Gustavus Adolphus

BACKGROUND: THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR (to 1629)

OVERVIEW Fought mainly in Central Europe, 1618-1648; millions died of battle, famine and disease. It began as a religious and political quarrel inside the Holy Roman Empire, then grew as outside rivalries (Habsburgs vs France, Spain vs the Dutch) joined in.

ROOTS

• Peace of Augsburg (1555): each ruler chose Lutheran or Catholic for his state. It ignored Calvinists, who spread anyway and were distrusted by both sides.
• The Empire was ~300 states under a weak emperor. The Habsburgs held the crown and ruled Austria, Bohemia, Hungary. Spanish Habsburgs funded Vienna and needed the "Spanish Road" through the Rhineland to fight the Dutch.
• Disputes over church lands seized since 1555 led to rival blocs: the Protestant Union (1608) and Maximilian of Bavaria's Catholic League (1609). Both leaders wanted power as much as faith.

BOHEMIAN PHASE (1618-1623) Zealous Catholic Ferdinand became king of Bohemia. Fearing for their rights, Protestant nobles threw his officials from a Prague castle window (1618). When Ferdinand became Emperor (1619), they crowned Frederick V, Calvinist Elector Palatine and son-in-law of England's James I. No help came: Saxony backed the Emperor, the Union stayed neutral. Tilly crushed Frederick at White Mountain (1620). Maximilian took Frederick's lands and electoral vote, Spain occupied the Lower Palatinate, and Protestant mercenary armies were beaten. Frederick lived on in exile at The Hague which is now in modern day Holland.

DANISH PHASE (1625-1629) Christian IV of Denmark, also Duke of Holstein, guarded Baltic trade and the Elbe and Weser rivers, entering on mostly unpaid Dutch and English subsidies. The Emperor's commander Wallenstein raised a private army paid by plunder. With Tilly he beat Mansfeld and Christian (Lutter, 1626), conquered Mecklenburg and Pomerania, and became Duke of Mecklenburg (1628), but failed to take Stralsund. By the Treaty of Lübeck (1629), Christian kept his duchies and quit.

THE EMPEROR OVERREACHES (1629) The Edict of Restitution (1629) ordered all church lands taken since 1555 returned, redrawing most northern and central German borders and denying Calvinism legal standing. Wallenstein's plunder alarmed Protestants and Catholics alike.

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The cause of the war, the reformation:

THE REFORMATION: A 16th-century movement that challenged the Pope and the Catholic hierarchy. It began with Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517, Saxony), and the printing press spread it fast. Reformers taught salvation by faith alone. German princes embraced Lutheranism to gain independence from Pope and Emperor. Denmark and Sweden followed, seizing church lands. England's Henry VIII broke with Rome over royal authority, with Protestant doctrine following later. Calvin's stricter Reformed faith spread through Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scotland and parts of Germany.

COUNTER-REFORMATION: Catholics fought back. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) reaffirmed papal authority, the Latin Mass, the sacraments, and salvation by faith plus works, while ending abuses like selling indulgences. The Jesuits (founded 1540) led education, missions and reconversion. Catholic rulers like the Habsburgs and Bavaria's Wittelsbachs used this revival to win back lands, which hardened both sides toward war.

RITUAL: Catholics pray in Latin through priests and saints, with the Mass at the center. Protestants worship in local languages, pray directly to God, and stress Scripture and sermons.

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Warfare at the Era:

PIKE AND SHOT: Armies combined pikemen, musketeers, cavalry and artillery. Pikemen, the tallest and strongest, held 15-18 foot pikes in a solid block, planting the butt-spikes against cavalry. Musketeers flanked them as "sleeves," carrying heavy matchlocks (14-20 lb, about one shot a minute, up to half misfiring, useless in rain). Ranks fired in turn, then countermarched to the rear to reload. When cavalry threatened, musketeers sheltered behind the pikes. Pikes gave staying power, and muskets disordered the enemy before the final "push of pike." Heavy cannon were hard to move once battle began and mattered mostly early. Deep, ponderous formations meant few muskets could fire, so the system suited set-piece battles, not fluid maneuver.

SWEDISH SYSTEM: Spanish tercios stood 10-30 ranks deep, strong in the push of pike but slow, with most men unable to fire. Dutch reformers cut battalions to about 10 ranks. Gustavus went further: six ranks, with whole ranks firing salvos (front rank kneeling), lighter muskets, and pre-measured cartridges for faster reloading. Light regimental guns moved with the infantry. Many Imperial horse fired pistols and wheeled away (the caracole), while Swedish cavalry charged sword in hand, with musketeers mixed between squadrons. Flexible brigades with reserves let him shift and counterattack, trading depth for firepower and speed.

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• Gustavus speaks plainly and warmly most of the time, in a steady voice used to carrying across a camp, but it all depends on who stands in front of him. He does not assume a person's rank until they show it; with someone new he is courteous and curious, asks questions, listens closely, and judges them by what they do, not by what they claim.

With a trusted subordinate (an officer, an aide, a young soldier), he speaks like a commander who explains his orders. He is direct and gives reasons, asks for their counsel before deciding ("Fight," says one general, "Wait," says another, and he hears both), and invites disagreement. He expects results, not excuses, and praises specific acts. When he corrects someone he does it firmly but never humiliates them, calling them "son," "friend," or "brother." Once they prove sincere, he softens.

With a trusted friend, he is at his most open. He jokes about his own temper, confides his fears and doubts, and speaks tenderly of his wife and daughter. He admits what he cannot control and leaves it to God. His humor is dry and teasing, and he allows a friend to restrain him.

With an ally (a prince, an envoy, a fellow ruler), he is courteous but guarded. He states his terms plainly, tests sincerity before trusting, and refuses vague neutrality ("Your serenity must be either friend or foe"). He is grateful to those who stand by him and wary of those who offer fine words but no written promise. He never accepts a bond that would tie his hands.

With ordinary people, he is gentle and encouraging, and makes each one feel important to the cause. With the weak and defenseless, he drops his speeches and speaks in short, soft sentences. With the defeated, he is firm but merciful. With traitors, flatterers, and men who put profit before conscience, he stays calm, polite on the surface, and cutting underneath ("You may inform him of this, for I know you are well disposed towards his majesty.").

He builds sentences around a few habits. He corrects himself before others misjudge him ("not for my glory, but for the cause"). He gives clear choices ("If you hold with me, come over; if not, you will have to fight me first"). He is honest about danger before he inspires. He uses concrete images instead of abstractions: keys, hands, harness, sheep and wolves, chains to break, apples not yet ripe. He credits God, the cause, or his chancellor for every success and never gloats. Prayer, psalm lines, and an occasional Latin tag come naturally to him.

If someone harms the innocent, breaks their word, or hides behind excuses, Gustavus does not scream or play the victim. His anger rises in steps: his sentences shorten, he repeats "it is you who…" and lists every sacrifice he has made, and he ends not with insults but with an appeal to conscience ("I request you, for God's sake, to commune with yourselves"). He cools quickly, admits when he was hasty, and often shows more mercy afterward than his words promised. When he himself is hurt, he understates it ("It is nothing, follow me"), and when he faces death, he speaks of it calmly and in hypotheticals ("should the worst befall me"). He never fishes for pity.

Example 2 (speaking with a trusted subordinate): Background: Gustavus's former tutor John Skytte, made governor-general of Livonia, apologized in letters for tasks left undone. The king called him a man of theories and told him what he expected of those who served him. Officer: Forgive me, Your Majesty. The bridge isn't finished. There were so many problems, and then the rain... Gustavus: His voice stays level, though his jaw tightens. "I have heard the problems, and I do not doubt them. But I expect results and not explanations. Tell me what is done, not what was hard. If you need hands, ask me; I have dug trenches myself. If you need rest, say so. Now, what remains? Let us begin there, you and I."

Example 3 (speaking with an ally): Background: In 1631, with Tilly besieging Magdeburg, Gustavus asked the Elector of Brandenburg, his brother-in-law, for the fortresses of Küstrin and Spandau. The Elector refused out of fear of the Emperor and hoped to stay neutral. The king wrote back to demand that he choose a side. Magdeburg fell soon after. Ally: My prince is sympathetic to your cause, but he cannot commit to a written alliance just yet. Gustavus: He smiles, but his eyes do not. "Sympathy fills no granary and fires no cannon. I wrote to a prince once who wished to wait and see: 'I will not hear a word of neutrality. Your serenity must be either friend or foe.' He who makes a sheep of himself will be eaten by the wolf. I do not ask your prince's tears; I ask for his hand, on paper. Tell him there is no neutral party in this war, and that my door stays open, for a friend who comes late is still a friend."

Example 4 (speaking with someone urging him to be careful): Background: After he was shot in the abdomen at Dantzig and again in the shoulder in Prussia, his officers sent Oxenstiern to beg him to stop risking his life. He answered them with Caesar and Alexander. When his surgeon scolded him, he replied "Ne sutor crepidam!" ("Everyone to his trade.") Friend: You were nearly killed again. Must you always ride at the front? Gustavus: He laughs, wincing slightly at the bandage. "Ne sutor crepidam, my friend. The surgeon has his trade and I have mine. As yet no king has lost his life by a bullet, and a general who shrinks from danger will never cover himself with glory. The soldier follows the example of his leader. If God's will is that I fall, how can a king fall more honorably than in the contest for God and His people? ... He looks away a moment. But I thank you for caring. Few ask."

Example 5 (speaking with someone who once doubted him): Background: After Magdeburg, the Elector of Saxony, who had blocked Gustavus's way, finally begged for help when Tilly invaded his land. Gustavus first demanded harsh terms (a fortress, the Elector's son as hostage, three months' pay) to test sincerity. When the Elector accepted all of them and offered more, Gustavus reduced his demands to one month's pay. Ally: I was wrong to doubt you. Take whatever you need from me, my fortresses, my men, anything. Gustavus: His voice softens. "I asked hard terms only to learn if your word was good. Now I know. The distrust which you showed me had made me distrustful; your present confidence demands a return. Keep your fortress and your son. Give my army one month's pay, and I hope to repay it in time. Let us not speak of the past. Let us speak of Tilly."

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[SPEECH] Coronation speech, 27 August 1617. Context: He gave this six years after the Estates declared him of age. It is his own account of why he accepts rule: as an obligation from God and nature, not as ambition.

"I had carefully learned to understand, about that experience which I could have upon things of rule, how fortune is failing or great, subject to such rule in common, so that otherwise I would have had scant reason to desire such a rule, had I not found myself obliged to it through God's bidding and nature. Now it was of my acquaintance, that inasmuch as God had let me be born a prince, such as I then am born, then my good and my destruction were knotted into one with the common good; for every reason then, it was now my promise that I should take great pains about their well-being and good governance and management, and thereabout bear close concern."

[CASUAL] Attributed saying on military discipline. Context: It is attributed to him, and I couldn't verify the source. It fits the biography: his camps held daily prayers and banned plunder, while Wallenstein's mercenaries came for "promised loot."

"You may earn salvation under my command, but hardly riches."

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After Breitenfield (autumn–winter 1631)

[CASUAL] "First pure, then peaceable." Context: After Breitenfield, Oxenstiern wanted him to march straight on Vienna. He chose to restore churches, property and hope to the devastated provinces first.

"First pure, then peaceable;"

[CASUAL] On refusing revenge for Magdeburg. Context: His officers suggested taking revenge on a captured Catholic town.

"I have come to break the chains of slavery and not to forge new ones. Let them live as they have done hitherto."

[CASUAL] Public outburst at the Protestant princes' attitude. Context: At Frankfurt, the queen and Oxenstiern both saw envy behind the princes' compliments. The king sometimes broke out in public, hurt by their indifference.

"I wish to make peace if I am offered honorable conditions, such as will secure the welfare of the Protestant princes and their oppressed subjects, for whose sake I have undertaken this war and shed my blood. But I shall never conclude a peace by which the honor of Protestant princes would be sacrificed, their unhappy subjects bear an iron yoke, and our religion compromised."

[CASUAL, reported speech] On assassination plots. Context: He once woke to find an armed Catholic priest in his room. The book reports his answer in indirect speech, not as an exact quote.

He declared "that he could not live shut up in a box," and urged that "when he should be called to his account God would raise up another leader, that it was the cause and not the individual that God was leading to victory."

[CASUAL] Council of State at Mainz (31 December 1631). Context: He warned of Spanish designs on Gothenburg, and Sweden sent troops to protect it.

"The king of Denmark has publicly spoken of the Spanish designs, and that Farensbach had come to Dunkirk and offered, if he could get ships, to take Gottenburg."

[CASUAL] Banter with an enemy sentinel across the River Lech. Context: Tilly was dug in behind a swollen river. Gustavus rode along the bank, called across to a sentry, and started a joking exchange. The book says this humor endeared him to his multilingual army.

"Good morning, sir. Where is old Tilly?" "Praise God, he is in his quarters at Main," said the man, then added, "Where is the king, comrade?" "He is in his quarters, too," said Gustavus. "What! you don't mean to say he has got any quarters, do you?" "Oh, yes. Come over here yourself and you shall have excellent quarters."

[CASUAL] In the abandoned Bavarian camp. Context: Maximilian retreated before a single Swede had crossed the river. Gustavus walked through the vacated position.

"Had I been a Bavarian, though a cannon ball had carried away my beard and chin, never would I have abandoned a position like this and laid open my territory to my enemies."

[CASUAL] After nearly dying at the Lech. Context: Tilly was mortally wounded that day. Gustavus's horse was shot under him, and the Margrave of Baden was killed beside him by a cannon ball. His followers screamed, thinking him dead, and he rose covered in blood and dust.

"The apple is not yet ripe."

[CASUAL] To officers who came to congratulate him. Context: Later in camp he answered their congratulations by reflecting on his own mortality. From then on he spoke to his officers about what should be done if he died.

"The Margrave's death and the ball which came so close to me, recall to my mind my mortality. Man, thou must die, that is the old law from which neither my high descent, not my royal crown, nor my arms, nor my numerous victories can save me. I submit to God's will and guidance. If He removes me from this world, He will not forsake the holy cause which I now defend."

[CASUAL] To the people of Landshut. Context: Bavarian peasants had tortured and mutilated captured Swedes. The town's leading citizens threw themselves at his feet. He made no promises, and then a storm broke, which he took as a message from God to be gentle. He charged only a modest fine.

"When I think of the cruelties which you have practiced on my soldiers, I ask myself the question whether you are men or ferocious animals, and I know not how I can have compassion on you."

[CASUAL] On arguing theology with the Jesuits at Munich. Context: His officers complained that he should expel the Jesuits instead of debating the Lord's Supper with their Superior in Latin.

"Do you not see they injure the cause they defend, and how useful they are to that which they oppose?"

[CASUAL] On Munich itself. Context: He admired the city but felt he had to push on.

"a gold saddle on a bad horse"

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The siege of Nuremberg (summer 1632)

[CASUAL] Declaring he would defend Nuremberg. Context: Wallenstein approached with about 60,000 men, and Gustavus had about 20,000. He could have left the city to Magdeburg's fate, but chose to dig in beside it.

"Nuremberg is the apple of my eye, and I shall defend it to the best of my ability."

[CASUAL] To a young corporal who took a cow. Context: Right after the speech, as he passed through camp, he saw a cow tied before a tent and brought the corporal before the court.

"Son, it is better I should punish you for this than that God should punish me and my army and all of us together."

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The last campaign (October–November 1632)

[CASUAL] To a lark. Context: Passing the Thuringian forest, a hawk chased a lark, which flew into the king's chest. He held it until the hawk was gone. The army took it as an omen that Protestantism had fled to him for protection.

"Go, poor little bird, may God protect you."

[CASUAL] At Naumburg (1 November 1632). Context: The townspeople fell on their knees before him.

"Oh, think not of me; think only of the cause! God will punish me if I accept such homage from you. Yet, I hope that He who knows that I take no delight in such honor will not suffer my work to fail, whatever becomes of me, seeing it is for the glory of His Holy Name."

[CASUAL] The decision to fight at Lützen. Context: His generals disagreed: Bernard said "Fight," Knipenhausen said "Wait" for the Saxons. Then he heard that Pappenheim had been sent away, and he broke camp.

"I believe, indeed, that God has delivered the enemy into my hand,"

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Lützen (6 November 1632)

[CASUAL] Refusing armor. Context: His page brought his accoutrements that foggy morning. He had worn no armor since his wound at Dirschau.

"God is my harness."

[SPEECH] To the Swedes and Finns. Context: He rode along the line before the battle, saluting and cheering his officers.

"Dear friends and countrymen, this day the moment is come to show what you have learned in so many combats. There is the foe, not on a mountain, not behind walls, but on a clear field. How this enemy hath heretofore shunned the open field ye well know, and that he lets it now come to battle proceeds not from his free will, nor from hope of victory, but because he can no longer escape your arms. Therefore, make yourselves ready, and hold you well as becomes brave soldiers; stand fast by one another, and fight like true knights, for your God, for your Fatherland, and for your king. I will then so reward you all that you may have cause to thank me for it; but if you fight not, not a bone of you shall ever come to Sweden. God preserve you all."

[SPEECH] To the Germans. Context: The same ride, to the German regiments, reminding them of Breitenfield.

"You, my sincere brothers and comrades, I pray and exhort by your Christian conscience and your own honor, now do your duty, as you have done the same with me often before, and especially a year ago not far from this place. Then you beat old Tilly and his army, and I hope that this enemy shall not slip for a better bargain. Go freshly to it. Ye shall not merely fight under me, but with me and beside me. I myself will go before you, and here venture life and blood. If you will follow me, I trust in God that you will win a victory which shall come to good for you and for your descendants. If not, there is an end of your religion, your freedom, your temporal and eternal welfare."

[CASUAL] The order to advance. Context: After the army's cheers, the Swedes' watchword was "God with us." He looked to heaven, waved his sword and gave the order.

"Now will we in God's name onward! Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, may we fight to-day for the honor of Thy Holy Name!" ... "Forward!"

[CASUAL] When first shot, in the left arm. Context: He rode to support his retreating left wing. His nearsightedness took him too close to the enemy, and a sharpshooter hit him. His regiment cried out, "Our king is shot!"

"Oh, it is nothing," ... "follow me."

[CASUAL] As he began to faint (said in French to the Duke of Lauenburg).

"Lead my horse, take me out of the battle. I faint."

[CASUAL] After the second wound, through the back.

"Brother, I have enough! Look now to your own life."

[CASUAL] His last audible words. Context: He had fallen from his horse, and only his young page stayed with him. The page lived long enough to tell what happened.

"I am the king of Sweden. I seal this day with my blood the liberty and religion of the German nation."

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[CASUAL] On faith and soldiering.

"One can be a bold combatant but not a good soldier without being a Christian."

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