Nicholas, Count of Salm (1459 – Salmhof, Marchegg,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

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

Life

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

Battle of Morat The Battle of Morat took place during the Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) that was fought on 22 June 1476 between Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and a Swiss Confederation army at Morat ( Murten), about 30 kilometres from Bern ...

against

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

. 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 people, German military and Landsknecht leader in the service of the Holy Roman Empire and Imperial House of Habsburg. An Early modern period, early modern proponent of in ...

and conquered

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. 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 Latin diocese of the Catholic Church 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, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

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

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 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 once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

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 Black ...

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

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 th ...

. In 1529 aged 70, he was asked to organise 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 The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

. His tomb sculpture, made by

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

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

In popular culture

Salm is the central figure in the modern German author Wolfgang Hohlbein's novel ''Die Wiederkehr''. Salm figures in '' The Shadow of the Vulture'', by

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

, 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 fiction, fantasy author. His first major novel was ''The Drawing of the Dark'' (1979), but the novel that earned him wide praise was ''The Anubis Gates'' ...

novel '' The Drawing of the Dark''.

External links

ADB, Niclas I Graf zu Salm
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salm, Nicholas, Count of 1459 births 1530 deaths

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Knights of the Golden Fleece Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire) personnel People of the Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary (1526–1568) Counts of the Holy Roman Empire