The Thirty Years' War Volume 7.

WHITE MOUNTAIN EPISODE 7.

The Moravian army that stood behind Thurn and Velen of Žerotín, in December 1620. switched to the conservative side when he was granted an imperial pardon for his neutrality and the December Diet of Brno promised to pay all the ransom due. Thurn and Žerotín were threatened with arrest and had to flee. Ladislav Velen of Žerotín escaped from Silesia to the court of Jan Jiří Krhovský, Matthias Thurn to Bethlen. Another military figure of Moravia, Friedrich of Tiefenbach, was ill for a long time and was treated in Switzerland. At that time, the imperial army under Buquoy was on the march to Moravia, and had seized Trebic and Jihlava. The Moravian nobility rushed en masse to pay their respects to the imperial marshal. No one resisted the enemy army and the city of Brno opened its gates to it. The Moravian Estates sent an embassy to Vienna to ask for mercy and to explain that the Moravians had resisted Ferdinand only under duress. The illusions of Ferdinand's benevolence were so incredible that even Ladislav Velen and Thurn tried, with the help of intermediaries, to obtain forgiveness (to save their estates). In Vienna, the decision had already been made. Ferdinand appointed Dietrichstein as cardinal governor for Moravia, who, with the help of the deposed provincial officials and especially Ladislaus of Lobkowitz, was to complete the pacification of the country. When the Moravian legation in Vienna was granted a hearing, it had no choice but to submit unconditionally. When all resistance in Moravia had passed, a great blow was dealt to the war effort in Lusatia and Silesia. The crushing of the rebellion in these territories was left to the Saxon Elector John George, who had similar powers to those of Maximilian of Bavaria for Bohemia and Moravia. The Elector of Bohemia was to launch an attack on the Bohemian lands, but waited to see how the Bavarian expedition would turn out. It was only when news of the success of the Ligist army came that he took action. The Saxons, who had a mercenary force of 15,000 men and a reserve of 14,000 men in the provincial readiness, invaded the Upper Lusatia and laid siege to the town Budyšín. Before the attack took place, Frederick Margrave of Krnov appointed Jan Jiří as commander-in-chief of the Silesian-Lusatian army, to whom the cash of the North Bohemian regions was subordinated. The Lusatian provincial bailiff, Jáchym Ondřej Šlik, was to assist in the preparation of the defence. The Silesian-Lusatian army, reinforced by the North Bohemian readiness, was about 18,000 strong and outnumbered the Saxons. Its disadvantage was its unreliability. Therefore, John George did not dare to set out from his camp at Zhořelec to help Budyšín. Budyšín surrendered for lack of ammunition. On October 3. after a three-week siege. The fall of the Lusatian capital caused great consternation, especially in Lower Lusatiawhose statesmen offered surrender at the beginning of November. John George's position was easier than that of Maximilian of Bavaria, because the Saxon Elector guaranteed religious freedom to apostates everywhere. This did not sit well with Vienna, and Vienna began to regret granting him so much power. However, the Upper Lusatian Estates did not take advantage of the offer anyway, so the Elector was forced to besiege the town of Luby at the end of November, which surrendered after a short resistance. The winter weather interrupted further operations and the Elector of Saxony was forced to break up the winter encampment in Budyšín. After the White Mountain defeat, there was a growing effort among the Upper Lusatian Estates to reach an agreement with Ferdinand especially when it was revealed that Jáchym Ondřej Šlik had asked for a pardon from Liechtenstein. The other nobles followed the example of the provincial feudal lord and on 3 March 1621 the Upper Lusatian subjects submitted to John George in return for a guarantee of the unabridged use of their existing liberties and personal security. However, the guarantee was not given to many of the nobles, and they had to apply for pardon to the Emperor himself. Among them was Jáchym Jiří Šlik, who sensed danger and fled to his brother-in-law's castle in Redern, Frýdlant, where he was later arrested and sent to Prague. Both Lusatia were pledged to Saxony until the war expenses under John George were paid, the Elector soon saw to it that the lands which had been excluded from the union of the Bohemian Crown could never again return to that union.

ŠLIKOVÉ, a noble family

Originally a patrician family with roots in Bohemia (Cheb) and Germany, elevated to the status of lord and count. The rise of the family took place in the first half of the 15th century, when it was promoted to the status of a lord and count of the realm for its services to Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The Šlik family owned, among others, the Bassano Vicentino estate (northern Italy), the Holíč county (western Slovakia), Sokolov, estates in Loket and Cheb, later Kunštát, Kopidlno, Velíš,

Ploskovice, etc. An important source of the family's wealth was the mining of silver on the family estates (Jáchymov) and the minting of high-quality coinage (tolars), which was, however, taken away from them in 1528. Within the monarchy they held important positions in the administration, were important representatives and advocates of the liberties of the estates against the claims of the monarch, actively participated in the anti-Habsburg EstatesIn the latter case, part of the family was affected by confiscations after the Battle of White Mountain and Jáchym Ondřej Šlik was executed in 1621. The Šlik family, who remained loyal to the Habsburgs, received part of the estates of A. von Wallenstein in return for their services. Among the prominent representatives of the family were, among others, A. Jáchym Ondřej Šlik (1569 - 1621), a prominent representative of the non-Catholic estates, contributed significantly to the issuance of the Majesty by Emperor Rudolf II. (1576 - 1611), was heavily involved in the Estates Revolt of 1618 - 1620, for which he was executed in 1621. The Šlik family was related to, among others, the Kolowraty, Smiřický, Vartemberks, Masfelds, Oppersdorfs, etc.

Places in Prague associated with the family:

Trauttmannsdorf Palace)Hradčany)
Dietrichstein Palace
Šlik Palace
The former monastery of the pavilions at the Church of St. Salvator
St. Vitus Temple
Colloredo - Mansfeld Palace