Heinrich Matthias von Thurn-Valsássina

Henrik Mattias, von Thurn, greve till Thurn och Valsassina, friherre till Kreutzberg, herre till Wellisch, Wisternitz, Lansdorf, Gedingen, Deutschbrod, Passitsch, Wastmy, Krautheim och Wolmerstadt.

Född 1567 på slottet Lipnick i Böhmen. Vidsträckta utrikes resor 1584–1586, bl. a. djupt in i Afrika och Asien. Gick i österrikisk tjänst 1588. Krigshovråd samt 1601 överste. De böhmiska ständernas generallöjtnant 1609. Erhöll samma tjänst hos de mähriska ständerna 1619. Fältmarskalk och generalfältmarskalk 1620. Efter nederlaget vid Prag s. å. i siebenbürgiska fursten Bethlen Gabors tjänst. Republiken Venedigs överbefälhavare 1622.

Avsked därifrån 1627 och gick s. å. först i dansk, sedan i svensk tjänst. Deltog i striderna i Preussen 1628. Generallöjtnant 1629. Guvernör i Ingermanland med underliggande fästningar Narva, Jama och Coporie s. å. Svensk ambassadör till kurfursten av Brandenburg 1630. Kommenderande befälhavare över svenska arméerna i Schlesien och Mähren 1633. Slagen av Wallenstein vid Steinau s. å. och tillfångatagen men frigiven s. å. Överkommendant i Würzburg 1634.

Natural. svensk greve 1635 (barnbarnen introd. s. å. under n:o 4, vilket nummer sonsonen Henrik 1650 avstod till förmån för Axel Oxenstierna, varefter ättens nummer blev 5.

Död 1640 i Pernau, dit han begav sig 1636 och där tillbragte sin ålderdom i stillhet, samt begraven 1640 i Revals domkyrka.

"Han var en tapper krigare och utmärkte sig särdeles under det år 1604 utbrutna bondeupproret i Österrike, då han jagade de upproriska ur landet. Bekände sig till lutherska religionen och erhöll 1609 kejsarens försäkran om fri religionsövning samt var vid konungavalet i Böhmen en av de generaler, som med 30,000 man försvarade protestanternas sak. Fredade Prag mot de katolska samt anförde det stora fältslaget på Vita berget vid nämnda stad den 29 okt. 1620, då han likväl måste vika tillbaka. Nödgades därefter för sin religionsbekännelses skull, lämna allt vad han ägde i Böhmen samt begav sig till Siebenbürgen, vars furste, Bethlen Gabor, låg i fält mot kejsaren. Skickades av honom med en armé till Ungern och slog kejserliga generalen greve Bucquoi 1621. Inryckte 1623 med turkiska hjälptrupper i Mähren och intog åtskilliga orter. Gick 1624, vid freden emellan kejsaren och Bethlen Gabor, till Holland, varifrån han kom till Venedig, Danmark och sist i svensk tjänst. Blev därunder överfallen av Wallenstein vid Steinau 1633 samt nödgades giva sig fången med förlust av 2,000 man. Utgav 1635 från trycket en försvarsskrift mot några äreröriga beskyllningar, som blivit honom gjorda i Tyskland."

Jindřich Matyáš Thurn-Valsassina (German: Heinrich Matthias Graf von Thurn und Valsassina; Italian: Enrico Matteo Conte della Torre di Valsassina; Finnish: Henrikki Matias Thurn-Valsassina) (24 February 1567 – 26 January 1640), was a leading Bohemian nobleman, one of leaders against Ferdinand II of Bohemia and in events that led to the Thirty Years War, and in the end a military and diplomat in Swedish service, residing in Swedish Estonia.

Life

He was the son of geheimrat of the Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, Franz Napus von Thurn-Valsassina (František Thurn), count of Linz (1508–1586) and his second wife countess Barbora of Schlick (1547–1581), daughter of Hieronymus Schlick (Jeroným Šlik), count of Bassano and Weißkirchen and countess Katharina von Gleichen-Tonna.

Both of his parents were Protestants. Count Jindrich Matyas was born on in Lipnice nad Sázavou castle in Bohemia. After the death of his father, he was fostered to his Catholic uncle John Ambrose.

Young count Thurn served in the Austrian embassy, and visited Istanbul, Syria, Egypt and Jerusalem. Since 1592 he served in the imperial army against Turks. He rose to the ranks of colonel and War Councillor. By marriage, he came into remarkable landholdings, in Croatian Krajina among other places. The Emperor granted him the burgraviate of Karlštejn Castle as reward for his accomplishments in the battles against the Turks in Hungary. In northeast Bohemia he purchased 1605 the lordship of Veliš manor (near town Jičín), which brought him to the membership of the Bohemian estate of nobles. He joined politically the Protestants of Bohemia. He served as marshal of the nobility.

In 1617, the devout Catholic archduke Ferdinand was put forward as Habsburg successor to the aged, childless emperor Matthias, and also to be elected to the Bohemian throne. Bohemian nobles required him to commit to honor their freedom of religion, enshrined in the Decree of the late emperor Rudolph (Letter of Majesty). Thurn was one of signatories of Bohemians' critical reply to Ferdinand.

Leader of the Bohemian Rebellion

Ferdinand was not willing to do that. However, his election was pushed forward. In 1618, in a stormy event at the Hradčany Castle (i.e. royal palace) of Prague, count Thurn lead the Bohemian nobles who defenestrated two of Ferdinand's representatives, Bořita of Martinice and Slavata of Chlum together with scribe Philip Fabricius.

Thurn was elected as one of the thirty Defenders of the Protestant Faith elected by the Estates of Bohemia. The revolt of the Protestant population of Bohemia began on 23 May 1618 and Thurn took command of the national army which deployed before Vienna on 6 June 1619 and again on 26 November. He participated in deposing Ferdinand of Bohemian throne and in the election of Frederick V, Elector Palatine as new king. Count Thurn was commander of a regiment at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. After the Bohemians' defeat there, Ferdinand exiled him, like all the other leaders of the uprising. Thurn so lost his estates in Bohemia.

In exile

Afterwards Thurn continued to take part in the fighting and political negotiations of the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburgs, as diplomat and as soldier. In 1626 he took command of some troops in Silesia. Then he served as lieutenant general in the army of King Gustav Adolf of Sweden. His only son, count Frantisek Bernard, who rose to the rank of colonel in Swedish service, fell ill during the Polish campaign and died in 1628.

On 11 October 1633 Thurn and his force of 8000 soldiers were confronted by Wallenstein's army near Steinau an der Oder in Saxony, where he was captured. He was ransomed soon from the captivity, and retired to the family's new holdings in Pärnu (Pernau), Estonia. Count Thurn died there, and was buried in the St Mary's Cathedral of Tallinn.

His heir was his underage grandson, count Heinrich von Thurn-Valsassina of Pärnu (1628–1656), son of František Bernard (1592–1628) and Magdalena von Thurn-Valsassina (born von Hardeck).

Count Thurn wrote a booklet in German, titled Defensionsschrift ("Writing about Defenestration"), where justifying his role in the events of 1618 as a deliberate, conscious defence of his religious beliefs. The booklet was published in Sweden.