Federico Savelli was an Italian military commander who fought in 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....

.

Biography

Born into a noble family of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, he was the son of Bernardino Savelli, lord of Palombara, and Lucrezia degli Anguillara

Anguillara

Anguillara were a baronal family of Latium, especially powerful in Rome and in the current province of Viterbo during the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance....

.

After fighting in Hungary for emperor Rudolph II, he was made commander-in-chief of Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 and the Romagna

Romagna

Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...

 by Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V

-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...

. Pope Gregory XV

Pope Gregory XV

Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...

 made him lieutenant general of the Papal States

Papal States

The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

. After another period as commander of Ferrara, Savelli moved to Germany, at the service of emperor Ferdinand II

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...

, who named him as chamberlain.

Subsequently Savelli gained the favour of the Albrecht von Wallenstein

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...

, the imperial generalissimo during the early stages of 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....

, and obtained the command of Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...

. The surrender of Demmin

Demmin

Demmin is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district Demmin.- Name :...

 to Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden and his poor commanding performances caused a momentary obfuscation of Savelli's star, although Ferdinand kept his at his service and appointed him as ambassador to the Pope in 1631. On 19 January 1635 he was named imperial field-marshal.

After the accession of Ferdinand III

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:...

 of Habsburg as emperor, Savelli was one of the commanders of imperial army alongside Johann von Werth

Johann von Werth

Count Johann von Werth , also Jan von Werth or in French Jean de Werth, was a German general of cavalry in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:...

. He was defeated and made prisoner at the Second Battle of Rheinfelden

Battle of Rheinfelden

The Battle of Rheinfelden was a military event in the course of the Thirty Years' War, consisting in fact of two battles fought in 1638 to the north and south of the present-day town of Rheinfelden, between a mercenary army led by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and an Holy Roman Empire army led by Johann...

  (1638), but was able to escape and was sent back as ambassador at the Papal court. During the War of Castro, he was commander of Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

. In 1646 defended the Habsburg stronghold of Orbetello

Orbetello

Orbetello is a town and comune in the province of Grosseto , Italy. It is located c. 35 km south of Grosseto, on the eponymous lagoon, which is home to an important Natural Reserve.-History:...

against a French naval attack.

Federico Savelli died in December 1649.

Sources