WALLENSTEIN, vallen-stin or wel'en stin (or more recently WALDsTEIN), Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius Von, Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburg, and Prince of Sagan, German soldier: b. Hermanic, Bohemia, 15 Sept. 1583; d. Eger, Bohemia, 25 Feb. 1634. He studied under the Jesuits at Olmiitz and after accepting the Catholic faith finished his studies at the universities of Altdorf, Bologna and Padua. In 1617, on assisting the Archduke Ferdinand in the latter's war against Venice, he was raised to the rank of count and made a colonel. When Bohemia revolted, he raised a regiment of cuirussiers for the emperor and fought against Thurn and Bethlen Gabor. When the estates of the vanquished Bohemians were confiscated in 1620 arid sold to imperial adherents at nom inal prices, he purchased extensive tracts, including the domains of Friedland and Reich enberg. In 1623 he was made Duke of Fried land and in 1624 his collective estates were elevated to a principality. He now applied him self to the care of these dominions. When the emperor was involved in new troubles by the Lower &own League in 1623 he offered to raisc. 20,000 men for the imperial service by his own efforts. In return he was to have full control in the hostile provinces. Before he had com pleted his levy he was named generalissimo and field-marshal, and then set out at the head of 30,000 tnen to co-operate with Tilly (q.v.). On 25 April 1625 he gained a victory over Count Mansfield at Dessau and when that gen eral proceeded at the close of the year to Hun gary to join Bethlen Gabor, he followed and brought Bethlen to conclude a truce. In the campaign of 1627 he conquered Silesia, drove the Danish king out of Germany and forced his way into northern Jutland, bought from the emperor the dukedom of Sagan at a price in which his military expenses were reckoned. The estates of MecIdenburg having been for feited in the war, he was invested with then; first as security for his expenses and afterward as a regular fief in 1629. The attempt to take Stralsund was wholly unsuccessful (1628). In 1630, owing to the jealousy of the nobles, Wal lenstein was deprived of his command.
When Gustavus Adolphus invaded Germany, Wallenstein attempted to negotiate with him on his own account, but the distrust of the Swedish hero frustrating his intentions, he listened to the earnest entreaties of the emperor and again took the field, having procured a formal capit ulation securing to himself almost absolute power. After some partial successes he en
countered the Icing of Sweden at Liltzen, 16 Nov. 1632, in which battle Wallenstein was defeated and Gustavus killed. After the death of the Swedish Icing he had reopened negotia tions with the enemies of the emperor, by whose assistance he hoped to place himself at the head of affairs in Germany. The matter pro ceeded slowly as his offers were received with much distrust, especially by the German princes; he resumed hostilities to make his value felt, then reopened negotiations. His proceedings were lcnown at the court of Vienna; but he was at the head of an army largely consist ing of foreigners, many of whose leaders were personally pledged to him alone. The emperor was not strong enough to remove him and was base enough to have recourse to assassi nation. On 24 Jan. 1634 he signed a secret ratent conferring the command of the army on Count Gallas, who was instructed to arrest Wallenstein and his associates and thxow them into prison. On 18 February an open procla mation was made conunanding the army to obey only Generals Gallas, Piccolomini and others named. Wallenstein left Pilsen with some of his confidential a.ssociates on the 23d to take refuge in the fortress of Eger, which he reached on the 24th. Here he was assassinated on the evening of the 25th. The plenipotentiary of Saxony and Brandenburg had reached Zwickau and the plenipoteniary of France Frankfort, on their way to Wallenstein's headquarters, when they received word of his death. The emperor openly rewarded the assassins, among whom were two Scotchmen and two Irishmen, Gordon, Leslie, Butler and Devereux. Wal lenstein's overtures to the enemies of the empire have been represented by his partisans as ruses de guerre.
A vigorous controversy has been waged over the matter. As an organizer and leader of armies he must be ranIced among the great commanders. In a time of excessive confusion he maintained a statesmanlike control of diffi cult affairs. His career was made the basis of Schiller's trilogy of (Wallenstein.) Consult the lives by Forster (1834) ; von Ranlce (5th ed., 1895) ; Aretin (1&46) ; Hurter (1855) ; For ster's ed. of the (Briefe Wallensteins) (1&28 29) ; Schebek, (Die L8sung der Wallenstein frage) (1881) ; Bilck, (Beitrage zur Geschichte Wallensteins) (1886) ; Schulz, (Wallenstein und die Zeit des DreissigjAhrigen Krieges) (1898). See THIRTY YEARS' WAR.