The Sleepwalkers (199 page)

3.
Wallenstein

The
Emperor's
hostility,
too,
existed
in
Kepler's
imagination
only.
In
December
1617,
Kepler
left
Ulm
for
Prague
–
having
been
almost
constantly
on
the
move
since
the
Frankfurt
Fair
–
and
was
received,
to
his
surprise,
as
persona
grata
.
The
Court
had
returned
to
Prague
for
the
coronation
of
the
Emperor's
son
as
King
of
Bohemia.
Everybody
was
in
high
spirits:
Wallenstein,
the
new
Hannibal,
had
expelled
the
Danish
invaders
from
Prussia;
he
had
overrun
Holstein,
Schleswig
and
Jutland,
and
the
enemies
of
the
Empire
were
everywhere
in
retreat.
Wallenstein
himself
had
arrived
in
Prague
a
few
weeks
before
Kepler;
he
was
awarded,
in
addition
to
the
Dutchy
of
Friedland
which
he
already
held,
the
Duchy
of
Sagan
in
Silesia.

The
Emperor's
Generalissimo
and
his
Mathematicus
had
crossed
each
other's
path
before.
Wallenstein
was
addicted
to
astrology.
Twenty
years
earlier,
in
Prague,
Kepler
had
been
requested,
by
a
go-between,
to
cast
the
nativity
of
a
young
nobleman
who
wished
to
remain
unnamed.
Kepler
wrote
a
brilliant
character-analysis
of
the
future
war
leader,
who
was
then
twenty-five,
which
testifies
to
his
psychological
insight
–
for
Kepler
had
guessed
the
identity
of
his
anonymous
client.
^*
Sixteen
years
later,
he
was
asked,
again
through
a
middle-man,
to
expand
the
horoscope
–
which
Wallenstein
had
profusely
annotated
on
the
margin
–
this
time
without
the
pretence
of
anonymity.
Kepler
had
again
obliged,
but
had
saved
his
face
with
the
usual
warnings
against
the
abuses
of
astrology.
This
second
horoscope,
which
dates
from
1624,
stops
at
1634
with
the
prophecy
that
March
will
bring
"dreadful
disorders
over
the
land":
Wallenstein
was
murdered
on
25
February
of
that
year.
†

____________________

Thus
the
ground
was
prepared
for
their
meeting
amidst
the
celebrations
at
Prague.
The
meeting
ended,
after
lengthy
negotiations,
with
Kepler's
appointment
as
Wallenstein's
private
mathematicus
in
his
newly
acquired
Duchy
of
Sagan.
The
Emperor
had
no
objection,
and
Kepler
was
allowed
to
retain
his
title
as
Imperial
Mathematician
for
what
it
was
worth
–
in
terms
of
hard
cash
certainly
not
much;
for
the
Crown's
debts
to
Kepler
in
arrears
of
salary
and
gratuities
by
now
amounted
to
11,817
florins.
The
Emperor
politely
informed
Wallenstein
that
he
expected
the
latter
to
pay
this
sum
–
which
Wallenstein,
of
course,
never
did.

The
deal
with
Wallenstein
concluded,
both
men
left
Prague
in
May
1628:
Wallenstein
to
lay
unsuccessful
siege
to
Strahlsund,
which
was
the
beginning
of
his
downfall;
Kepler
to
visit
his
wife
and
children
who
were
still
in
Ratisbon.
He
travelled
on
to
Linz,
to
liquidate
his
affairs,
then
back
to
Prague,
where
his
family
joined
him,
and
in
July
arrived
with
them
in
Sagan.
But
a
considerable
part
of
his
possessions,
including
books
and
instruments
needed
for
his
work,
he
left
behind
in
storage.
It
was
the
half-hearted
move
of
an
already
broken
man,
whose
behaviour
became
more
and
more
erratic
and
devious.

Compared
to Sagan, Linz had been paradise:

"I
am
a
guest
and
a
stranger
here,
almost
completely
unknown,
and
I
hardly
understand
the
dialect
of
the
locals,
who
in
turn
consider
me
a
barbarian...
⁹

I
feel
confined
by
loneliness,
far
away
from
the
great
cities
of
the
Empire;
where
letters
come
and
go
slowly,
and
at
heavy
expense.
Add
to
this
the
agitations
of
the
[counter-]
reformation
which,
though
I
am
not
personally
hit,
did
not
leave
me
untouched.
Sad
examples
are
before
me,
or
before
my
mind's
eye,
of
acquaintances,
friends,
people
of
my
immediate
neighbourhood
being
ruined,
and
conversation
with
the
terror-stricken
is
cut
off
by
fear...

A
little
prophetess
of
eleven
in
Kottbuss,
which
is
between
here
and
Frankfort-on-the-Oder,
threatens
with
the
end
of
the
world.
Her
age,
her
childish
ignorance
and
her
enormous
audiences
make
people
believe
in
her."
¹⁰