Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

Biography

Born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt. Bernard received an unusually good education and studied briefly at the University of Jena, but soon went to the court of Duke John Casimir of Saxe-Coburg to engage in knightly exercises. At the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War he took the field on the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

side, and served under Mansfeld at Wiesloch (1622), under the

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

of Baden at Wimpfen (1622), and with his brother William at Stadtlohn (1623). Undismayed by these defeats, he took part in the campaigns of King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

. After a severe defeat in Holstein in 1627, Bernhard left Danish service and went to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. There he was present at the famous Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629. When King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

landed in Germany Bernard quickly joined him, and for a short time he was

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Swedish life horse guard. After the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), he accompanied Gustavus in his march to the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and, between this event and the Battle of the Alte Veste, Bernard commanded numerous expeditions in almost every district from the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

to Tyrol. At the Alte Veste he displayed great courage, and at the Battle of Lützen (1632), when Gustavus was killed, Bernard assumed the command, killed a colonel who refused to lead his men to the charge, and finally by his furious energy won the victory at sundown. At first as a subordinate to his brother William, who as a Swedish lieutenant-general succeeded to the command, but later as an independent commander, Bernard continued to push his forays over southern Germany; and with the Swedish General Gustav Horn he made in 1633 a successful invasion into

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, which was defended by the

imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...

general Count Aldringer. In this year he was granted the former Bishoprics of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, being granted the title of Duke of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. He installed one of his many brothers as Statthalter, and returned to the wars. A stern Protestant, he exacted heavy contributions from the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cities which he took, and his repeated victories caused him to be regarded by German Protestants as the saviour of their religion. But in 1634 Bernard suffered a great defeat at Nördlingen, losing the best of the Swedish army. In 1635 Bernard entered the service of France, which had by then intervened in the war. He held a difficult dual position; in the following campaigns, ably and resolutely conducted as they were, Bernard sometimes pursued a purely French policy, whilst at other times he used French mercenaries to forward his own cause. From a military point of view his most notable achievements were on the common ground of the upper Rhine, in the Breisgau. In his great campaign of 1638, Bernard won the battles of Rheinfelden, Wittenweiher, and Thann, and captured successively Rheinfelden,

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, and Breisach, the last reputed one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. Bernard had in the first instance received definite assurances from France that he should be given

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and Haguenau, Würzburg having been lost in the debacle of 1634; he now hoped to make Breisach the capital of his new

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

. Bernard's health, however, was deteriorating. He died at

Neuenburg am Rhein Neuenburg am Rhein (High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Neiburg am Rhi'') is a town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Geographical location Neuenburg is elevated on the right ban ...

at the beginning of the campaign. The governor of Breisach Jean Louis d'Erlach was bribed to transfer the fortress to France. Bernard was temporarily buried at Breisach, his remains were not carried to Weimar until 16 years later.

References

;Attribution * This cites: ** J. A. C. Hellfeld, ''Geschichte Bernhards des Grossen, Herzogs v. Saxe-Weimar'' (Jena, 1747) ** B. Röse, ''Herzog Bernhard d. Grosse von Saxe-Weimar'' (Weimar, 1828–1829) ** Droysen, ''Bernhard v. Weimar'' (Leipzig, 1885). *

Biography

References

Further reading