686. Some Achieve Greatness
( Twelfth Night)
Wallenstein’s long-term security in his new lands depended on
Ferdinand’s success in the continuing war, but by 1623 his immedi-
ate position was looking much better than for many years previously.
Since the death of his wife in 1614 he had been under threat, first from
disputes over her properties, then from the looming revolt in Bohemia,
and when that threat became reality he had lost his lands, leaving him
dependent on his position as an Imperial colonel and on the outcome
of the conflict. Thus it is perhaps not surprising that he did not remarry
for much longer than was usual, but with his old lands recovered and
important new ones added it was time to re-establish a conventional
private life. This time he had no need to seek a financially advantageous
marriage. Instead he followed the classic agenda of the nouveau riche –
first money, then social status – by seeking a match in the higher levels
of the old aristocracy. His cousin Max had married a daughter of Baron
Karl Harrach, an Austrian grandee and second only to Eggenberg among
Emperor Ferdinand’s councillors and confidants, and Harrach had to
find suitable husbands for two more daughters. On grounds of wealth,
religion and political reliability Wallenstein met his criteria, added to
which Harrach knew, liked and respected him. Age differences were
neither unusual nor problematic in an era of arranged marriages, and
Ferdinand himself had recently taken a princess twenty years younger
as his second wife. Hence in June 1623, in the presence of the emperor,
the 39-year-old Wallenstein married the 21-year-old Isabella Harrach,
a move which gave him another link to the inner circle through his new
brother-in-law, Harrach’s eldest son, who was married to Eggenberg’s
daughter.
The war was to mean that Wallenstein and his young wife were far
more often apart than together during their ten years of marriage.