nal victory over Generals Hatzfield and Goetz at Jankov, of whom the former was killed and the latter taken prisoner. The Swedes then advanced as far as Vienna, but did not venture to cross the Danube, which was guarded upon the other side by artillery and a strong garrison.
In 1646, the war being carried on outside of Bohemia, Ferdinand III embraced the opportunity to come to Prague to have his fourteen-year-old son, also Ferdinand, crowned King of Bohemia.
In 1648 the terrible Thirty Years’ War was drawing to its close; but before it ended, the Swedes again visited the country with fearful devastations. Coming to Prague, through the treachery of some of the inhabitants, they entered the city on the Small Side, and immediately began the work of destruction. The houses were broken into and pillaged, and the people murdered without mercy. Some of the fugitives, escaping to the Old Town, gave the alarm, and the city at once made preparations for a stout defense. The whole city was up in arms, and resisted the attacks of the besiegers with so much valor that they were kept at bay, when the joyful tidings were brought to the city that peace had been made at Westphalia. But before the news came, the Swedes had plundered the palace at Hradschin, sending off many loads of treasures down the Moldau and the Elbe.
At the close of the war, Ferdinand visited Prague, thanked the citizens for so ably defending the city, and rewarded them with a gift of 300,000 guilders. Then, as an act of devotional thanksgiving, he ordered a pillar with the Virgin and Child, still standing, to be put up in the large rink of the Old Town.
