Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani

Depiction of Isolanis ( Peter Aubry , before 1666).

Johann Ludwig Hektor Graf von Isolani ( Italian Gioan Lodovico Hector Isolano ; * 1586 in Gorizia , † March 1640 in Vienna ) was an imperial general of the Croatian horsemen in the Thirty Years War . He served four German emperors and fought in the four main battles of this war. His troops were notorious for their atrocities against civilians.

biography

Life until the Thirty Years War

Isolani came from a Cypriot noble family and, like his father, entered the imperial-Habsburg military service. Here he fought against the Turkish armies of the Ottomans in Croatia from 1600 to 1606 . In 1602 he was captured, escaped and fled to Transylvania . Because of his origins in a conflict-ridden area and his early war experience as a soldier, Isolani, unlike his later superiors Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim , Heinrich von Holk or Octavio Piccolomini, had no special school education. Nothing is known about Isolani's life after the peace of Zsitvatorok in 1606, he probably served as a soldier in Hungary.

Service under Wallenstein

In the Thirty Years' War he was, presumably as a captain, in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and took part in the battle of the White Mountain and the campaign in the Electoral Palatinate , where he apparently took part in the conquest of Heidelberg under the command of Johann t 'Serclaes von Tilly was involved. On the recommendation of the general Wallenstein , Emperor Ferdinand II transferred the command of a Croatian cavalry regiment of 600 mercenaries to Isolani on June 22, 1625 . The light cavalry was not intended for use in the battle line, but was supposed to secure the flanks during marches, clear up the area and the enemy troops, attack the enemy’s supply lines and terrorize the population in Evangelical-Protestant areas. Isolani fulfilled his order as cavalry colonel to Wallenstein's satisfaction; In April 1626 he acquired Wallenstein's gratitude for his work in the flank attack under the leadership of Heinrich Schlik zu Bassano and Weißkirchen in the battle of Dessau . In the next period he pursued the defeated Peter Ernst II von Mansfeld until he died in Bosnia at the end of November . In the summer of 1627 Isolani's riders and Pappenheim's troops conquered the town of Wolfenbüttel , in 1628 they fought against the Danish troops under Jean de Merode in Pomerania , before moving through Jutland to Cape Skagen again under Schlick's orders .

After Wallenstein's temporary release, Isolani fought little successfully against Swedish Protestant troops in 1630 under the command of Torquato Conti and Ernesto Montecuccoli . In early 1632 Isolani was promoted to general over all Croatians and Wallenstein commissioned him to recruit more Croatian mercenaries . In the next year Isolanis light cavalry was able to achieve great successes against the armies of Gustav II. It was the horsemen under Isolani's command who stopped the Swedish troops in the battle of the Alte Veste . In the summer of 1632 Isolani should be with the troops Heinrich von Holks unite to the Lord of the Electorate of Saxony , I. Johann Georg to war. On the way to Holk Isolani was caught by Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar near Coburg and defeated in a short battle. The looting mercenaries of the Croatian horsemen severely devastated the Vogtland and the surrounding area of Meißen . In the following Battle of Lützen Isolani distinguished himself when his horsemen first spied out the enemy and engaged them in skirmishes and warned Wallenstein of the attack, which enabled him to prepare and Gustav Adolf lost the element of surprise. In the battle itself he commanded 2,200 soldiers on the left front until Pappenheim's arrival. When Pappenheim was badly wounded and the Imperial forces got back on the defensive, Isolani managed to bypass the Swedish right wing and attack the second line of battle. This action weakened the Swedes and contributed to the ambiguous outcome of the battle. In 1633 he fought numerous skirmishes in Saxony and Silesia .

Turning away from Wallenstein

In 1634 Isolani signed a pledge of loyalty to Field Marshal Wallenstein , the so-called Pilsen Closure, but then withdrew from him shortly afterwards and, after his murder in Eger ( Cheb ) in 1634, received the manor of Český Dub (Bohemian Aicha) from his confiscated Duchy of Friedland the castle Frýdštejn (Friedstein) and was raised to the rank of count .

Count Isolani then led the Croatian troops to southern Thuringia, where he built a winter camp. On October 16, 1634, the city of Themar was plundered and almost completely destroyed by them; of 300 houses only 69 remained. The riders wandering around looking for booty in small commands covered the entire Henneberger Land with raids up to the gates of Meiningen. In October 1634, the city of Suhl was also taken, and weapons production there came to a standstill. The Croats moved on towards Bad Salzungen and through the Rhön , which is documented in the parish registers of the communities of Tiefenort and Frankenheim / Rhön . In this part of the country was rampant at that time the epidemic of plague .

Then Isolani took part in the battle of Nördlingen and then pursued the Swedish Protestant army groups and Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar and Gustaf Horn with imperial troops in the Protestant Württemberg , which was looted and devastated in the process. Isolani succeeded in capturing Field Marshals Horn and Kratz, and Bernhard von Weimar escaped. After Nördlingen , Isolani fought in Hesse, and in 1636 with Matthias Gallas in Picardy and Burgundy . In 1637 Isolani was again in Hesse under Johann von Werth, in 1638 again in Pomerania and finally in 1639 on the Upper Rhine against Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar and Marshal Jean Baptiste Budes de Guébriant .

Johann Ludwig Hektor Graf von Isolani spent the winter of 1639/40 in Vienna, where he died in March 1640. He was married. His daughter became the heir to the manorial estate in Bohemian Aicha in northern Bohemia.

Literary afterlife

Count Isolani plays an important role in Friedrich Schiller's historical drama Die Piccolomini . His name is best known today through the two opening verses of this play, which have been included in numerous collections of quotations:

You are late - but you are coming! The long way,
Count Isolan, excuse your delays.

These verses are spoken by the dramatic character Illo, who also has a real role model in Christian von Ilow in the history of the Thirty Years War.

Sources and literature

• Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. ISBN 3-7995-4240-X
• Hermann Hallwich :  Isolano, Johann Ludwig Graf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 637-640.
• Max Sauerbrey: Tiefenort adWerra and the Krayenburg . Published by C.Fröhlich's Wwe, Tiefenort (Werra) 1935.
• Parish register of the municipality of Tiefenort (Werra)
• Parish register Frankenheim and Birx 1656–1738

Web links

Commons : Lodovico Isolani  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 106)
2. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 108)
3. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 109)
4. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 110)
5. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 111)
6. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 113)
7. ^ ^{A b} Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 114)
8. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 115)
9. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (pp. 116, 117)
10. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 118)
11. ^ Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 119)
12. ^ ^{A b} Heinrich Bücheler: From Pappenheim to Piccolomini. Six figures from Wallenstein's camp , Sigmaringen 1994. (p. 120)