Gustav Horn, Count of Pori
Count Gustav Horn af Björneborg was a Swedish nobleman of Finnish descent, military officer, and Governor-General.
He was appointed member of the Royal Council in 1625, Field Marshal in 1628, Governor General of Livonia in 1652 and Lord High Constable since 1653. In the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), he was instrumental as a commander in securing victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld, in 1631. He was High Councillor of the realm in 1625, elevated to the rank of field marshal in 1628, and sometimes commander-in-chief of Swedish forces in Germany during Thirty Years' War. After the war, he served as Governor-General of Livonia 1652, President of War department and Lord High Constable in 1653. In 1651, Queen Christina created him Count of Björneborg.
Portrait by David Beck
Häringe Manor (Häringe slott)
Engraving of Gustav Horn
Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)
The Battle of Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld, was fought at a crossroads near Breitenfeld approximately 8 km north-west of the walled city of Leipzig on 17 September, or 7 September, 1631. A Swedish-Saxon army led by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and Saxon Elector John George I defeated an Imperial-Catholic League Army led by Generalfeldmarschall Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. It was the Protestants' first major victory of the Thirty Years War.
Gustavus Adolphus at the battle of Breitenfeld, painting by J. J. Walther, 1632 painting in the Musée historique de Strasbourg.
Landing of Gustav II Adolf in Pomerania (1630) by an unknown artist.
Contemporary German newspaper image from the 1630s depicting Gustavus Adolplhus forcing Pope Urban VIII, the symbol of the Catholic faith, to surrender all Protestant cities and fortresses in Germany conquered by the Catholics.
Generalfeldmarschall Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial and Catholic League Armies respectively. Engraving by Anthony van Dyck.