36 Wallenstein
destroyed, and certainly the opportunists and adventurers who acquired
pieces of Wallenstein’s property after his death will have had no interest
in seeing too many records preserved. It has also been suggested that
efforts were made on behalf of the Imperial court to cleanse the files
of uncomfortable material concerning not only Wallenstein’s officially
sanctioned assassination but also his earlier financial relations with the
exchequer. Hence although researchers have turned up many relevant
documents the effect created is that of a jigsaw, with just enough pieces
in place to produce some tantalising outlines but too many missing to
reveal the detail.
Some assumptions can reasonably be made about the first stages
of Wallenstein’s financial recovery. Firstly, in committing himself to
Ferdinand’s side and providing himself with an Imperial commission
he will certainly have anticipated the possibility of his Moravian estates
being confiscated. He advanced Ferdinand 40,000 gulden, 20,000 of his
own and an equal amount borrowed, even though he had other liquid
assets and was able to place a further 40,000 gulden on loan elsewhere.
No doubt he had taken the precaution of transferring as much in cash
and valuables as he could raise to Vienna or some other place of rela-
tive safety.
Secondly he had his regiments, with an official strength of 1000 heavy
cavalry in 1619, increasing to 3000 in 1620 and 1621. This was a very
large number for a single colonel, and the opportunity for legitimate
profit was commensurately great. During the Thirty Years War a colonel
could become wealthy from a single regiment, and heavy cavalry was
the most expensive branch and therefore the most profitable. Given
Wallenstein’s organisational skills and business acumen he seems sure
to have made the most of the opportunity. Doubtless he added to his
profits through the usual sharp practices, some of which had become
so standard as scarcely to be regarded as dishonest. He also benefited
from a special allocation of 8000 gulden a year under his commission
of 1619, a supplement of almost 50 per cent on the standard colonel’s
allowance for pay for himself, his lieutenant-colonel and the regimental
staff, together with his household and servants. No reason for this was
recorded, but it was specifically designated as exceptional and must
reflect the favour in which Wallenstein was already held.^2
Then there were the spoils of war. Looting was the simplest approach,
at the lowest level straightforward theft but in its legitimate form safer
and more profitable. A town which refused to surrender and was taken
by storm was usually given over to the troops for a prescribed period
during which they were free to take whatever they could find, this being