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Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August (Julian calendar
) or 6 September (Gregorian calendar
), 1634 during the Thirty Years' War
. The Roman Catholic
Imperial army
, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish
and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant
armies of Sweden
and their German-Protestant allies (Heilbronn Alliance).
After the failure of the tercio
system in the first Battle of Breitenfeld
in 1631, the professional Spanish troops deployed at Nördlingen proved the tercio system could still contend with the deployment improvements devised by Maurice of Orange and the late Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
.
two years before, the Swedes failed to follow up their victory due to the death of their king, Gustavus Adolphus
. As a result, the Imperial forces had begun to regain the initiative. In 1634 a Protestant Saxon and Swedish army had invaded Bohemia threatening the Habsburg core territories.
The future Holy Roman Emperor
, Ferdinand of Hungary
, decided to attack the Protestant territories in Southern Germany to draw the main Swedish and German armies away from Bohemia. Both sides were aware that Spanish reinforcements under his cousin, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
, were en-route from their dominions in Northern Italy
. The Spanish army had marched through the Stelvio Pass trying to open a new "Spanish Road", and take their Commander to his Governorship of the Spanish Low Countries.
The Protestant commanders decided they could not ignore the threat and combined their two largest armies near Augsburg on July the 12th, the Swabian-Alsatian Army under Gustav Horn and the so called Franconian Army under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
. Both armies were named after their main operation area and belonged to the Heilbronn Alliance (Sweden's German-Protestant allies under the directorate of the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna). They were mainly consisting of German ("the Blue brigade") and some Scottish mercenaries ("the Green brigade") with a few national Swedish/Finnish regiments (mostly cavalry) and one national Swedish infantry brigade ("the Yellow brigade").
The Protestants proved unable to prevent the fall of Regensburg to Ferdinand of Hungary and desperately pursued him westwards in an effort to prevent the merger of the two Habsburg armies. On 16 August the Cardinal-Infante
crossed the Danube
at Donauwörth
. Despite their best efforts the Protestant armies were still behind when Ferdinand and the Imperials set down to besiege the town of Nordlingen, in Swabia
and await the Cardinal-Infante who arrived before the city on the 2nd September - three days before the Protestants.
. Most of the generals felt a full engagement against two of the most experienced Protestant commanders was reckless and unlikely to have a positive outcome. However the cousins were supported by the Count of Leganés, the Spanish deputy commander. He appreciated that the Catholic army was significantly superior in numbers and had at its core the highly trained professional Spanish Infantry who had not been present at previous Swedish victories over the Imperials.
Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle, although this may not have been a mutual decision. Bernhard felt that whatever the odds an attempt must be made to relieve Nordlingen. Horn seems to have been reluctant to do so given the ragged state of the Protestant armies. Both commanders seem to have underestimated the numerically superior enemy forces. This may have been due to incorrect reports, or disbelieving those they had received. Whatever the reason Horn and Bernhard estimated that the Spanish reinforcements numbered only 7,000, not 21,000, added to the 12,000 Imperials this gave the Habsburgs a considerable superiority over the 26,000 Protestants.
During the battle, almost anything that could go wrong went wrong for the Protestant forces. This was due to the strong defensive efforts of the Spanish infantry, the feared "Tercios Viejos" (Old Tercio
s), mainly those commanded by Fuenclara
, Idiáquez
, and Toralto. Fifteen Swedish assaults by Horn's right wing, consisting of the brigades Vitzthum, Pfuel and the Scots Brigade (Colonel Gunn), supported by the brigade of Count Thurn (Black and Yellow Regiment) on the hill of Albuch, were repulsed by the Spaniards with the decisive support of Ottavio Piccolomini's Italian cavalry squadrons, under direct orders of another Italian commander, the loyal servant to the Spanish Crown, Gerardo di Gambacorta di Linata. On the left of the Protestant line the left Swedish wing under Bernhard of Weimar and the Imperial-Bavarian troops had avoided closing with each other, until late in the battle.
The Imperial commanders observed the weakened condition of Bernhard's troops, who had been sending large numbers of reinforcements to assist the Swedish troops. They ordered an advance by the Imperial troops which resulted in the quick collapse and rout of the weakened Swedish left wing infantry brigades. Pursuit of Bernhard's troops threatened to cut off any escape route of the Swedish units, who also promptly broke, turning into a panic stricken mob and leaving their side of the field to the Spanish troops of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
.
Gustav Horn af Björneborg was captured, his army was destroyed, and the remainder of the Protestants who successfully fled to Heilbronn
were only a remnant of those engaged.
The battle was one of the most crushing defeats the Protestants sustained during the war. With its army substantially reduced, Sweden would lose its predominant role in the German area.
Meanwhile, the victory led most of the Protestant princes of the Empire to seek a separate peace with the Emperor, which was achieved by the Treaty of Prague in 1635.
With Imperial forces threatening to totally dominate the Empire and with Spanish troops firmly settled on the western bank of the Rhine, great Habsburg armies had almost completely surrounded France's
frontiers.
Richelieu decided France needed to go beyond merely financing the enemies of the Habsburgs; entering the war mainly against Spain and thus opening a second front in the Catholic Low Countries
.
In the long term, the battle proved to be just another twist in the complicated war. It ensured that a triumph of the Swedish led Protestants powers, would not occur. This enabled the Counter-Reformation to preserve its gains against the Reformation in central Europe
. That said, the victory did not lead to an overall Catholic-Habsburg victory, as the Spanish and Imperialist forces would suffer serious setbacks later in the war. Ultimately, the defeat of the Swedish forces at Nordlingen
was largely responsible for French, not Swedish, goals taking precedence at the negotiations; with a significant effect on the political map of the Empire.
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
) or 6 September (Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
), 1634 during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Imperial army
Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire
The Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire was the army of the Holy Roman Empire...
, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
armies of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and their German-Protestant allies (Heilbronn Alliance).
After the failure of the tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
system in the first Battle of Breitenfeld
Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)
The Battle of Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld , was fought at the crossroads villages of Breitenfeld , Podelwitz , and Seehausen , approximately five miles northwest of the walled city of Leipzig on September 17 , or September 7 The Battle of Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld...
in 1631, the professional Spanish troops deployed at Nördlingen proved the tercio system could still contend with the deployment improvements devised by Maurice of Orange and the late Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
.
Prelude
After the Protestant victory in the Battle of LützenBattle of Lützen (1632)
The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...
two years before, the Swedes failed to follow up their victory due to the death of their king, Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
. As a result, the Imperial forces had begun to regain the initiative. In 1634 a Protestant Saxon and Swedish army had invaded Bohemia threatening the Habsburg core territories.
The future Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Ferdinand of Hungary
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
, decided to attack the Protestant territories in Southern Germany to draw the main Swedish and German armies away from Bohemia. Both sides were aware that Spanish reinforcements under his cousin, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Infante of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo , and military...
, were en-route from their dominions in Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
. The Spanish army had marched through the Stelvio Pass trying to open a new "Spanish Road", and take their Commander to his Governorship of the Spanish Low Countries.
The Protestant commanders decided they could not ignore the threat and combined their two largest armies near Augsburg on July the 12th, the Swabian-Alsatian Army under Gustav Horn and the so called Franconian Army under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:Born in Weimar within the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt.Bernard received an unusually good education and studied at the...
. Both armies were named after their main operation area and belonged to the Heilbronn Alliance (Sweden's German-Protestant allies under the directorate of the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna). They were mainly consisting of German ("the Blue brigade") and some Scottish mercenaries ("the Green brigade") with a few national Swedish/Finnish regiments (mostly cavalry) and one national Swedish infantry brigade ("the Yellow brigade").
The Protestants proved unable to prevent the fall of Regensburg to Ferdinand of Hungary and desperately pursued him westwards in an effort to prevent the merger of the two Habsburg armies. On 16 August the Cardinal-Infante
Cardinal-Infante
The title Cardinal-Infante may refer to any one of the following, each of them both an infante and a cardinal:* Infante Jaime of Coimbra * Cardinal-Infante Afonso of Portugal...
crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
at Donauwörth
Donauwörth
Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...
. Despite their best efforts the Protestant armies were still behind when Ferdinand and the Imperials set down to besiege the town of Nordlingen, in Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
and await the Cardinal-Infante who arrived before the city on the 2nd September - three days before the Protestants.
Battle
The cousins, Ferdinand and Ferdinand, prepared for battle, ignoring the advice of the more experienced generals, such as the Imperial general Matthias GallasMatthias Gallas
Matthias Gallas, Graf von Campo und Herzog von Lucera , was an Austrian soldier, who first saw service in Flanders, then in Savoy with the Spaniards, and subsequently joined the forces of the Catholic League as captain during the Thirty Years' War.On the general outbreak of hostilities in Germany,...
. Most of the generals felt a full engagement against two of the most experienced Protestant commanders was reckless and unlikely to have a positive outcome. However the cousins were supported by the Count of Leganés, the Spanish deputy commander. He appreciated that the Catholic army was significantly superior in numbers and had at its core the highly trained professional Spanish Infantry who had not been present at previous Swedish victories over the Imperials.
Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle, although this may not have been a mutual decision. Bernhard felt that whatever the odds an attempt must be made to relieve Nordlingen. Horn seems to have been reluctant to do so given the ragged state of the Protestant armies. Both commanders seem to have underestimated the numerically superior enemy forces. This may have been due to incorrect reports, or disbelieving those they had received. Whatever the reason Horn and Bernhard estimated that the Spanish reinforcements numbered only 7,000, not 21,000, added to the 12,000 Imperials this gave the Habsburgs a considerable superiority over the 26,000 Protestants.
During the battle, almost anything that could go wrong went wrong for the Protestant forces. This was due to the strong defensive efforts of the Spanish infantry, the feared "Tercios Viejos" (Old Tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
s), mainly those commanded by Fuenclara
Fuenclara
The Tercio of Fuenclara was a Spanish native Tercio who fought in the Battle of Nördlingen, in the Eighty Years' War....
, Idiáquez
Idiáquez
The Tercio of Idiaquez was a Spanish native tercio, a group of armed infantry, who fought in the Battle of Nördlingen, in the Thirty Years' War....
, and Toralto. Fifteen Swedish assaults by Horn's right wing, consisting of the brigades Vitzthum, Pfuel and the Scots Brigade (Colonel Gunn), supported by the brigade of Count Thurn (Black and Yellow Regiment) on the hill of Albuch, were repulsed by the Spaniards with the decisive support of Ottavio Piccolomini's Italian cavalry squadrons, under direct orders of another Italian commander, the loyal servant to the Spanish Crown, Gerardo di Gambacorta di Linata. On the left of the Protestant line the left Swedish wing under Bernhard of Weimar and the Imperial-Bavarian troops had avoided closing with each other, until late in the battle.
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Infante of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo , and military...
.
Gustav Horn af Björneborg was captured, his army was destroyed, and the remainder of the Protestants who successfully fled to Heilbronn
Heilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....
were only a remnant of those engaged.
Aftermath
Meanwhile, the victory led most of the Protestant princes of the Empire to seek a separate peace with the Emperor, which was achieved by the Treaty of Prague in 1635.
With Imperial forces threatening to totally dominate the Empire and with Spanish troops firmly settled on the western bank of the Rhine, great Habsburg armies had almost completely surrounded France's
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
frontiers.
Richelieu decided France needed to go beyond merely financing the enemies of the Habsburgs; entering the war mainly against Spain and thus opening a second front in the Catholic Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
.
In the long term, the battle proved to be just another twist in the complicated war. It ensured that a triumph of the Swedish led Protestants powers, would not occur. This enabled the Counter-Reformation to preserve its gains against the Reformation in central Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. That said, the victory did not lead to an overall Catholic-Habsburg victory, as the Spanish and Imperialist forces would suffer serious setbacks later in the war. Ultimately, the defeat of the Swedish forces at Nordlingen
Nördlingen
Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...
was largely responsible for French, not Swedish, goals taking precedence at the negotiations; with a significant effect on the political map of the Empire.