Egy tragédiába torkollott életpálya : Don Miguel de Lopez karrierje a tizenötéves háborúban

Absztrakt

In the period of the Fifteen Years’ War (1593—1606) between the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires a lot of soldiers and officers coming from the German-Roman Empire, Italy and Netherlands were employed by the Habsburg courts of Prague and Vienna. The need for these foreign experts can be well explained by the fact, that although the noble orders of the Austrian provinces and the Hungarian Kingdom had considerable experience in the organization of the fortress-system and struggle against the Turks, they were less skilled in modern siege and campaigns. So the foreign soldies and officers serving Emperor Rudolph II proved to be successful and often their families remained in the service of the Habsburg rulers till the fall of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 (the case of the Schwarzenberg-, Hyyne- and Montecuccoli-families). This study deals with the career of a less well-known person, the Spanish Don Miguel de Lopez. His brief and contradictory career illustrates, that in the period of the Long War with the Turks a noble officer with talent, military skill and good connections was able to rise quickly in the military and social hierarchy. However, in case of de Lopez, his avarice and greediness led to a quick end of his career, he was sentenced to death and executed. Otherwise, he would have had a similar career, like other foreign commanders, like e. g. Germanico Strassoldo.