War at all times has been a difficult, bloody and dirty business, that is, it was the legalized murder of one's neighbors, covered with a veil of various verbal nonsense, arising from the inability to solve the matter peacefully. However, then, during the Thirty Years War, the matter was aggravated by the fact that the war was also fought for faith, that is, for the correct salvation of one's immortal soul. But this soul had to be saved in the mud of trenches and bastions, under cannonballs and bullets, and, in addition, on a hungry stomach! Yes, yes, the hardships of this siege, moreover, to both warring parties, was also added by the lack of food. The Czechs, accustomed to good beer, sausage, dumplings and smoked meat, tolerated this especially painfully. And then I had to simply forget about all this. But worst of all, the city's defenders were running out of gunpowder. Therefore, they saved ammunition and fought mainly with melee weapons, and only in the most extreme situations did they start firing from cannons and muskets.
Battle of White Mountain (Peter Snyers, 1620).
The Imperials knew about the plight of the city. Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm gave the order to Field Marshal Coloredo to help him in any way, and the marshal sent six hundred cavalrymen from Prague under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Count Vrbna.
Infantryman's shield and helmet. Augsburg, 1590. Armory of the Residence Palace in Dresden. Since it was very difficult to break through the formation of pikemen, round shields were reanimated in the armies of Europe at the end of the 16th century, with which they began to arm the infantry. On the left and on the right are displayed heavy swords, like the so-called Walloon swords, with which, again, both horsemen and infantrymen fought.
He quickly reached the outskirts of the city and on June 26 unexpectedly attacked the Swedes from the rear, trying to give the impression that they were being attacked by a whole army. And he succeeded in this provocation! At some point, the Swedes really believed that there were much more Imperials, which caused a fair amount of turmoil among them. Taking advantage of this, the Austrians were divided into two groups. Two hundred horsemen portrayed an attack by thousands of Imperial cavalry, while four hundred managed to slip into the city. Of course, four hundred horsemen are not God only knows what forces, but the main thing was that they delivered 172 twenty-kilogram sacks of gunpowder to the city. Moreover, only half of the arrivals remained in the city, and the other left it immediately - because of the banal reason for the lack of food.
During the Thirty Years War, the cavalry, dressed in the characteristic "three-piece armor", played a very important role. Now it is no longer necessary to protect the legs below the knees, but the armor for the torso and for the hips has been improved in a very significant way. Here is the so-called field half-armor by Christian Möller in 1620. The Armory of the Residence Palace in Dresden.
All this angered the Swedes so much that they surrounded Brno with a completely impassable system of redoubts, ramparts and trenches, and the city was literally cut off from the outside world.
Note that the unification of military uniforms in European armies began only in the second half of the 17th century, and during the Thirty Years' War it was only just emerging. That is, the soldiers dressed according to the principle of "differently different", but as marks of distinction between their own and others, ribbons on camisoles and feathers on hats and helmets were of certain colors. For example, the color of the Spaniards and Austrians was red, the Swedes had traditionally yellow, the French had blue, and the Dutch had orange. (From a book on the history of military uniforms published in Germany in 1905.)
Meanwhile, Brno was also approached by the troops of the Swedish king's ally - the Transylvanian prince Rakosi - 10 thousand soldiers, including the German infantry, the Transylvanian cavalry and Hungarian hayduks. Torstensson, however, was well aware that there would be little benefit from such an ally, since he was already negotiating with the emperor about a separate armistice (although, according to the plan, Torstensson and Rakosi should have met near Vienna and jointly took the city).
Half-armor of a rider by the master Jacob Goering, 1640, Dresden. The Armory of the Residence Palace in Dresden.
Meanwhile, the famine in Brno intensified so much that on August 8 the townspeople were officially allowed to eat horse meat. Then there was not enough water. The only consolation for them was the prayers and sermons of Martin Strzheda, who, according to Suchet, seemed to be taking power from Heaven and passing it on to the city's defenders.
Pistol set from the mid-17th century. The Armory of the Residence Palace in Dresden.
Pistols with a wheel lock, that is, a mechanism that ignites gunpowder in the barrel, became most widespread during the Thirty Years' War. One of their design features is an almost straight handle. This form was born due to the fact that they had to shoot only at small distances, when the weapon became something like an extension of the hand. In addition, this helped to hold the pistols when fired, since they had a strong recoil due to their large caliber. The round apple on the handle was a counterweight and helped to snatch the weapon from the holster, which was located at that time at the saddle. Usually there were two such holsters - on the left and on the right, and the pistols were inserted into them with the handles outward, and not inward, so that they did not interfere with getting into the saddle. For a pair of pistols, a mandatory accessory was a powder flask-dispenser, usually finished with carved or engraved bone, a bag with bullets and … a key - to wind the spring of the pistol wheel! This pair is exhibited at the Municipal Museum in the city of Meissen, Germany.
The Špilberk Fortress from a bird's eye view.
On August 15, Torstensson first conducted an eleven-hour artillery barrage, and then ordered a general assault. But before that, he promised his also orderly exhausted soldiers that he would end the siege if the city was not taken before 12 noon. He made an oath, in front of everyone, and, moreover, most likely, he swore to God, how could it be without it. Meanwhile, many buildings in the city were on fire and were destroyed, and the Swedes launched an attack in six places at once. In two areas of the city's defense, they managed to break through it and enter its streets. One of the Špilberk bastions fell, and the Swedish banner was rinsed on it. A fierce battle raged on the streets. Not all of the townspeople had weapons, but the city had to be defended, and people began to fight with pitchforks and axes. Cobblestones were turned out of the city pavement and thrown out of the windows at the heads of the Swedish soldiers. Both O'Gilvy and Suchet fought here on a par with everyone else, wielding their heavy swords. Kept behind their men and women. In the Church of St. Thomas, they took the icon with the face of the Black Madonna and went on a procession with the cross, praying for her intercession. And the faith of these ordinary people was so strong that many later swore that they really saw the face of the Mother of God in the sky above the city that day. True, and the fact that today specialists prefer not to say anything definite about where this shrine came from, but then, in the 17th century, people sincerely believed that this icon was written by none other than the Evangelist Luke himself and that she would help them. And it was here that the bell ringer from the church on Petrov, seeing the procession from the tower, began to ring the bell, and at exactly 11 o'clock, that is, an hour before noon. Well, and Torstensson, hearing this ringing, decided that … it was already noon hour, and, fulfilling his promise, ordered his troops to withdraw, since he could not break the word given to the soldiers. Then he asked for a truce to bury his fallen and pick up the wounded, and on August 23, he completely lifted the siege from the city, and remained undefeated!
Cathedral of Peter and Paul, towering over the city of Brno. You can go down to it from the Špilberk fortress along a path through the park, passing a couple of hundred meters, and there is already a city and a market square, so it is not surprising why the Swedes were so eager to seize this particular fortress.
Cabbage, aka Green and Market Square. There even today they sell all kinds of herbs, fruits and vegetables from their gardens. A bit strange, but funny. The whole market is open-air, but … very clean, no flies (only bees) and nasty market smells! Immediately behind the fountain is the very interesting Moravian Museum of Brno, and behind it, again, the spiers of the Peter and Paul Cathedral - there is absolutely everything close by!
Facade of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul.
A very original external pulpit of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul, from which Martin Strzheda just exhorted his fellow citizens to stick to the end. "God is with us!" - he argued and … so it really turned out, because otherwise the Swedes would have won.
This is how it has since become a tradition that the bells on the clock in Brno ring at 11 and then again strike again at 12!
You cannot take pictures in this cathedral, moreover, due to the early time, our group was not allowed beyond the vestibule, since the floors were rubbed and cleaning was taking place. But on the other hand, you could shoot it outside as much as you like …
During the siege, the defenders lost 250 people. The Swedes lost up to eight thousand of their soldiers under the walls of Brno.
View of the altar inside St. Jacob in Brno.
After the end of the war, Emperor Ferdinand III ordered to help the city both with money and building materials, and also exempted the townspeople from taxes and customs duties for six years and granted a number of important privileges, including the right to conduct horse trades. The last of the privileges was very important at that time, as if it were forbidden to trade cars anywhere today, well, and then this ban would be lifted. Residents of the Brno suburbs, who participated in the defense of the city and lost their homes and property, were given the rights of Brno citizens free of charge. Finally, the old dispute between Brno and the city of Olomouc for the right to be called the capital of Moravia was resolved (since the Swedes took it back in 1642, and Brno stood before them, and twice!). Well, Czech students still say that it happened only because there was no student legion in Olomouc!
Field armor of the Duke Johan George II of Saxony. Work of master Christian Möller, 1650 Dresden. The Armory of the Residence Palace in Dresden. Of course, the armor of the commanders of the cavalry detachments differed from the armor of mass, almost serial production and could be the most real works of art.
It is always interesting to find out what fate the participants of certain events had afterwards. And here's what we know about it: the Jesuit Martin Středa died of tuberculosis in 1649, surrounded by the love and respect of the Brno inhabitants. Condottiere O'Gilvy was appointed commandant for life of Spielberk, given the rank of colonel and the title of baron, so that now he began to be called Baron von Ogilvy. Huguenot Suchet was also promoted to major general and earl. In the service of the Empire over the next 30 years, he was able to rise to the rank of field marshal, fought in Poland, and in Transylvania, and in Holland, but he was nevertheless buried in the city of Brno, in the Church of St. James, where today, right behind the altar above his tomb can be seen his bronze statue.
Tomb of Field Marshal Count Jean-Louis Reduis de Suchet in the Cathedral of St. Jacob in Brno. Located behind the altar.
The memory of all these people in Brno is honored to this day. The city has Strzhedova Street, a bust of Suchet and even the Ogilvy restaurant. By the way, O'Gilvy's son, Baron Georg Benedict von Ogilvy, also became a military leader and fought in three European armies, including the Russian army! In 1704, during the Northern War, it was he, the Russian Field Marshal Ogilvi, who stormed the Narva fortress. And he also drew up the first staffing table of the Russian army, which operated in it until 1731.
