Czech Battleground in the 1640's

Military developments in the final decade of the Thirty Years War can be seen as a purposeful and systematic attempt by both sides for the "best peace" when viewed from a historical perspective. Certain military successes did appear to have political importance with useful diplomatic implications, but only in the short run. In reality, neither warring party had the ability to achieve a decisive victory and the war effort depended mainly on everyday routine and on where the armies managed to position themselves for battle. The opponents fought first of all for existence. "War feeds on war" - violence had come to be an accepted part of reality. As the foreign troops passed through the countryside, they occupied and plundered towns. They attempted to get what they wanted through extortion; they raided food supplies, and they confiscated crops, cattle and horses. The beleaguered citizenry also had to help sustain the domestic troops by delivering supplies and contributing goods and money. The demands of the invading forces, combined with the domestic requirements, came close to beggaring the population. The exploitation of the citizenry of the increasingly wretched Czech lands and the war of attrition on both sides were the major characteristics of the conflict in Bohemia in the first half of the 17th Century. Because military leaders were forced to accommodate thousands of troops in the field for extended periods of time, they had to improve supply logistics (an example is the creation of regional corn supply warehouses). The need to use existing buildings often resulted in a major displacement of citizens. Whole towns were decimated, and left without money to care for the wounded and sick. Also certain towns, including Cheb, Chomutov, Litom ice, Slaný, and Brandýs nad Labem, repeatedly were attacked by both sides, leaving the afflicted citizens caught in the middle. Among the few ways out for these civilians was to cross over to "the second side," and join one of the armies. Those managing to enter the lower military ranks changed roles, becoming victimizers instead of victims. Many civilians took the opportunity to switch sides when they were captured. Military leaders in both camps more or less expected this lack of allegiance in the lower ranks. Each army naturally had a stable corps of loyal and professional people.

From 1639 to 1648 the Czech lands were almost continually under siege, with relatively consistent pressure from the Swedish army which resulted in a few spectacular successes for the invading forces. The Swedes never managed to penetrate the center of the Austrian empire, although they came close when they acquired a stronghold in the Czech lands (1645 Frýdland, 1646 Most, 1647 Cheb) and especially in Moravia (1642 Olomouc, 1643 Fulnek, 1645 Uni ov, Sovinec and Jihlava). As one might expect, the proximity of the front lines to the emperor's residence greatly upset the strategists in the Catholic coalition. In spite of the general exhaustion near the end of the war, the Swedish army regularly increased its strength - at the end of 1647 its troops numbered between 50,000 and 60,000. The Swedish army also had the advantage of having a number of outstanding military leaders. The Imperial army, on the other hand, had a noticeable lack of talented commanders and thus often was forced into a defensive position. On the asset side of the ledger, however, it had virtually inexhaustible resources close at hand. When the Swedes made daring forays deep into the empire, time was on the side of the Imperial army.

The Swedish forays into the Czech lands began in 1639. While Bohemia was substantially armed, and Prague students already had founded the academic legion that was to play a major role in 1648, the Swedish army under the leadership of Gustav Banér managed to penetrate northern Bohemia along the River Labe. The Swedish army included numerous members of the aristocracy as well as Evangelical priests who were returning from exile. Initially, and for the only time in the conflict, Banér counted on the extensive support of the local populace, to whom he addressed a proclamation on April 24 promising freedom for the Evangelical religion. At the same time he tried to control looting, which was commonplace among the soldiers. The proclamation drew little response, and Banér's army returned to its customary practice of plundering by the time it reached Litom ice. On May 29 at Kostelec nad Labem near Prague, Banér defeated detachments led by Vav inec Hofkirch, a former Saxon army officer who had participated in that army's occupation of Prague in 1631. By May 30 Banér and his troops stood outside Prague. However, he lacked the strength to conquer the town, and another attempt in October of the same year likewise failed. From his camp near Brandýs n.L., the Swedish detachments made forays into the whole region along the Labe River. One-third of Bohemia was completely plundered. Even the returned emigrants, especially Zden k von Hodice, participated in pillaging the eastern part of the region. The major offensive came to a close at the beginning of 1640, when the Swedes were pushed out of the Czech lands. Banér left his headquarters in Litom ice by the end of March 1640.

In the fall of that year Banér tried to dissolve the Imperial Diet in Regensburg. He lacked the power to conquer the town, so he set up his own winter camp in Cham (Kouba), a town in the Palatinate near the Czech border. He waited there for reinforcements from regiments of the French military leader Jean Baptist Guébriant, who was operating in southern Germany. The Imperial army thus had time to prepare for the new threat. On March 17 the emperor's forces attacked Banér just outside Cham near Neunburg. In the ensuing battle, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm celebrated one of the few victories of his military career. Banér's army, with fewer troops and weakened by battle casualties, was forced to retreat by the shortest route through Czech territory to Saxony, with the emperor's cavalry regiments in close pursuit. On March 27 the Swedish army withdrew from Kada to the mountains, in the direction of the village of P íse nice, where heavy fighting continued until midnight. The rear of Banér's numerically weakened army was protected by a heavily forested area to the northwest of the village. At that point Banér used wagons as barricades. He placed behind the wagons cannons aimed at the emperor's troops. Using the cannons as cover, the Swedish forces retreated to Annaberk. Although the Swedish infantry, with its protective artillery, had an edge over the emperor's heavy cavalry in the treacherous snow-covered and marshy terrain, the emperor's forces had the upper hand because of their numerical superiority. Banér lost perhaps 4,000 men - almost one-third of the troops remaining to him following Neunburg - but he nevertheless managed to avoid total defeat. Shortly after this battle Banér died in a camp at Halberstadt.

The skirmish at P íse nický pass was not important in itself, but it marked the beginning of an onerous border conflict. Even during periods when Bohemia faced no direct threat of attack from the main Swedish forces, detachments operating out of Saxony pushed through passes to the region near Krušné hory (Ore Mountains), exacting contributions, threatening extortion and making off with cattle and horses. Efforts to protect mountain passes failed. The P íse nický pass along the old route from Saxon Annaberk to the Oh e valley proved of strategic importance several times during the 1640's.

On May 31, 1642, Swedish General Lennart Torstenson gained a significant victory near widnica in Silesia. Shortly afterwards he invaded eastern Bohemia and also Moravia, where panic ensued. The more affluent burghers of Olomouc and other northern Moravian towns fled toward Brno and Vienna. State records and the Moravian Tribunal were transferred to Znojmo, because even Brno no longer was considered safe. Following a four-day siege, Colonel Antonio Miniati, the Olomouc commander, surrendered to the Swedes under the condition that his troops be released. His actions brought him a conviction of high treason two years later. The Swedes acquired and held until the end of the war an extremely important fortress in the Czech lands. They had strong support from the Moravian region of Valašsko (Wallachia) during the first Moravian campaign and in a second initiative the following year. After the Swedes departed, the region was punished severely for backing the invading enemy.

The first half of 1643 in Bohemia and the second half of that year in Moravia saw new destructive incursions by the Swedish army, although no battle was fought during that period. General Gallas, who only halfheartedly pursued Torstenson, lost his position of command as a result of his indecisiveness.

After a year's respite from fighting, there began in December 1644 - coincidentally occurring simultaneously with the opening of peace talks in Westfalia - what in many ways was the most dramatic year in the closing phase of the war in Bohemia. After reconquering the P íse nický pass, Torstenson's troops proceeded through Plze (Pilsen) and southwestern Bohemia, as though in the direction of Moravia and Vienna. However, on March 6, 1645, just south of Prague at Jankov, Imperial troops, under the command of Melchior Hatzfeld, blocked their way. Hatzfeld had two advantages: the choice of his own battlefield and numerical superiority. However, Torstenson made optimal use of the broken terrain, surprising his opponents with a bombardment of light cannon, which had been stationed on high ground at the southern edge of the town. Luck was with him in part because his opponent, having consolidated his forces in a successful phase of the conflict, focused more on plundering the Swedish supply wagons than on doing battle. Torstenson recouped his losses and emerged the winner in the bloodiest conflict of the Thirty Years War in Bohemian territory. In the battle, the Imperial forces counted 4,000 dead and another 2,000 captured and the Swedish casualties were scarcely lower. The battle had significant political consequences, weakening the emperor's position at the Westfalian negotiations, not only with the Swedish and French factions, but with the Imperial estates. After the battle of Jankov, the Swedes launched an offensive in Moravia and in Lower Austria, where for the first and last time they stood at the gates of Vienna (in Brigittenau). The empire was saved partly because the Swedes had supply problems, but even more importantly because the invaders failed in the siege of Brno, which lasted from May 3 to August 23, 1645. The successful defense of the town tested cooperation between the military and the burgher and student militias, foreshadowing the similar joining of forces that routed the enemy in Prague three years later. The Swedish commander was forced to accept a peace settlement at Linz in August 1645 and to retreat to Silesia. However, the number of Swedish garrisons in Moravia increased.

After ill health forced Torstenson to step down from his command, Carl Gustaf Wrangel took command of the entire Swedish army. In January 1646, he launched a new offensive in the empire's territory, seizing a chateau in the town of Most. Although the emperor's army under Leopold Wilhelm forced the Swedes back through P íse nický pass into Saxony, the Imperial forces failed to recapture the castle at Most. The Swedish General of the Artillery, Axel Lillie, even gained from Queen Kristina a deed of covenant for certain estates near Krušné hory, and although his legal authority was illusory, he now and then was able to use the threat of armed intervention to extract monies from the holdings. Such curiosities were among the realities of the war.

Commencing early in 1647, Swedish detachments again harassed northern and eastern Bohemia, although once Calvinist Petr Melander of Holzapfel took command of the emperor's army in April, he succeeded in pushing through certain reforms. However, that same year Wrangel's forces, strengthened in part through a truce with Bavaria, on July 17 conquered Cheb after heavy bombardment. The Swedish commander held the key to the Czech kingdom in his hand. The Swedes gained rich booty in arms and provisions, and they managed to persuade many of the conquered citizens to return to the Lutheran faith. Following the failure of a 12-day siege in Cheb, in which the sovereign himself participated, the Imperial army retreated to Pilsen, with enemy troops in pursuit. The Imperial faction decidedly had the winning edge in an August 21 skirmish near T ebel, in the vicinity of Planá. Wrangel avoided a second battle near Teplá and departed Bohemia, although he left behind a garrison in Cheb. The not-too-impressive victory of the Imperial troops was of diplomatic signficance, putting the emperor in position to sign a new alliance with Bavaria.

The last year of the war started unhappily for the Catholic coalition. Near Zusmarshausen on May 17 the French brought a major defeat to the Imperial-Bavarian troops. Shortly thereafter, Hans Christoph Königsmark separated from the Swedish army and occupied strategic positions in the Upper Palatinate. Top-secret preparations for a blitz attack on Prague were under way. After a few preliminary sallies into western Bohemia, Königsmark on July 24 occupied the town of Rakovník and left behind all his troops' heavy armaments. Prague was only a day's march away.



Attack on Prague, Occupation of the Town of Hrad any and Lesser Town (Malá Strana)

In Innsbruck on July 25 the emperor celebrated his marriage to Maria Leopoldine von Tyrol. Festivities also took place in Prague, with fireworks lasting until around midnight. At 2:30 the next morning, when the town was asleep, some 100 cavalrymen led by Arnošt Ottovalský, a former lieutenant colonel for the emperor who was now in the Swedish service, approached the fortifications. They managed to penetrate the town of Hrad any at a section of the wall behind the Capuchin monastery, which Ottovalský earlier had deemed to be vulnerable by dint of construction work on the site. The soldiers hurried to Strahovská gate, where they slaughtered the guards and opened the gate, allowing Königsmark and the other Swedish forces easy access to the town. By morning Königsmark had occupied the town of Hrad any and Prague Castle, together with Lesser Town, including strategic sites near the town wall, at the gates and at the river, most importantly at Mostecká tower, with its surrounding buildings. The residents of Staré M sto (Old Town) were spared from attack but only because of the numerical weakness of the Swedish forces - Königsmark had only 2,500 men. The shooting had awakened the citizens, and they also were alerted by the standard bearer of Wallenstein's regiment, who in spite of being injured had succeeded in running across the bridge. The leading Imperial general, Rudolf Colloredo, also escaped the Swedes, crossing the Vltava River in a small boat even though the docks were guarded.

The Old Town mayor and constable, Mikuláš Turek von Rozentál, rang the bells and called the armed burghers' militia to the town square. The constable of Nové M sto (New Town), the emperor's magistrate, Václav Augustin Kavka, took similar action. Before daybreak, students had gathered in the Karolinum and revived the legion, which had been set up in 1639. By 7 a.m. the defenders had taken over the Old Town tower. They also had barred the bridge and put up a wooden structure as a blockade. Old Town was prepared to defend itself.

Meanwhile, in Lesser Town, Königsmark allowed his soldiers three days of plundering, which especially in the first hours did not pass without violence. Anyone caught on the street or carelessly looking out of a window faced the gravest danger. The total casualties were estimated at between 100 and 200. The town, which previously had been considered completely safe, yielded the Swedes vast booty (see below). The invaders also captured more than 200 important people - mostly aristocrats, high ecclesiastics and bureaucrats - from whom it was possible to obtain ransom, the most prominent of them being Prague Archbishop Arnošt, count of Harrach. The homes of these hostages were thoroughly plundered, as were the homes of metropolitan canons, and monasteries, particularly Strahov. The owners of property in which the troops had been allotted quarters also were not spared. The local riffraff and some servants probably also participated in the looting. Among the valuable items plundered were wagons for hauling off the booty and weapons from the arsenal of Prague Castle.

Colloredo meanwhile had organized the burghers' militia and student detachments and had occupied a small (later known as St elecký) island in the Vltava. He also had taken steps to safeguard the gates of New Town, because another Swedish contingent, led by General Wittenberg, was approaching Prague from Pod brady. However, General Puchheim of the Imperial army, got to Prague ahead of the Swedish reinforcements, arriving July 30, with an additional 3,500 men, badly needed to strengthen the town garrison.

Wittenberg was not far behind, with between 3,000 and 6,000 troops. On the morning of August 3, following some preliminary artillery fire, he tried but failed to penetrate the town's defenses. He and 1,000 men then crossed the Vltava near Zbraslav, strengthening the forces of Königsmark, who meanwhile directed a heavy assault against Old Town. From a site at the bridge where he had built a brick wall for protection, his forces bombarded the Old Town shoreline. Wittenberg, however, decided to pull out of Prague to await the arrival of the main army led by Count Palatinate Karl Gustav. He also wanted to make it possible for his troops to gather booty in the countryside. The plundering, centered in the area just to the south of Prague, continued until mid-August. Then Wittenberg pulled out of his camp at Zbraslav heading toward Konopišt and on to Tábor, which he captured on August 23.

The relative ease with which the Swedish forces gained a stronghold on the left bank of Prague is due partly to the element of surprise and to the condition of the fortifications, which had been under repair since 1639, but with the work still far from completion. One also must give Königsmark credit for carefully preparing his assault, for perfectly concealing his intentions, and for acting swiftly. Ottovalský's services were necessary to the military strategy. He had a first-hand knowledge of Prague, where he had lived for almost six months while seeking compensation for losses suffered by the Swedes during their 1647 occupation of Cheb. The action not only serves as a noteworthy example of a "Nacht und Nebelaktion," it is interesting also because of its blatantly predatory character, which resulted from Königsmark's decision to launch an action independently of the other elements of the Swedish army. Earlier correspondence between Königsmark and Wrangel shows that the assault on Prague had been in the planning stage for some time, suggesting that it probably was intended as a tactic to divert attention from Wittenberg's preparations for a campaign in Upper Austria that eventually could have reached all the way to Vienna. After Königmark's success the Swedish leadership fully concentrated its attention on Prague. By the end of July, fresh Swedish troops, under the leadership of Karl Gustav, were headed for the Bohemian capital.



Waiting

By August 30 Wittenberg was again outside Prague. In the meantime, though, the citizens and troops had made good use of a month's lull in the hostilities to prepare for a long siege. Police Chief Conti had overseen the work on the fortifications, with the help of Prague carpenters, millers, and mill builders, strengthening particularly the section of wall between Ko ská and Horská gates. Supplies also had been brought to the town. The postal connection with Vienna (Víde ) had been renewed at the end of August. The most important development, however, was the full mobilization of the citizens of Old Town and New Town. A total of eight military companies, with inhabitants from the various quarters of the two towns, had been formed. They were to play a key role in the day-to-day defense. Between 1642 and 1645 there arrived an additional six battalions of artisans and three companies that included tenants, farm laborers and farm managers. By August 1648 four more battalions were on the scene, with bureaucrats and those in the service of the monarchy joining the ranks. One detachment came from the nobility's private staffs. Prague Jews provided permanent fire sentries and guards at the gates. If we add a cavalry squadron from the nobility, three volunteer columns of clergy (especially monks and friars) and a student "free company," we find that virtually all segments of the Prague population took part in their own defense.

Wittenberg found no immediate reason to remain in position outside heavily fortified Prague, since he still awaited the arrival of the troops of Karl Gustav. Around mid-September Wittenberg again left for southern Bohemia, avoiding the well-equipped opposing forces stationed at Bud jovice. and proceeding to Krumlov, which he conquered September 21. From that location he sent out open letters to peasants in Upper Austria in the hope of inducing them to insurrection. He also recruited additional men for his army throughout southern Bohemia, but his efforts met with only limited success. Meanwhile, Zikmund Myslík von Hiršov left Bud jovice and came up behind Wittenberg's army, while General Puchheim came in the other direction from Prague. Wittenberg and Puchheim met at Hluboká on September 24, where Wittenberg staged a surprise attack and captured his opponent. He immediately took Puchheim to Prague and turned him over to Königsmark. A week later on October 4, 1648, Count Palatinate Karl Gustav, who held the top command post in the Swedish army, arrived at Bílá hora (White Mountain) near Prague. The Swedish army was now united, and with troop strength the likes of which Prague had not yet seen.



The Most Difficult Month

The Swedish detachments took up positions around the New Town fortifications, but it quickly became apparent that the main attack would come from the east and southeast, where the adjoining slopes and vineyards offered a certain protective cover from which to open fire. The Swedes also continued to threaten Old Town, aiming in that direction from the river banks in Lesser Town, from the islands, and even from the bridge, where they had set up movable barricades. The first attack occurred between October 11 and 13, with the Swedes relying mainly on heavy cannonades, which badly damaged parts of the fortifications. The defenders fought back by firing small weapons, and by throwing grenades, torches and stones.

The worst battle took place at Horská gate, where the defenders set off an explosion under a tower, causing many deaths among the attacking Swedes. Prague inhabitants also sustained heavy casualties. Over 180 soldiers and burghers were killed, the most prominent of whom was Václav Obytecký von Obytec, from the squadron of nobles. He was ceremoniously buried in the Temple of Týn and has taken his place among the pantheon of legendary heroes. On October 14 the opponents met for negotiations. The Prague leaders offered so-called neutrality for the Swedes on the left bank of the river and for the Imperial troops on the other side, supposedly creating a balance of power between the forces. They also asked for the removal of excess troops from Prague, an arrangement that was to be secured by hostages from both camps. With this, of course, Karl Gustav emphatically disagreed. He counted on his opponent's capitulation, and was willing only to discuss conditions for the other side's surrender.

While negotiations continued the Swedes occupied themselves with digging in the no-man's land near the fortifications, creating underground corridors and trenches that extended to the wall, and planting mines beneath the earthenwork. The defenders again built wooden barriers, dug foxholes behind the wall, built traps that were camouflaged with straw, and prepared straw and pitch for burning. The Swedes launched a new attack on the night of Oct. 25, heading again for Horská gate and its nearby granary. A student company fought valiantly alongside the army during the attack. Although some 800 Swedish forces were killed or wounded, the fighting continued a second day and the granary was destroyed. The site behind the Sv. Jind ich (St. Henry) church where the Swedes broke through the fortifications became the most vulnerable spot in the Prague defense. A series of attacks culminated on October 30 with Count Palatinate again urging Prague to surrender. At Colloredo's suggestion, however, towncriers responded to the Swedish proposal by saying their leader was not in the town, but had gone to meet the emperor's troops who were approaching Prague. The Swedes gradually retreated. Sporadic attacks originating in Lesser Town and aimed at Old and New Towns continued until November 8, but basically the fighting was finished.



Peace

So ended the third heavy offensive against the Prague towns. Like the earlier assaults, it had taken place after the signing of the Westfalian treaty. News that peace had been declared reached both sides several days before the fighting ended, but the Swedes only stopped the siege when reinforcements of the Imperial army neared the town. The temptation to take booty remained until the end. Once the Swedes decided to depart, they acted quickly, completing the infantry pullout by November 3. Prague inhabitants finally could go outside the walls, where they collected memorabilia and filled in the trenches. The Imperial reinforcements, so long expected and now of so little use, arrived in Prague the following day.

A definitive truce finally was arranged on November 29 by plenipotentiaries from both sides. The negotiators met in a wooden barrack, constructed on the bridge between the barricades. According to Pufendorf, the Swedish forces had lost around 500 soldiers and had suffered some 700 injuries. Considering the source, this estimate is likely a minimum ( Prague sources claimed their opponents's losses were in the thousands). On the other side, Prague citizens and the emperor's garrison documented 219 deaths and 475 wounded. The Swedish garrison stayed in Prague until the conditions of the peace agreement were fulfilled. Königsmark left the town on Christmas Eve in 1648, but Karel Gustav, as well as Wittenberg, again celebrated Christmas at Prague Castle. The last Swedish soldiers departed Prague on September 30, 1649. They finished the pullout from garrisons in other areas of Bohemia and in Moravia only in July 1650.

The successful defense of Prague can be attributed in good part to the volunteers, who compensated for their general lack of training and military experience with a strong fighting spirit. The Swedes' battle tactics also aided the other side. Their offensives lasted only between two and five days, and they never launched full-fledged attacks at several locations simultaneously. Also, in the crucial period in August and September, the defenders had ample time to stock up and to prepare for the war, since Wittenberg was not in Prague. Still, even in the first weeks in October, the Swedish leadership, aiming to influence the Westfalian negotiations, struggled for a last-minute success. It was not to come. By the end of October, they occupied themselves with the quest for booty, but declining morale, bad weather and a lack of infantry prevented them from enjoying even that.



Prague Booty

The plunder of Lesser Town and the town of Hrad any commenced immediately after the assault began on the left bank. We can hardly give a full accounting of the enormous amounts of money, jewelry, and art objects that were stolen from private homes and palaces. We are on firmer ground with the religious institutions, which recorded their losses more accurately. We have the most definitive knowledge of the fate of collections in Strahov monastery. The Finnish regiment that had camped in the monastery during the conflict "took care" of most of the valuable religious objects, transferring also the monastery library to Åbo. The biggest sensation, which caused the members of the premonstrata much hardship, followed the revelation that the "treasure" of Count Jind ich Šlik was hidden in the monastery. The riches were discovered five weeks after the occupation, on the basis of an intercepted letter from Šlik himself. The value of the cache was estimated at somewhere between 70,000 and 500,000 Imperial thaler. Not only people but also relics were used for extortion, as can be seen in the case of the relics of St. Norbert, which had been in the monastery church. The Swedes spread rumors that the saint's remains had been removed to Saxony, and asked the monastery for a high ransom. It turned out that St. Norbert's relics had been hidden in Prague during the entire period.

The greatest attention centered on the Kunstkammer and the Picture Gallery, which the Swedes had seized after occupying Prague Castle and arresting Francesco Miseroni, the custodian of the collection. Information on this is found at a different place in this catalog (E. Fu íková). Of no less consequence, however, were the losses from the libraries, which the Swedish army seized under the direct orders of the queen, who wanted the materials not only for her personal collection, but more particularly for the newly-constructed libraries of the Uppsala Academy and for high schools in Strängnäs, Västerls and Linköping. The most important booty came from the Ro_mberská document collections. The Codex argenteus, Ulfil's Gothic translation of the Bible, also wound up in the Swede's hands. In addition, the archbishop's library of the Metropolitan Capital sustained losses, including the Codex gigas. Several Olomouc libraries, including that of the university, were sacked in their entirety, as was the most significant collection of religious documents in Moravia, located in the library of Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein of Mikulov.

The actual removal of the booty was no small logistical matter, even though the Swedes had assured the safety of the Labe River route through their September 16, 1648, conquest of D ín. However, the loading of the booty and its transport to northern Germany had to wait for peacetime. Most of the stolen objects were removed in 1649, although not all the items arrived in Stockholm. Ordinary soldiers made off with many things, as is suggested in a note penned by burger Jan Fridrich Šermer of Litom ice nad Labem, in a book he said he had bought "from a quite ragged Swede in the year 1649, when the Swedes took the lion by boat from Prague along the Labe." (Königsmark had seized the lion and ordered it brought to Sweden as a living heraldic symbol of the Czech kingdom, probably causing a huge sensation). Other, much more valuable booty, was seized by certain diplomats of Queen Kristina, including Alexander Erskein, and by military leaders such as Carl Gustaf Wrangel.

The history of the attempts to have the seized treasures returned to Bohemia is a story in itself. The Austrian ambassador who served in Stockholm from 1684 to 1689 bought 133 documents of Czech origin, which he then donated to the Estates (Stavovský) archive. The returned materials are proof that the Swedes looted the archives. Modern systematic research of Swedish library collections began with Josef Dobrovský in 1792 and continues today. In addition to the scientific research there also arose imaginative depictions that closely tied the Swedish booty to myths of the Rudolfinian era as a golden age.



Burgers and Students or Civilians against Soldiers

A key element in the battle over Prague - as earlier in the successful defense of Brno - is the high percentage of nonprofessional defenders. These detachments, created for self-defense, arose in the last phase of the Thirty Years War in part through the extension of civilian militias and in part through the arming of Prague inhabitants who had no military tradition: students, clerics, and non-property owners. The Jews also played a special military role. The non-military groups who made possible the defense of Prague acted partly because the numerical weakness of the military garrison necessitated it, and partly because they distrusted the professional soldiers in the wake of the easy conquest of the left bank of Prague by the Swedes. It is certain that these hastily armed "non-professional" groups played an essential role, even though records suggest that they may have exaggerated their achievements, hoping for immediate advantages and rewards or aiming to build the tradition of the church during the Counterreformation (Jesuit legends). Undoubtedly they also wished to encourage the continued tradition of student and guild participation in the militia.

Though perhaps exaggerated, the legends of military success were based on real achievements of the defenders. They included, for example, the confiscation of Swedish cattle from pastures near Holešovice in September, before the beginning of a new phase in the fighting; a student company's successful defense against a Swedish attack at the Horská gate, and the successful defense of the tower at the bridge in Old Town during a lengthy siege. Oral tradition expanded on the basic reality, through living legends, such as those depicted in Denopis, a diary from 1685 written by Jan Norbert Zato il von Löwenburk, chancellor of Old Town Prague, who also was a musketeer of a student company during the Swedish siege. His diary includes a description of the liquidation of a dangerous Swedish sharpshooter, who was actually a gamekeeper at the Konopišt estate. Also he wrote of the miraculous bravery of the deputy leader of the student company, Father Ji í Plachý. The diarist records that the Swedes believed that Plachý had handed students a small paper to eat, which gave them the quality of "steadfastness." Another story tells of Konigsmark's rage when he learned that his opponents in Prague had only one box of gunpowder left just before the truce was to have been signed.

The citizens of Prague who had defended the city helped keep such legends alive. They knew that even though the ancillary companies were subordinate to the military command, these companies more often than not had to depend on their own initiative. The town could not have been defended without the help of the volunteers. The Prague inhabitants gladly accepted the new "post-Westfalian order" in Central Europe.



Rewards to the Winners

As soon as the fighting ended, participants filed petitions specifying their achievements and listing their losses. Once the rewards and privileges were granted, they then were considered as evidence of merit. What were the rewards? If we look at the "privilegium" for Old Town inhabitants, issued by Ferdinand III on April 20, 1649, in Bratislava, we find that an exquisite miniature featuring an improved heraldic shield had been created for the town (an armed hand with a drawn sword had been added to the gate on the existing insignia; from two new helmets grew a dozen banners of the companies that defended Prague; on the middle helmet with the emperor's crown was placed a black eagle with a gold crown and with the emperor's initials on the breast), surrounded by figures of Emperor Ferdinand III, the Goddess of Victory and other allegorical figures. In the lower part of the miniature we find a battle scene showing the defense of Horská gate and two small angels with military characteristics. For New Town inhabitants a similar "privilegium" was issued on May 3, 1649, but that miniature was never completed.

The improved and enlarged heraldic shields were not the only "privilegia" granted to residents of Old Town and New Town in Prague. Representatives of both towns also received special dispensations. Council members, scriveners and royal magistrates were elevated to the nobility and named as knights (it was not a matter of course - many burghers already held titles but few had been knighted). Those so honored received the title "slovutný," or "ehrenfest." The names of those who were elevated, as well as the names of aldermen and all leaders of burgher militias - sheriffs, lieutenants, standard bearers of the various companies were mentioned by name in the Majesty's Letter. So those who participated in the defense of Prague became part of a new elite, whose activities could be seen in both towns for several generations. Nobody had to remind the inhabitants of these towns of their participation in the "abominable rebellion" of 1618 to 1620. The two towns received a special seat in the national Assembly with a rank just below the "knight" class that gave them a status above other Bohemian towns. However, the significance of this measure was practically null in the Czech political situation in the second half of the 17th Century, as was the regulation prohibiting members of the nobility from buying burghers' houses and conducting trade in them.

No less interesting were the privileges of the students. The Charles Academy received a payment of 600 Imperial Tolars from Imperial funds for use in curing the sick and wounded. The whole company got 5,000 Rhenish Gulden, amounting to three month's salary. All freeborn students were elevated to the nobility, while non-freeborn students were protected from their masters, at least until the next Imperial Diet could rule on their release. Professors were now free to purchase country estates. They also gained certain tax and custom privileges, indicating their elevation to a higher social class. However, a new era for the Prague university began only with the issue of the so-called "Union Decree" of Ferdinand III in 1654, uniting the four faculties to create Charles-Ferdinand University.



Rescuers and Heroes: Propaganda and Tradition

The battle of the Jesuit students became a solid part of university tradition, cited whenever university privileges and freedoms were up for consideration. The tradition of student involvement in the Thirty Years War came to the forefront particularly during the celebration of the university Jubilee in 1848, and students' fight at the barricades that year can be seen as a reconfirmation of the courage of the student legions. The traditions of the Counterreformation paradoxically were revived in the fight for liberal ideals and freedom. A monument to Prague students created at that time by Josef Max, and entitled "Prague or also Swedish Student," was only unveiled in 1863 in the courtyard of the Klementinum. The delay resulted form the reactionary convulsion that followed the 1848 revolution.

Prague Jews also had their traditions of the siege of 1648. War in Piece (Milchama-be-Šalom) by Jehuda Leb ben Jošua, written between 1650 and 1654, recounts the Jewish role in that year's events. The book naturally focuses on what happened in the Jewish quarter, but it also records instances of Jewish involvement in other parts of the town, mainly in the repair of the fortifications and earthenworks and in firefighting. The Jews also contributed greatly to the war effort by supplying armaments and equipment. The end of the book describes a festive procession in July 1652, in which Jews marched carrying two banners donated by previous kings and holding the Torah under a canopy. Their attempts to call attention to their contributions undoubtedly were intended partly as self-defensive measures.

Victory over the Swedes became a central chapter in the new heroic history of Prague. The principles were spelled out in an anonymous work, Praga caput regni, studiis asperrima belli 1649, which took its tone from the Counterreformation and had the aim of "converting" Prague inhabitants who so bravely had defended their town. This new "interpretation" of Prague was symbolized by the Mariánský column, placed in Old Town Square in gratitude for the successful defense of the town (similar to a column in Munich). The column, completed September 30, 1650, by sculptor Jan Ji í Bendl, has four groups of angels struggling with evil powers in the corners of a pedestal, and a gilt statue of the Virgin Mary on the top. It was unveiled in the presence of the emperor at a July 13, 1652, ceremony. Various ways were found to keep alive the memory of the events in Prague. Students from the Klementinum along with the City Council organized regular processions to the column on Marian holidays (days celebrating the Conception, the Birth, and Assumption of Christ).

The magistrate of New Town, along with other town officials and the leaders of the craftmen's guilds, organized memorial masses in the church of St. Henry, which had been heavily bombarded in October 1648 by the Swedes. The Chapel of St. Barbora had special significance. Built in 1673, it was dedicated to the woman reputed in legend to have saved the church from destruction by catching a falling grenade. A wooden sphere in the vault commemorates the event. On the high altar of the church a painting of St. Jind ich, ordered on the 50th anniversary of the siege from the painter Jan Ji í Heinsch, commemorates his role as savior of the town from the Swedes. The painting shows the burning town in the background, with St. Henry covering the church with his hand. Additionally, a painting from 1658 in the Emaus-church memorializes the Prague siege, portraying St. Wenceslas as a saviour of Prague against the invaders.

In Lesser Town the conflict was consecrated in the church of the Virgin Mary under the Chain (Panna Marie pod et zem), of the Order of St. John. Rudolf Colloredo-Wallsee, the military leader of Prague who also was Prior of the Knights of St. John, is buried in the church. A tombstone of Carrara marble, featuring a sculpture of the Prior, was created in 1848 by Emanuel Max .

The Jesuits were particularly active in sustaining the traditions of 1648. In their Old Town church of St. Salvátor in the chapel of Franz Xaverský, a wooden crucifix from Charles Bridge, its feet blasted off during the Swedish bombardment, was an object of veneration. Singled out for particular attention were the members of the religious order who participated in the war, particularly Ji í Plachý, whose gloves the Jesuit students carried like relics during processions to Mariánský column.

Ji í Plachý, the son of Pilsen's town scribe Šimon Plachý of T ebnice, had not led the student legion. Don Juan Arriaga was officially in charge, and the younger Plachý was only his adjutant. Attorney Jan Kauffer, the captain of the legion, had been the actual leader. According to tradition, however, Plachý had talked with members of the legion in the courtyard of Klementinum immediately after the July 26 Swedish invasion. The "tall Father" had a reputation for always being there when the students needed encouragement. The Swedish opponents also contributed to the legend, as was shown earlier. Bohuslav Balbín's elegy on Plachý's portrait, preserved in the Klementinum refectory, includes these lines:"This man, who towered above others, with a height exceeding three ell, called to arms the academic volunteers, and routed the escaping enemies. (...) the Swedes claimed that no one else scared them as much as this black pope." The portrait, preserved in Kutná hora where Plachý died, shows him holding a lance with a banner in his right hand, and motioning with his left hand toward Prague in the background. The inscription says: "...Armed Pallas put a spear into a hand accustomed to the pen, when she ordered him to become a leader of the student cohort against Swedish detachments. Ferdinand III hung on his stalwart chest a golden coin."

The Plachý story is at the heart of the legends of 1648. In Bohemia in the first half of the 19th Century no fewer than four theatrical productions portrayed the defense of Prague as a conflict between active patriotism (often represented by Plachý) and betrayal (represented by Ottovalský). During that period the students put a strong liberal interpretation on the events of 1648. The mood changed in the second half of the century, when accounts of the defense against the Swedes mainly took the form of colorful tales, passed down by authors of "the mysteries of Prague", including Josef Svátek. Or events were depicted in crudely crafted art work with appeal for unsophisticated audiences (for example, the diorama of the Brothers Liebscher shown in Prague's "Jubilee Exhibition" in 1891). Serious literature as well as press accounts avoided political interpretations of the events of 1648. The Marianský column ultimately became a symbol of national subjugation and as time passed many people questioned whether Prague inhabitants really acted wisely when they saved Prague "for the Habsburgs."