Holstein and cultivated it with some success, the Swedes discovered him while advancing to the north, drove him from his farm, and plundered all his possessions a second time. As a result, Behr no longer felt obliged to keep his word to the Swedes, and entered the service of the emperor once again as a lieutenant-colonel in the same cavalry regiment. On account of his bravery, he quickly advanced to the rank of captain and was later made commander of the fortress Brieg in the Silesian principality of the same name. Only after the general amnesty of 1648 did Behr feel in a position to pursue his own personal rehabilitation in Swedish-occupied western Pomerania, and from there to make efforts to recover his estates. When he departed Brieg for Pomerania at Easter of 1650, however, with the assurance of being able to enter imperial service once more if his claims were refused, he became seriously ill and died at the age of 59 in Rostock, shortly after arriving in Mecklenburg.

Behr's wife Hedwig, his one faithful companion in all his distress and adversity, was only partially successful in regaining his possessions. As far as the proceedings, relevant stipulations, and the valiant widow's stubborn fight for the decisive influence at the Swedish court are concerned, however, the struggle for the restoration of her husband's standing and the restitution of his lost goods no longer belongs to the domain of martial law, but rather to the legal avenues outlined in the amnesty ruling of Art. II IPO (the same in content as ? 2 IPM) of the peace of Münster and Osnabrück, provided to all whom the war had deprived of their rights.

FOOTNOTES