Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein
Portrait of Wallenstein by Anthony van Dyck, 1629
Born	(1583-09-24)24 September 1583 Heřmanice, Kingdom of Bohemia
Died	25 February 1634(1634-02-25) (aged 50) Cheb, Kingdom of Bohemia
Buried	Mnichovo Hradiště, (German: Münchengrätz)
Allegiance	Holy Roman Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Army
Years of service	1604–1634
Rank	Generalissimo
Battles/wars	Long Turkish War Uskok War Thirty Years' War Battle of White Mountain Battle of Dessau Bridge Siege of Stralsund Battle of Wolgast Battle of the Alte Veste Battle of Lützen Battle of Steinau
Awards	Order of the Golden Fleece

Long Turkish War
Uskok War
Thirty Years' War

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein ( pronunciation ; Czech: Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein, was a Bohemian military leader and Holy Roman Empire Count palatine, who offered his services, an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men, during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), to emperor Ferdinand II. He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and was a major figure of the Thirty Years' War.

Wallenstein was born in Hermanitz an der Elbe into a poor Protestant noble family. He acquired a multilingual university education across Europe and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1606. A marriage in 1609 to the wealthy widow of a Bohemian landowner gave Wallenstein access to considerable estates and wealth after her death at an early age in 1614. Three years later, Wallenstein embarked on a career as a military contractor by raising forces for the Emperor in the war against Venice.