Johann von Sporck

Johann von Sporck (1595 – 6 August 1679) was a German nobleman and Generalfeldmarschall. Sporck was born in 1595 and he began his military career at the start of the Thirty Years' War as a private. His personal bravery and mastery of cavalry tactics led to his steady advancement through the ranks as well as his ennoblement. He later fought in the Second Northern War, the Austro-Turkish War (1663–64) and the Franco-Dutch War. He retired in 1676, having received the rank of Generalfeldmarschall and accumulating great riches. He died three years later. His son Franz Anton von Sporck became a publisher and a patron of arts. Biography Sporck was born in 1595 in Sporckhof located in the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn, on a farm belonging to his father Franz (died in 1625). Little is known about his early life, however letters written by him indicate that he was well educated. Sporck was baptized as Lutheran, however he later adopted Catholicism due to the contemporary recatholicization campaign launched by Dietrich IV, Bishop of Paderborn. He had three brothers. His younger brother Philip worked at the court of Padeborn's prince-bishop, and his two older brothers served in the military of the Electorate of Bavaria, one of them in the rank of rittmeister (cavalry captain). Sporck entered the Bavarian military in 1620. According to his comrade in arms future general Chavagnac, he initially served as a drummer while other accounts claim he was a cavalryman. He fought side by side with his brother in the Battle of White Mountain an early action of the Thirty Years' War where the latter was killed. Sporck reached the rank of rittmeister in 1633, while serving under Johann von Werth. In 1636 he distinguished himself in battle. In 1639, he took part in the Hessian campaign against the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, where was promoted to colonel. On 29 March 1640, he was thanked by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria for recruiting two companies of arquebusiers, ordering him to recruit five more. The riders were recruited in the Upper Palatinate by July, forming Sporck's personal regiment. In November 1643, Sporck's regiment made a daring raid on the French troops stationed in the vicinity of Tuttlingen. In March 1645, Sporck distinguished himself in the Battle of Jankau, however he was seriously wounded and was seized as a prisoner of war by the Swedes. Upon his release in 1646, Maximilian I granted him the rank of generalwachtmeister.