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Why did Albrecht von Wallenstein remain loyal to Ferdinand II during the Bohemian rebellion?
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Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein, portrait by Anthony van Dyck, 1629; in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich.
During the Bohemian rebellion (1618–1623), Albrecht von Wallenstein remained loyal to Ferdinand II primarily because he held the political and military inefficiency of his fellow Bohemian nobles in contempt.1
Despite the rebels confiscating his estates, Wallenstein actively supported the Habsburg cause by raising a regiment of horse that served in the imperial campaigns between 1619 and 1621. His loyalty was further reinforced by his conversion to Catholicism in 1606 and his established ties to the Habsburgs, whom he had previously aided with mercenary forces. Following the imperial victory, Wallenstein was heavily rewarded, receiving significant land grants and political appointments that solidified his position within the empire.1