Christian Ilow

Christian von Ilow (1585 – 25 February 1634) was a Neumark nobleman and Generalfeldmarschall who fought during the course of the Thirty Years' War. At the outbreak of the war, Ilow enlisted into the Imperial army, rapidly advancing through the lower ranks. Through his close association with Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein, he attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall. He was killed in Eger on 25 February 1634 along with the general and his loyal officers the assassination being the culmination of an internal purge of Wallenstein's supporters. Military career Ilow was born in 1585, to Neumark family of minor nobility. Ilow claimed that his lineage extended to Greece, his ancestors supposedly migrated to Germany during the reign of Henry the Fowler. After participating in his campaigns against the Hungarians, Wends, Moravians and Bohemians, Henry bestowed nobility upon him. Ilow entered Imperial service at the outbreak of the Bohemian Revolt, rapidly advancing through the lower ranks. On 11 December 1621, emperor Ferdinand II transferred the command of a regiment consisting of 1,000 cuirassiers to duke Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp. Ilow now at the rank of a colonel, assumed direct command of the regiment as the duke was too young of age to do so. The Holsteiners distinguished themselves at the Battle of Stadtlohn, where one of Ilow's officers captured William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Ilow paid the officer handsomely, securing the right to escort and personally present his prisoner at the Imperial court in Vienna. Ilow had acquired great riches through plundering enemy territories during the course of the campaign, lending the emperor 70,000 Goldgulden. He then bought a house in Prague as well as the Bohemian estates of Popovitz, Bukov, and Ladowetz. His marriage to widow Anna Albertine of Rziczan countess of Furstenberg, strengthened his ties with the Bohemian political elite represented by the Trczka and Kinsky families, while the estates of Olbramowitz and Drazkow were added to his possessions. In the spring of 1625, Ilow was recalled into active service campaigning in Hessen and Nassau, where his riders gained infamy for their plundering and violent demeanor. Following the Imperial victory at the Battle of Dessau Bridge, Imperial supreme commander Albrecht von Wallenstein departed for Silesia and later Hungary in order to pursue Gabriel Bethlen, leaving Ilow at Schmalkalden.