46 Wallenstein
for sale, and after some negotiation his offer of 150,000 gulden was
accepted.^19 In the following eighteen months, from July 1622 to the end
of 1623, Wallenstein undertook an enormous series of land transactions
in parallel to the proceedings of the confiscation court. Unlike most of
the other purchasers, of whom there were many, he was working to a
plan, endeavouring to create a large unified holding based on Friedland
and the main Smirˇický estates centred on Gitschin. Hence he not only
bought but also sold and exchanged properties, retaining those pieces of
land which fitted his scheme and using those which did not as trading
counters for further acquisitions. It has been calculated that approach-
ing two hundred individual estates were involved and that by the begin-
ning of 1624 Wallenstein had accumulated two thousand square miles
of good quality land, stretching from just north of Prague to Bohemia’s
northern frontier, and east to the Giant Mountains.^20 To indicate the
scale, this is about the size of the English counties of Kent and Surrey
combined, and nearly as large as Devon, while in American terms it
is equivalent to about half of the state of Connecticut or a quarter of
Massachusetts.
To carry through a programme of this size at a time when the fastest
means of transport was the horse, and there was no postal service or any
of the modern means of communication, was a major feat of organisa-
tion. Wallenstein must have had not only enormous personal energy
and commitment but also agents upon whom he could rely, particularly
as he still had his military duties to attend to. Still more important was
the availability of financial backers ready to assist him in putting up
the necessary money. Who they were is uncertain, although research-
ers have mentioned not only de Witte but also leading bankers from
Hamburg and Augsburg, the principal financial centres in Germany at
the time.
Cash was the key. The emperor urgently needed it, and raising it was
the main objective of the confiscations and property sales. For would-be
purchasers this was a considerable difficulty, as it was one thing to be
wealthy in terms of land but another to have large amounts of ready
cash available. Wallenstein was far from alone in facing this problem,
but he was uniquely successful in solving it. The details are not known,
but a few documents suggest the outline. A letter of September 1622
from Emperor Ferdinand to Liechtenstein mentions the possibility
of a loan of several million from unspecified persons being advanced
to the exchequer against the security of confiscated property. A draft
contract prepared in December of that year refers to Wallenstein and
the sum of two million gulden, while another draft relates to three