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| Frankfurt War | |||||||||
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| Part of Forty Years' War | |||||||||
 The Battle of Pforzheim in 1596 would prove a major victory for the Catholic alliance against Württemberg |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Palatine
Supported by: |  Hesse
Supported by: |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Frederick V
| Joktan
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The Frankfurt War, also known among the Catholic alliance as the Hessian Rebellion and the Joktan's War, was the first phase of the larger Forty Years War within the Holy Roman Empire. The war began with the deadlock Imperial Election of 1595-96 following the death of Charles V. The first battles of the war broke out in the religiously divided city of Free City of Frankfurt in response. With no candidate arising that could garner the support of Catholics and Jungists alike, each side eventually elected their own emperor: first Frederick V of the Palatinate for the Catholics, followed by Joktan of Hesse for the Jungists. After weeks of bloodshed within Frankfurt itself, the city declared its neutrality in August 1596, and the war soon grew into the surrounding countries.
The Catholic alliance would be spearheaded by Leopold III of the Duchy of Habsburg, who had masterminded the creation of the Catholic League and a professional Catholic army in the wake of the War of the Three Henrys and the first Jungist emperor, Henry X. Despite suffering from leprosy, which eventually took his life in 1598, Leopold III would prove one of the most capable commanders of the war and led the Catholic alliance to victory. Conversely, the Jungists were far more disorganized and disunited at the outbreak of the war, with major states such as the Rätian Union hesitant to fight for the Hessian Emperor due to political differences. As a result the Jungist alliance largely consisted of Hesse and a coalition of Swabian states, including Württemberg and Ulm.
The Main River would be secured early in the war after the Siege of Hanau by Joachim Benz of Darmstadt, while pressure was put on Württemberg by Leopold III's decisive victory at Pforzheim in February 1597. Since the early 1500s the Swabian League had been under the control of the Dukes of Habsburg, but with the majority of Swabia being non-Catholic and opposed to conscription forced upon it by Leopold III, the region rebelled under the leadership of Maximilian Syrlin of Ulm, the grandson of the last non-Habsburg hegemon Franz von Sickingen. Syrlin and one of his lead generals, Jäcklein Rainier, would establish ties to Bavaria and the Rätian Union, which helped to influence the peace terms imposed by the Catholic alliance. Conversely Emperor Frederick V and his allies attracted aid from the Swiss Confederacy, the Duchy of Austria, and the three ecclesiastic electors of the Empire: Mainz, Cologne, and Trier, the latter three dominating the Rhine region and effectively surrounding Hesse and Württemberg.
The Frankfurt Phase would conclude in 1599 with the abdication of Joktan as Emperor. Württemberg was severely limited, with much of its territory being rewarded to the Duchy of Habsburg of the Palatinate, while the Swabian League was confirmed as under Habsburg influence is further weakened. This would not create a lasting peace however, as the war continued and only escalated further, with George II of Denmark soon being elected the second Emperor for the Jungists. The Frankfurt Phase would also be largely concurrent with the Hanseatic Civil War in northern Germany.
Background[]
Charles V would be the last universally accepted Emperor by both Catholics and Jungists before the Forty Years' War.
On 13 August 1595 Charles V, the Catholic Emperor from the Duchy of Livonia, died at the age of 68. The Emperor met his demise after an accidental impaling while trying on the armor and armament of his grandfather Marek Ironside during a dinner party, leaving the Holy Roman Empire to an uncertain fate. Charles had managed to keep the empire intact while serving as a neutral emperor, but his death put into motion a plan by his allies to keep Catholic control over the throne. Before his death, Charles V coordinated with the Catholic League, agreeing to put his son-in-law Frederick V of the Palatinate in his will as his successor, as he was deemed a neutral candidate that both the Habsburg and the Arpads could agree upon. Thus the Catholic side was highly organized behind one candidate, and entered the conference already confident in having secured half the electorate. With the victory in the Trier War, the Archbishopric of Trier could be counted as Catholic once more, as could the rest of the ecclesiastic electors, even in the wake of Hamburg-Lubeck’s conversion to Jungism.
Prior to the election the Rätian Union was disorganized in regards to its stance. The ongoing political schism between the “Optimates and Populares” of the Union – the lack of trust between the nobility and Jenagothas versus lower class politicians uplifted by the new government system – led to an internally focused government, which was hesitant to respond to foreign matters. However, the imperial delegation at the behest of President of the Magi Jair von Jenagotha sought to have a unified opinion going into the election. Gedeon II of Thuringia and Henry V of Saxony would be persuaded to form a strong voting bloc, voting for an agreed upon third party if needed, and not voting without consulting the other first. Similarly Bohemia and Brandenburg, although both preferring to elect a fellow Premyslid, found a Jungist Emperor non-negotiable in the wake of the religious upheaval in Bohemia before and during Charles V’s reign.
Although elderly by the time of the election, Zebulon Zobel retained the position of Premier Captain, and was a crucial vote for the Catholics. During Charles V’s reign he had also elevated three Catholic guardsmen, leaving the Imperial Guard in total at six Catholics and three Jungists, which would make a Jungist-backed veto of Zobel’s vote impossible. By chance the cabinet member votes were given to two Jungist-leaning officials who happened to agree, creating what would become a completely even 9-9 split of the imperial electorate.
Both sides attempted to sway or bribe members from the other to their cause. The most obvious targets were the cabinet members, Jaromir III of Bohemia and Imperial Guard Saumon Meise. Despite repeated attempts to bribe both men, Jaromir III refused because of the Catholic side’s chosen candidate, and Meise was zealously anti-Catholic and favored chaos over compromise. Simon Burkhart II secretly tried to pressure the Archbishop of Bremen to switch his vote, but when this was revealed the Hansa was lambasted by the other Archbishops, and complaints were sent to have Simon excommunicated. Charle V’s wife and his successor, Marek II, were both pressured to invoke the “Right of God’s Arbitration”, which would have undoubtedly benefited the Jungists by invalidating several ecclesiastic votes, but both were Catholic and refused.
After a deadlock of nearly three weeks, the conference was paused in preparation for Christmas, with plans to resume discussion and voting during the following spring. The Archbishop of Cologne would not return to Frankfurt, as he was adamant against changing his vote. Other electors, such as Henry V of Saxony, elected to not leave the city at all, preferring to monitor the situation closely. Allegedly, while traveling out of the city, an attempted assassination attempt was carried out against Saumon Meise, which would have ended the schism if it succeeded. Meise miraculously fought off his attackers and escaped, going into hiding. Jaromir III would elect to vote by proxy the coming spring, sending his brother Charles in his stead.
In late March voting was resumed. By this time the general populace was well aware of the issues and had their own opinions on the matter, as did numerous foreign nations. During the arrival of the Rätian delegates, which was now traveling with a large caravan of guards and courtiers, an impromptu parade broke out among the largely Jungist population of Frankfurt. Conversely, the Archbishop of Mainz was coldly received, but nonetheless entered the city with a large group of some 200 attainers. Numerous foreign dignitaries had arrived in the city, including a papal legate with word that Simon Burkhart had been excommunicated. It was hoped this would incite rebellion against him and perhaps turn the Hanseatic League Catholic once more, but it seemed to have the opposite effect of hardening Burkhart’s resolve.
The arrival of Catholic soldiers from Darmstadt in the vicinity of Frankfurt caused a panic in the city.
The deadlock would continue over the next few months, causing increasingly escalated bouts of violence and intrigue. Protests began across the city, much to the dismay of the leading mayors and city council. During one incident, the Archbishop of Salzburg organized a procession of the Catholic population through the city for a saint’s feast day, causing the gathered crowd to be attacked by onlookers. Three days later Salzburg was pushed out of town by a mob, with several of his entourage being captured. According to one account, "boisterous Jungists of Frankfurt... having captured a plethora of priests, nuns, and friars, caused divers feather beds to be ripped, and all the feathers thrown into a great hall, whither the nuns and friars were thrust naked with their bodies oiled and pitched and to tumble among these feathers." The Archbishop of Mainz and other officials from the late government of Charles V would begin organizing an armed response, calling upon reserves of the Imperial army to begin organizing around Frankfurt. A force of some 800 men from Darmstadt would be sent to the city strictly for the purposes of alleged peacekeeping.
|This decision was highly controversial and caused the city to fall into a panic. The solution by Salentin von Isenburg, Senior Mayor of Frankfurt, was to produce an ancient-looking document which he claimed was an edict from Henry VIII, Holy Roman Emperor, which decreed that generals and their armies, or any weapons, were not allowed within the city, as the city was to be a neutral meeting place, based on the rules of the ancient Roman Republic. Although almost certainly a forgery by Isenburg, the expertly crafted law and the evidence surrounding it was enough to halt the Archbishop of Mainz’s proposed plan for the time being. Instead the Archbishop’s militia was camped at Mörfelden, just south of Frankfurt and outside the city limits.
Salentin von Isenburg, the elderly Senior Mayor
Isaac Grieff, the untested Junior Mayor
So would begin a year long struggle by the partnership of Salentin von Isenburg and Junior Mayor Isaac Grieff to deter any damage to Frankfurt. Isenburg was an elderly and experienced politician, having served all his life in the Frankfurt assemblies, and multiple times as mayor. Grieff on the other hand was a young and untested man from a non-noble family, who unexpectedly rose to the position of Junior Mayor after receiving a plethora of throwaway votes. Fearing that both sides were in favor of increased escalation, the mayors would begin strategically spying on and befriending the various electors, hoping to learn of any plot before it could be initiated.
In early May the Mayors received word that Jungist extremists were planning to plant explosives in the city and kill some of the Catholic electors. Isenburg organized a very public feast with several prominent Catholics in the hopes of attracting the group's attention, and during the feast, Grieff searched underneath the building’s floorboards to discover the planted bomb and disarm it. Unaware of the bomb plot, Jungists perceived Isenburg as becoming Catholic-leaning and criticized him. Nonetheless, Isenburg used this apparent Catholic trust to receive rumors of a plot to assassinate Charles Premyslid and leaked this information to the Jungists, ending their criticism of him.
Despite the ban on weapons and soldiers within the city, a local noble named Hieronymus the Younger, a nephew of prominent leader Hieronymus Kellner, began organizing a Jungist militia in the city. Hieronymus’ group would patrol the streets and occasionally acted as police, but more often than not was a force of intimidation against Catholics and protection for Jungists. On one occasion Hieronymus appeared outside the residence of the Archbishop of Bremen, attempting to stop him from leaving the house for the vote. After receiving news that the Archbishop had been trapped in his house for a week, a Catholic militia led by Ludwig von Glauburg was formed that scared off Hieronymus after some light fighting in the street.
Isenburg’s solution was to have all the electors still present assemble within the Reichstag, with enough supplies and supporters to potentially stay there without leaving. Although this ensured the safety of the electors and quelled violence for a time, it would ultimately lock all the most belligerent men in the city together in the same building. Each elector was granted a room or small wing of the building, and each day Isenburg hoped to have a vote undertaken in the center of the building. It became clear that they would not come to a solution on their own, and Isenburg and Grieff attempted to meet with various electors privately and negotiate a compromise. For the next two months the situation in the Reichstag became an unproductive one, with meetings between the two sides only turning to arguments, and hours spent separately turning into plotting sessions, talks of strategy, and sometimes impromptu parties. The period would later be dramatized by Shakespeare in his play, 16 Angry Men.
The Catholic side was increasingly confident in Frederick V of the Palatinate, and argued that despite no formal vote being concluded that would have granted him the title, on account of him having the closest to a passing vote, and with many Jungist electors refusing to participate, he was by right the proper emperor. On 30 July Frederick V was referred to openly for the first time as emperor, and the Catholic electors attempted to pressure Isenburg into allowing the rest of the legislature into the building to witness this and confirm it. A physical altercation broke out, with the Duke of Hesse being injured, and the Archbishop of Salzburg being thrown out the building’s window in a cart of manure that was below. Isenburg suffered a blow to the head and was carried out of the building by Grieff and attendants, leaving the electors to their own devices for the rest of the night.
Battle of Frankfurt[]
The next morning Isenburg awoke to news of protests breaking out around the Reichstag. Hieronymus’ mob attempted to escort Catholic dignitaries into the building, and their parade soon turned into defensive march. The two mobs clashed outside the building, while the Frankfurter guard, numbering some 400 men on the periphery of the building, were essentially put to siege by the crowd outside, suffering 161 casualties over the following week. Inside the building, the electors initially split into their separate halves of the building, beginning the so-called “Battle of Twin Towers”. Over the course of the next week the electors and their handful of retainers fought to take over the interior of the Reichstag compound. On 2 August a nighttime sortee into the Catholic wing led to a dozen people dead, the wounding of Duke Elias of Brandenburg and Zebulon Zobel losing his left ear, before being carried away by fellow guard Stephen the Stranger and a Cologne clergyman.
A woodcut engraving depicting the chaos within the Reichstag.
Although those outside the city were partially aware of the situation, sending exact information outside the building was difficult. The Archbishop of Salzburg, essentially in house arrest two blocks away, coordinated news to outsiders, while Imperial Guard Johann von Tiefen attempted to send word to the Catholic force outside through carrier pigeon. Hieronymus’ mob ordered all birds around the Reichstag to be hunted, and for Catholic messengers to be killed, but slowly word did escape. The head of the Mainz army from Darmstadt, Joachim Benz, began marching on the city, capturing the outskirts of southern Frankfurt. East of Kelsterbach, his forces would be ambushed by Jungists who awaited his arrival and were stalking his camp, leading to a hard fought battle on 4 August. Nonetheless, Benz’s advance caused Catholic forces to launch an attack on the Reichstag, managing to smuggle 70 men through the crowds and into the building. These forces would be directly responsible for capturing Grand Admiral Henry von Sudland, and would claim the life of Andreas Vesalius, the High Medicus attempting to care for the wounded.
While the Catholics were smuggling men in, the Jungists attempted to smuggle someone out. Knowing that his lands were the closest to Frankfurt and hoping to personally lead a Jungist relief force, the Duke of Hesse managed to rappel out a window during the chaos. However, the following day he would be captured on the road and imprisoned by an opportunistic mercenary captain, but he managed to spread word beforehand, allowing a messenger to flee into Hesse and alert the Duke’s relatives.
With foreign forces now marching toward Frankfurt, Grieff led a small force of Frankfurter militia toward the Reichstag hoping to negotiate a truce. This was aided by Isenburg managing to capture several rebel leaders earlier that day, including Hieronymus. Ultimately the electors would come to a gentlemen’s agreement: they would all go their separate ways and make preparations for war if they wished, but they would all be allowed free access to flee the city in peace. It soon became a race among the electors to travel back to their home territories and convince the rest of their allies toward war. Frankfurt itself however proved too valuable to completely vacate, and both sides retained a vested interest.
War in Hesse[]
With the Duke of Hesse already en route north, Hessian forces would be the first to respond to the crisis. Otherwise from the Jungists, the first proponent of all-out war was Henry V of Saxony, who returned to the Rätian Union to begin raising Saxon forces, even before the national government could approve such a thing. Others such as the Elias of Brandenburg remained in the city, helping to oversee a break up of mob forces. Frankfurt was left in a precarious position as a Jungist city largely surrounded by Catholic powers. Most of the city was surrounded by the Archbishopric of Mainz, with the Palatinate nearby. The nearest Jungist states included Württemberger Hanau, Hesse, and minor states such as Isenburg-Birstein, ruled by a relative of Salentin von Isenburg, Count Reinhard, who controlled the Frankfurter suburb of Offenbach.
The Archbishop of Mainz, Wolfgang von Dalberg, largely separated himself from military endeavors, leaving Benz in a position to act independently. He quickly took charge of the remnants of his 800 men, plus 320 militiamen from the surrounding Frankfurt area, and approximately 250 knights and various men at arms stationed in the city by the Catholic electors, and secured the southern bank of the Main and marched on Offenbach, which fell within a day without much resistance or bloodshed. Emperor-elect for the Catholics, Frederick V, traveled to Mainz to be crowned, an event which hastily occurred on 21 August. Letters would be sent across the Empire calling all princes of the Empire to recognize him, while prominent Jungists like Jair von Jenagotha began publicizing the perceived illegitimacy of the election.
Nevertheless most states were hesitant to fully mobilize and commit to war, especially as Frederick V began to receive recognition from major nations across Europe. Fearing retaliation, several Jungist states formally recognized Frederick, while most simply remained quiet. In particular minor Jungist states of the Rhineland and area around Frankfurt quickly submitted, and from both sides nearby unfortified manors, monasteries, and small towns saw people evacuate toward nearby major cities or fortresses. A brief battle would occur in the city of Frankfurt on 28 August, which ultimately saw the Lord Mayors successfully defeat the mobs within the city and restore order. In the aftermath the city issued a statement that it would officially be neutral and stood down, and those who sought to openly resist the government were banished, either directly or indirectly. Dozens of nobles within the city would flee, while 400 armed Jungists marched out to rendezvous with reinforcements at Hanau.
The Siege of Hanau proved the first major engagement of the war outside Frankfurt.
With several successful skirmishes under his belt in the holding of the southern bank of the Main and Offenbach, Benz marched east through the allied town of Mülheim, collecting additional Imperial soldiers and levies from eastern Mainz, and elected to besiege the city of Hanau before the Hessians could arrive and relieve it. Additional forces under Frederick V’s brother, Louis Philip, and imperial detachments from across the Rhineland soon joined him. At the same time, Arnold of Isenburg-Grenzau led an Imperial-Trevian army east into Nassau, helping to distract the Hessian advance. Forces from Hesse were slow to assemble; on paper the Duke of Hesse had raised some 20,000 soldiers including mercenaries, but only about 5,600 soldiers were in Nassau, and another 4,000 near Wetzlar.
The diversion proved successful, and the Duke of Hesse took his main army southwest toward southern Nassau rather than toward Hanau. Although the city of Hanau possessed a large stockpile of food and supplies, the influx of people strained resources, and the city lacked gunpowder for their artillery. On 3 November the city’s walls were breached, and after hours of hand-to-hand fighting in the streets the city was captured. Benz recognized several nobles who had fled and had them imprisoned for ransoms, with a handful executed for those linked to the riots in Frankfurt. An enormous sum was also demanded from the Duke of Württemberg as war reparations for sparing the city and not razing it. Instead this only ensured Württemberg would firmly join the Jungists in mobilization.
In late 1596, with Imperial forces now aiding rebellion in the Hanseatic League, Simon Burkhart would organize a counter election among the Jungist electors. With Frankfurt not deemed safe, a conference was held in Mühlhausen that was partially attended, with Hanseatic delegates, Duke Elias’ nephew Edmund from Brandenburg, Charles Přemyslid representing Bohemia, the Dukes of Thuringia and Saxony, and Duke Joktan of Hesse’s brother Mordecai being the most notable attendants. Even with crisis breaking out, the electors were still partially divided. Mordecai would succeed in arguing that to show solidarity behind the current leader of the Jungist cause on the battlefield, his brother Joktan was the clear choice, much to the dismay of the Rätian delegates. Joktan’s election was only partially accepted, and was argued to be illegitimate by many, but nonetheless at the end of the year he was crowned in the city of Wetzlar in between overseeing mobilization.
Swabian Campaign[]
In response to Hesse and Württemberg taking up arms, Leopold III, Duke of Habsburg was dispatched into Swabia with the army of the Catholic League that he helped mastermind. Some 8,000 professional soldiers, combined with 4,500 levies from Habsburg, the Palatinate, and their Rhineland allies, crossed from Baden into southwest Württemberg. Conrad V of Württemberg canceled plans to imarch on the Palatinate city of Heidelberg and instead rushed back toward Stuttgart. Although the Habsburg Dukes were nominally hegemons over the Swabian League, and had extorted a number of soldiers prior to the outbreak of war, the vast majority of Swabia was Jungist or Kalfkanist, allowing Conrad V to quickly find allies. Hohenzollern was a vassal of Hesse and thus entered the war alongside them, while the major state of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein under Count George Frederick was also quick to come to his aid.
The Habsburgs marched east from Karlsruhe through a northern pass of the Black forest, where they were forced to engage with Protestant defenders at Pforzheim. Although a small town of only some 3,000 people, the town consisted of sizable fortifications, and was soon reinforced with some 5,000 men from Stuttgart. Another center of the Habsburg alliance, Rottweil, was encircled by the Count of Hohenzollern. Although largely non-Catholic, Rottweil had a close relationship with the Swiss Confederacy, and had been occupied by the Habsburgs previously. As such the city retained a Catholic garrison prior to the war. No pitched battle would occur until 31 January 1597, when 3,000 men under the command of Count George Frederick were lured westward by Lothar Zobel of Rastatt and decisively defeated. Nonetheless Zobel failed to reach Rottweil, while outnumbered and juggling multiple enemy armies, and the city fell on 15 February.
The Capture of Pforzheim by Leopold III.
Despite this, Leopold III pressed on, and encountered the main army of Conrad V attempting to relieve Pforzheim. The Catholic army was slightly outnumbered, with some 12,500 soldiers versus 5,000 soldiers in the city and an 8,750 man relief force commanded by the Duke. The town's commander, a relative of the Duke named Edmund the Pale, ordered a sortie from the fortifications to support Conrad's advance, only to have his forces decimated by Catholic artillery placed out of reach of the city walls. Conrad's army, which was engaging with the Catholic army perpendicular to the city walls, attempted to send his heavy cavalry across the battlefield to support the advance by Edmund the Pale, but these forces were quickly routed. This eventually turned to a disastrous rout for the entire Württemberger army, and Conrad V fled from the battlefield. Edmund the Pale and other nobles and commanders would be captured, while the town of Pforzheim surrendered formally soon after. The remaining army of the country fled to Stuttgart in a panic.
The rapid success of the Habsburgs alarmed the rest of Swabia, leading several minor states to surrender or recognize the Catholic emperor. Alternatively, Nehemiah II of Breisgau began covertly organizing resistance to the Habsburgs in the form of a rebellion among the Swabian League. The state to be the most outspoken against the Habsburgs in Swabia was the state the furthest away from them, Ulm, led by Maximilian Syrlin, the grandson of famed Hegemon of the Swabian league Franz von Sickingen in the early part of the century. Through Nehemiah’s negotiation and persuasion, Maximilian Syrlin agreed to take up the cause as a rival claimant to Leopold III. He received the support of Gedeon II of Thuringia, who wed his daughter Jezebel to Maximilian, and received a small stipend and a group of some 1,000 volunteers, called the renewed Blue Army, and 3,400 contracted former Imperial soldiers. Other states to join Syrlin included states less indebted to the Habsburgs, such as Reutlingen and Ravensburg, but included one notable defection in the form of Count Joachim of Veringen.
In the months after the victory at Pforzheim, Leopold III suffered an injury that forced him to hand command to several other generals, including Frederick of Durlach and Franz Karrer, leader of a Swiss detachment to Swabia. Officers at the time would remark that Leopold III had been fearless in battle, seemingly not feeling pain when struck. This would prove to be more literal than observers intended, as it soon became evident that Leopold was suffering from leprosy. With the aid of one of his advisors, Ulrich Steigleder, Leopold managed to cover this up for some time, but by the time of the Swabian campaign it became impossible to hide. When Leopold emerged he donned a mask over his face and was often fully covered. Despite attempts by the rest of the Catholic alliance to have him retire, he swore to finish what he had begun before his death ultimately came.
While Leopold III was absent from command, Frederick of Durlach elected to raid much of western Württemberg rather than besieging Stuttgart directly, hoping to force the city to surrender without a fight, and to replenish his supplies and coffers. To this end Durlach would achieve a minor victory at Sachsenheim against a force of some 3,000 Jungists on 1 April. Throughout the early half of the year over a dozen castles and towns would fall to the Habsburg army, putting continual pressure on Conrad V and his allies. In the meantime the Swiss Confederacy under Huldrych Jaunch spearheaded an invasion of the rebellious Swabian League, defeating the Count of Hohenzollern at Tuttlingen, and retaking Rottweil in July. Nonetheless, the involvement of the Swiss aided in recruitment among the Swabian cities, and by the end of summer some 5,500 infantry and 1,000 cavalry had been acquired and tasked with invading the eastern, estranged territories of the Duchy of the Habsburg.
During the Siege of Ehingen in late July, a Jungist officer and volunteer from Hall named Jäcklein Rainier would be placed in command of the Swabian forces by Maximilian Syrlin after he led the capture of the city by drawing away the defenders in a fake attack elsewhere. Upon receiving word that Durlach was now marching southeast to aid in the reprisal against the Swabians, Rainier rushed north to meet them, arriving outside Reutlingen on 19 August. The battle the following day would result in one of the few major defeats for the Catholics in the early era of the war, with Durlach himself only barely escaping with his life. Of the 10,000 Catholic soldiers, at least 1,300 would be dead and another 2,500 captured, versus Rainier’s 7,000 men suffering only 600 casualties. When Leopold III learned of this he ordered Durlach to resign, and took direct control of the army once more despite his ailing health.
Rainier sought to relieve Stuttgart, which had been formally placed under a siege at the end of July, but first was forced to repulse Jaunch’s forces, which were now advancing across Hohenzollern. Although the Swiss would be defeated at Gomaringen, the distraction gave time for Leopold III to march toward Stuttgart with the remnants of Durlach’s army and new reinforcements from the Palatinate and Speyer. At the subsequent Battle of Harrenberg on 9 October, Leopold’s army would prevail in defeating the Swabian alliance, but failed to follow the fleeing Jungist army. Both sides subsequently called off further offensives due to an outbreak of disease, and later the beginning of winter. Harrenberg would be the last engagement Leopold fought in which he could still wield a sword in his right hand, and he soon lost ability in that arm.
That winter Württemberg suffered the loss of several of its more distant territories and castles. Ravensburg was directly besieged by the Swiss and Austrian volunteers, followed by Württemberg’s southeast territories. Rainier pillaged Swabia into the early months of 1598, before he was dismissed by Syrlin. He traveled into Bavaria and was warmly received as a hero, helping to raise Jungist soldiers much to the worry of Frederick V, who had hoped to keep Bavaria neutral due to his familial ties. Although Bavaria did not outright invade during the Swabian Campaign, Rainier’s negotiations caused enough alarm to the point where the potential intervention would later influence the future peace arrangements. Swabia would suffer a high degree of destruction, as both sides relied on marauding mercenaries to apply pressure to the other. Nehemiah II’s death to old age in early 1598 additionally weakened the Swabian cause.
By the spring of 1598 the fall of Ravensberg, Reutlingen, and Sigmaringen, among others, effectively ended the Swabian Campaign, with the majority of Syrlin’s alliance now making peace. Conrad V would write to Joktan of Hesse, stating that with no other option available he was expecting to surrender Stuttgart rather than see the city destroyed. Although this accounted for a major part of the nation’s army, a force of 3,000 men instead evacuated to Ulm, while the Count of Hohenzollern and other nobles attempted to flee into Jungist territory and continue the fight another day. Hohenzollern would eventually become the head of the largest continent, leading an army from Swabia north in the hopes of aiding Hesse directly. On 5 April 1598 Duke Conrad V surrendered the duchy and abdicated.
Aftermath[]
After spending much of late 1600 severely wounded, Joktan retook control of the Hessian military in February 1601. By this time however, Siegen, Wetzlar, Dortmund, and other crucial cities in the region had fallen. Two of Joktan’s brothers and trusted commanders, Mordecai and Konrad, had been killed in battle, several relatives, nobles, and generals had been captured, and only Eduard von Battenberg and Peter Melander remained active in the field. Joktan’s attempts to court foreign aid had been partially successful, but his stubborn refusal to relinquish the imperial crown limited his alliances. After the disastrous Battle of Hatzfeld on 28 February the situation became dire enough for Joktan to reconsider. On 7 March 1601 he formally abdicated the imperial throne and the electorate, hoping such an act would spare the nation of worse consequences.
Frederick V and the Catholic coalition instead ordered harsh terms. Joktan’s request for a pardon was refused and he fled into exile, establishing a ducal government-in-exile. Other nobles and relatives were ordered to be imprisoned or executed for treason. It soon became clear that much of Hesse’s lands would be partitioned, most of which going to the nearest Catholic relatives of Joktan, but other lands being divided among the Catholic allies. Bodo von Stolberg, Joktan’s second cousin in law and the Catholic younger son of Henry X, Count of Stolberg, was awarded Arnsburg, while Joachim Benz was awarded lands from Giessen. The closest Catholic relative overall to Joktan passed through the House of Courtenay, who later became Kings of England, leading to a proposed English Duke. The electorates of Hesse and Nassau were also to be severed. Jungist churches and universities were closed down, Catholic bishops were appointed, and a 1,000-manuscript library personally owned by Joktan would be captured and gifted to the Pope in appreciation for his financial aid during the campaign.
- The late Leopold III of Habsburg was posthumously proclaimed “Restitutor Imperii” (“Restorer of the Empire”) and awarded an Iron Cross. The government would issue a grant toward the construction of a mausoleum in Frankfurt, although this would be delayed and not completed until after the war.
- Huldrych Jaunch was knighted and given a place in the Imperial Guard for his crucial leadership during the Battle of Hatzfeld, replacing Damien Vallier.
- Charles of Somerset, brother of King William III of England and Lotharingia, was awarded the position of Elector of Hesse. An arranged marriage would occur between himself and Joktan’s sister, Naomi “the Key”, so named for being the supposed key to the Hessian throne after she converted to Catholicism. Naomi would be declared Duchess of Hesse-Freidberg. Additionally, the English would promise 8,000 soldiers and 50,000 florins a month toward the pacification of Hesse-Kassel. The Duchy of Hesse was further divided:
- The Duchy of Hesse-Marburg was awarded to Henry Frederick von Wittelsbach, younger son of Frederick V.
- The Duchy of Hesse-Giessen was granted to Joachim Benz.
- Burgrave of Butzbach
- The Duchy of Hesse-Giessen-Friedberg (or Hesse-Freidberg) was granted to Naomi, consort of Elector Charles of Hesse.
- The Landgraviate of Homburg was awarded to Ernst Staphylus.
- The Duchy of Habsburg was granted electorate status in replacement of Nassau. Nassau proper was further divided:
- The Duchy of Duchy of Nassau-Limburg was granted to Louis Philip of Veldenz, brother of Frederick V.
- Joachim Benz was appointed Grand Marshall and the head of the Catholic League army, making him the highest ranking military official in the Holy Roman Empire.
- Walter von Isenburg of Joktan’s Imperial Guard surrendered and was pardoned, but was removed of his rank.
- 129 men awarded rank of edler, 301 men knighted, 53 men awarded rank of freiherr, 16 viscounts (vizegraf) created, 20 free counts (freigraf) created, 34 burgaves created, and three rhinegraves created.
Joktan’s chosen successor as elector, Ermanaric III, refused to vacate Kassel despite being ordered deposed by Frederick V. Hesse-Kassel had not been occupied by the Catholic coalition, and with Joktan’s abdication the Rätian Union would intensify its support for the Jungist cause, especially due to marriage ties between Ermanaric and the Thuringian aristocracy. The Rätian Union now faced a real threat of a hostile, Catholic state on its border with claim to its territory of Bayreuth, and the nation’s initial hesitation ended. Thuringian diplomats would orchestrate negotiations with the Hansa, persuading them to relinquish claim to Schleswig. This was because the Rätian ally of Denmark had been hesitant to intervene against the Catholics until it could be promised lands in southern Jutland and the imperial crown. With Rätian assistance and the abdication of Joktan, both of these goals were achieved. Additionally, George II of Denmark had nominally been King of England through his marriage to Elizabeth I, before they were both forced to flee England in 1594. The prospect of his main rival and replacement in England gaining control over Hesse pushed George toward advocating for war. The destruction of Hesse had similarly disrupted the balance of power in the empire, with Catholics gaining a level of control not seen since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. This galvanized the remaining neutral powers of the empire and its neighbors, making escalation inevitable.
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