Details
COLLALTO, Rambaldo, Conte di (1579-1630, Catholic general). Autograph letter signed,'dalla Stella', presumably a house or inn in the area of the Bohemian Forest [Bohemia], 7 June 1619, to a fellow army officer reporting on the military situation, one page, folio (slight wear to outer edge).
Collalto reports on the best way to move troops and on what he has learnt of the enemy's movements. He recommends 'il Camino de guldensteig', the Zláta Stezka, the great trade route through the Forest which will give fast access to the 'Bosco da Prochediz', Prachatice, and 'Vineberg', [Vimperk]. The enemy are apparently in retreat, having fortified the church at Volary, and 'che hanno abbandonato tutto'.
Rambaldo XIII, conte de Collalto, had joined the imperial army in 1595 when his hereditary lands near Treviso were siezed by the Venetians. In 1619 he was in Bohemia under the command of Boucquoy, fighting against the Protestant rebels in what would prove to be the first stages of the Thirty Years War. This letter gives a dramatic insight into troop movements just a few days before the rebels were defeated at Záblati, 5 km west of Prochatice on June 10. This did not prevent the Bohemians from electing Frederick of the Palatinate as King; the decisive victory in restoring Bohemia to Habsburg rule took place the following year at the Battle of the White Mountain. Collalto prospered in imperial service and was well rewarded by Ferdinand II, who made him a Knight of the Golden Fleece in 1629.
Collalto reports on the best way to move troops and on what he has learnt of the enemy's movements. He recommends 'il Camino de guldensteig', the Zláta Stezka, the great trade route through the Forest which will give fast access to the 'Bosco da Prochediz', Prachatice, and 'Vineberg', [Vimperk]. The enemy are apparently in retreat, having fortified the church at Volary, and 'che hanno abbandonato tutto'.
Rambaldo XIII, conte de Collalto, had joined the imperial army in 1595 when his hereditary lands near Treviso were siezed by the Venetians. In 1619 he was in Bohemia under the command of Boucquoy, fighting against the Protestant rebels in what would prove to be the first stages of the Thirty Years War. This letter gives a dramatic insight into troop movements just a few days before the rebels were defeated at Záblati, 5 km west of Prochatice on June 10. This did not prevent the Bohemians from electing Frederick of the Palatinate as King; the decisive victory in restoring Bohemia to Habsburg rule took place the following year at the Battle of the White Mountain. Collalto prospered in imperial service and was well rewarded by Ferdinand II, who made him a Knight of the Golden Fleece in 1629.
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