Nicholas, Count of Salm (

Vielsalm Vielsalm (; wa, Li Viye Såm) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The town is part of the Arrondissement of Bastogne. It is the place of origin of the House of Salm. On 1 January 2018 the municipality ha ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

1459 – Salmhof,

Marchegg Marchegg ( cs, Marchek, hr, Muriek, Marhek, sk, Marchek) is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria near the Slovak border formed by the Morava River Morava may refer to: Rivers * Great Morava (''Velika ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, 4 May 1530) was a German soldier and an Imperial senior military commander (German: ''Feldherr''). His greatest achievement was the defense of Vienna during the first siege by the Turks in 1529.

Life

At the age of 17 in 1476, Nicholas participated in the

Battle of Morat The Battle of Morat (also known as the Battle of Murten) was a battle in the Burgundian Wars (1474–77) that was fought on 22 June 1476 between Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and a Swiss Confederate army at Morat/Murten, about 30 kil ...

against

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

. In 1488 he fought in Flanders and was made an Imperial Colonel three years later. In 1509 he fought in Italy under

Georg von Frundsberg Georg von Frundsberg (24 September 1473 – 20 August 1528) was a German military and Landsknecht leader in the service of the Holy Roman Empire and Imperial House of Habsburg. An early modern proponent of infantry tactics, he established ...

and conquered Istria. In 1502, he married Elisabeth von Rogendorff; they had several children, including: * Nicholas II, count of Salm-Neuburg * Wolfgang of Salm,

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, ...

in 1525 Nicholas of Salm played an important role in taking King

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

prisoner. The following year he crushed the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and conquered

Schladming Schladming is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably the F ...

. In 1529 aged 70, he was asked to organize the defense of Vienna during the first siege by the Turks, which he did with great skill and success. During the siege, he was wounded by a falling rock, and died a few months later from his wounds.

Honours

He was made a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. His tomb sculpture, made by

Loy Hering Loy Hering (b. 1484–85 in Kaufbeuren, d. 1 June 1564 in Eichstätt) was a German Renaissance sculptor. He began his career as an apprentice to Hans Beierlein in Augsburg. Between 1511 and 1512 he settled in Eichstätt, where in 1519 he was e ...

, can still be seen in the Votive Church in Vienna.

In popular culture

Salm is the central figure in the modern era German author

Wolfgang Hohlbein Wolfgang Hohlbein (born 15 August 1953 in Weimar, Bezirk Erfurt) is a German writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction who lives near Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia. His wife, Heike Hohlbein, is also a writer and often works with her ...

's novel ''Die Wiederkehr''. Salm figures in ''

The Shadow of the Vulture "The Shadow of the Vulture" is a short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, first published in '' The Magic Carpet Magazine'', January 1934. The story introduces the character of Red Sonya of Rogatino, who later became the inspiration for ...

'', by Robert E. Howard, where he is acquainted with, and still has respect for, fallen knight von Kalmbach. As "Von Salm", he figures as a supporting character in the

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...

novel ''

The Drawing of the Dark ''The Drawing of the Dark'' is a historical fantasy novel by Tim Powers published in 1979 by Del Rey Books. Plot summary The year is 1529, and Brian Duffy, a world-weary Irish mercenary soldier, is hired in Venice by the mysterious Aurelianus to ...

''.

External links

ADB, Niclas I Graf zu Salm
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salm, Nicholas, Count of 1459 births 1530 deaths Nicholas Knights of the Golden Fleece Military personnel of the Holy Roman Empire