sired to appear before the emperor to justify his actions, his death and the confiscation of his estates were acts of willful murder and robbery. His own life being full of violence and cruelty, his end may be regarded as a just retribution for his crimes; but this in no way excuses Ferdinand’s precipitate and cruel action toward one who had done him so many inestimable services.
After the death of Wallenstein, the emperor placed the chief command of the army into the hands of his son Ferdinand III, who at once marched to Bavaria against the Swedes. In the meantime the Swedes, under General Banner, had joined the Saxons, and the united armies again invaded Bohemia, reaching the city of Prague. But Colloredo, the commander of the forces in that city, receiving re-enforcements, finally succeeded in driving them out of the country.
Ferdinand III, obtaining a decisive victory over the Swedes, and the emperor agreeing to grant some concessions, the Elector of Saxony, as well as several other German princes, made peace, and thus a short respite was granted to Bohemia. This, however, was not for long; for France, the ancient enemy of the house of Hapsburg, commenced a new war.
In 1637, Ferdinand II died, being in his fifty-fifth year. His son, Ferdinand III, assumed the government, inheriting all his father’s provinces, as well as the war with the French and the Swedes.
FERDINAND III.
In the year 1638, the Swedes, under Banner, again invaded Bohemia, and, meeting with little resistance, took city after city, devastating the country in a most
