Johan Banér | |
|---|---|
 Johan Banér | |
| Born | 23 June 1596 Djursholm Castle, Sweden |
| Died | 10 May 1641 (aged 44) Halberstadt, Saxony |
| Allegiance | Sweden |
| Service/ | Swedish Army |
| Years of service | 1615–1641 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars | Ingrian War Polish–Swedish War (1621–1625) Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) Thirty Years' War |
| Other work | Privy Councillor |
Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War.
Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four-year-old he was forced to witness the execution of his father, the Privy Councillour Gustaf Banér, and uncle, Sten Axelsson Banér (also a Privy Councillour), at the Linköping Bloodbath in 1600, due to accusations of high treason by King Charles IX because of their support of King Sigismund. Though it was the father of King Gustavus Adolphus who had Banér's father executed, the two men developed a strong friendship from an early age, mostly due to Gustavus Adolphus reinstating the Banér family shortly after his coronation.[ citation needed ]
Banér joined the Swedish Army in 1615, whereupon, during the Swedish siege of Pskov during the Ingrian War, he proved himself to be an exceptionally brave young man.[ citation needed ]
He served with distinction in wars against Russia and Poland, and had reached the rank of colonel [1] by the age of 25.[ citation needed ]
In 1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed in Germany to assist German Protestant forces in the Thirty Years War, and, as one of the king's chief subordinates, Banér served in the campaign of north Germany, including leading the right wing of Swedish cavalry at the first Battle of Breitenfeld. He was present at the taking of Augsburg and Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the Lech and at Donauwörth. [1]
At the unsuccessful assault on Albrecht von Wallenstein's camp at the Alte Veste, Banér received a wound, and soon afterwards, when Gustavus marched towards Lützen, was left in command in the west, where he opposed the imperial general Johann von Aldringen. Two years later, as Swedish field marshal, Banér, with 16,000 men, entered Bohemia and, combining with the Saxon army, marched on Prague. However, the complete defeat of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar in the first Battle of Nördlingen stopped his victorious advance. [1]
After this event, the Peace of Prague placed the Swedish army in a very precarious position, but the victories won by the united forces of Banér and Alexander Leslie at Wittstock (4 October 1636), restored the paramount influence of Sweden in central Germany. [1] Banér, in his report to Queen Christina on the battle of Wittstock, stated the following: "[My soldiers] would have fallen into total disorder if Field-Marshal Leslie with the five brigades of foot which he had with him during the battle had not assisted us just in time and manfully attacked and turned 4 brigades of the enemy’s infantry away from us so that we could finally gain our breath". [2] [3]
However, the three combined armies were considerably inferior in force to those they had defeated, and in 1637 Banér was unable to make headway against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleaguered garrison of Torgau, he retreated beyond the Oder into Pomerania. [1]
In 1639, however, he again overran northern Germany, defeated the Saxons at Chemnitz and invaded Bohemia itself. The winter of 1640–1641 Banér spent in the west. His last achievement was an audacious coup de main on the Danube. Breaking camp in mid-winter (a very rare event in the 17th century), he united with the French under the Comte de Guébriant and surprised Regensburg, where the Diet was sitting. Only the break-up of the ice prevented the capture of the place. Banér thereupon had to retreat to Halberstadt. Here, on 10 May 1641, he died, possibly due to advanced liver cirrhosis caused by his excessive alcohol consumption, [4] after designating Lennart Torstenson as his successor. He was much beloved by his men, who bore his body with them on the field of Wolfenbüttel. [1] On the other hand, the enemies of Sweden rejoiced and a parody requiem hoping that he was burning in hell was even composed in Bohemia, which had been badly pillaged by Banér. [4] He was buried at the Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm. [5]
Banér as a general achieved his best results during the reign of Queen Christina under the command of Axel Oxenstierna. Because it can be claimed there were different reasons for victory in the Swedish victory at Wittstock (as testified by his differing reports of 1636 and 1640) the battle of Chemnitz may well have been his finest hour. He reputedly declined tempting offers that were made to him by the emperor to induce him to enter his service. [1]
In 1623, Banér married Catharina Elisabeth von Pfuel (1598–1636), Lady in waiting of Maria Eleonora of Sweden and daughter of Adam von Pfuel zu Johansfelde und Vichel and his wife, Barbara von Burgsdorff. She died on 20. February 1636. On 25. July 1636 Banér married Countess Elisabeth Juliana von Erbach (1600–1640), widow of Count Count Georg Ludwig von Löwenstein-Scharfeneck (1587–1633) and daughter of George III, Count of Erbach-Breuberg and his wife, Countess Maria von Barby-Mühlingen (1563–1619). After the death of his second wife, he married for the third time to Margravine Johanna von Baden-Durlach (1623–1661). He had children only with his first wife. His son from his first marriage, Gustaf Adam (1624–1681) received the dignity of Count Banér af Sortavala. [1]
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of King Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina, for whom he was at first regent.
The Battle of Wittstock took place during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). It was fought on 24 September or 4 October 1636. A Swedish-allied army commanded jointly by Johan Banér and Alexander Leslie decisively defeated a combined Imperial-Saxon army, led by Count Melchior von Hatzfeld and the Saxon Elector John George I.
Baron Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna was a Swedish statesman.
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven was a Scottish military officer and peer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in Swedish Army, and in Scotland became Lord General in command of the Army of the Covenanters, a privy councillor, captain of Edinburgh Castle, Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven. In England he commanded the Army of the Solemn League and Covenant and was senior commander of the Army of Both Kingdoms (1642–1647). Leslie served in the Thirty Years' War, the Bishops' Wars, and most of the English Civil War, fighting primarily in the First English Civil War. Leslie would live a long life, dying roughly at the age of 80 or 81.
Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe was a Swedish countess, landowner, and courtier. She is foremost known for being the love object of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and because he wished to marry her prior to his marriage, plans which were however never realized. Their love affair has been famous in the Swedish romantic history and the subject of fiction, and are documented in their preserved correspondence.
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Torsten Stålhandske was a Swedish officer in the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War. He was the son of Torsten Svensson (Stålhandske), a noble military officer of Swedish ancestry from West Gothland, and Carin Lydiksdotter Jägerhorn, of Finnish nobility from southern Finland. Torsten's father died in the Battle of Stångå when he was four years old, and his mother married a Scottish soldier, Major Robert Guthrie.
Johann or Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg was a German Field Marshal. At different times during the Thirty Years' War, he was a Field Marshal for the Holy Roman Empire and its opponent the Electorate of Saxony. He also pursued various diplomatic tasks.
Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Baron of Skalby, was a Scottish cavalry general during the Thirty Years' War rising to the rank of Field Marshal (1657–1662) in the Swedish-Polish wars that followed. He founded the Swedish branch of Clan Douglas.
The Battle of Chemnitz took place near the town of Chemnitz, in Electorate of Saxony, during the Thirty Years' War. Swedish forces under Johan Banér inflicted a crushing defeat on Rodolfo Giovanni Marazzino who commanded the Saxons and an Imperial detachment under Johann Christoph von Puchheim who was captured by the Swedes.
The Battle of Vlotho was fought on 17 October 1638. It was a victory for the Imperial Army under the command of Field Marshal Melchior von Hatzfeldt, and ended the attempt by Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, to recapture the Electoral Palatinate.
Elisabet Juliana Banér, was a German noble, married to the Swedish Field Marshal Johan Banér in 1636. She is considered to have wielded a certain influence upon Banér and the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War.
1636: The Saxon Uprising is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on March 29, 2011, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in March 2012. It is a direct continuation of 1635: The Eastern Front. The threads mentioned in this novel are taken up in 1637: The Polish Maelstrom.
Johannes Matthiae Gothus was a Swedish Lutheran Bishop of Strängnäs and a professor of Uppsala University, the rector of the Collegium illustrious, Collegium Illustre in Stockholm (1626–1629) and the most eminent teacher in Sweden during the seventeenth century. He was Bishop of Strängnäs from 1643 to 1664.
Lennart Torstensson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad, was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer.
Count Rodolfo Giovanni di Marazzino, also known as Rudolf Morzin, was from an Italian family that lived in Bohemia. From 1629 to 1637 he served in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of Wittstock where he still fought for the Emperor in an allied army he was hired by his ally Electorate of Saxony and promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. In 1639 he was defeated at his first battle in charge in the Battle of Chemnitz and dismissed.
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Per Gustafsson Banér, also known as Peder Gustafsson Banér was a Swedish nobleman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden.
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