Torquato Conti Torquato Conti ( 1591 – 1636 ) was an Italian military commander who served as a General - Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War . His barbarous treatment of defenceless villagers earned him the nickname , " The Devil " . He later became a nobleman and was made Duke of Guadagnolo and Gonfalonier of the Church by Pope Urban VIII . Early life . Conti was born in 1591 ; the son of Lotario Herzog Conti ( Duke of Poli ) and his first wife Clarice Orsini ( Lotario Conti had 14 children in total by two wives ) . He was the grandson of another Torquato Conti ( 1519 – 1571 ) and thus the nephew of Cardinal Carlo Conti . His father suggested an ecclesiastic career and to that end he studied under the tutelage of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese , a relative of the wife of his grandfather Torquato , Violante Farnese . For reasons unknown , he instead volunteered in the army of the Spanish Empire . In 1616 , Conti commanded a company of infantry against Charles Emmanuel I , Duke of Savoy ( who was supported by the Kingdom of France ) in an unsuccessful attempt to maintain the Spanish occupation of Alba . Alba was retaken by the Duke of Savoy and Conti , having survived the battle , went to Germany . Thirty Years ' War . The development of Conti ' s military career generally followed the development of the Thirty Years ' War and he fought in a number of early battles and sieges at the beginning of the war . In Germany , Conti commanded the Italian volunteers fighting for Ferdinand II , who in 1619 became Holy Roman Emperor . Conti was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and " Regimental Chief " in the interceding years before commanding troops loyal to Charles Bonaventure de Longueval , Count of Bucquoy first at the Siege of Pilsen and then at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 . He continued with Count of Bucquoy and commanded troops during the Siege of Érsekújvár where Bucquoy was killed . Conti led a contingent to recover the body of the count but was captured . When he was released several months later , Ferdinand II rewarded his bravery by giving him command of the garrison at Olomouc . He continued to defend the city against attacks from Gábor Bethlen . In 1622 , Conti left Olomouc and took part in the Battle of Wimpfen . For his loyalty he was promoted to Colonel and . Pontificate of Urban VIII . In 1623 , Maffeo Barberini was elected to the papal throne as Pope Urban VIII and Conti went to Valtellina as a commander of papal troops . Valtellina saw significant conflict during the Thirty Years ' War as each side of the Bourbon – Habsburg rivalry tried to gain control of the passes between Lombardy and Austria . For his service there , the pope rewarded Conti by naming him Duke of Guadagnolo and General of the Papal Army . Shortly after he was named Ordnance Master ( similar to the British Master - General of the Ordnance ) of the army of the Holy Roman Emperor . In 1626 he returned to Germany and commanded units loyal to Albrecht von Wallenstein during the Battle of Dessau Bridge . The following year , while von Wallenstein was elsewhere fighting Christian IV of Denmark , Conti commanded Imperial troops at Holstein . Gartz and Greifenhagen . In 1629 Conti became ill and removed himself from front line fighting . He was installed as Field Marshal and commander of garrisoned troops in Pomerania after the Capitulation of Franzburg ; specifically the strategic Oder River crossing towns of Gartz and Greifenhagen . The beginning of the Swedish intervention ( 1630 – 1635 ) in the Thirty Years ' War saw King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his troops enter the Holy Roman Empire via the Duchy of Pomerania . Conti rode out from Gartz and Greifenhagen and to meet the Swedish landing force . On 9 July , Swedish forces took Stettin ( now Szczecin ) , but throughout 1630 were content with establishing themselves in the Oder estuary . The Duchy of Pomerania capitulated and Bogislaw XIV , Duke of Pomerania , and his councillors negotiated the Treaty of Stettin with King Gustavus Adolphus . Retreat . Forced to retreat from the advancing Swedish army of King Gustavus Adolphus , Conti ordered his troops to burn houses , destroy villages and generally cause as much harm to property and people as possible , a military strategy known as " scorched earth " . His actions were remembered thus : And by another : When one village complained of the treatment they had received , Conti ordered them to be stripped naked so that they would " have sure grounds for complaints " . Conti ' s actions have led some to suggest that Duke Bogislaw and his people were driven into the arms of the Swedes . They saw King Gustavus Adolphus as a far better alternative to the violent rampaging Torquato Conti and his Imperial troops . Faced with the choice , the Treaty of Stettin may have seemed less like a capitulation and more like a rescue to the people of Pomerania . Retirement and later life . In September Conti ' s commanding officer , von Wallenstein , was dismissed by the Emperor whose advisers were concerned he was planning a coup to take control of the Holy Roman Empire . At the same time , Conti launched an exploratory attack on Stettin but was repulsed . Seeing that King Gustavus Adolphus had no interest in attacking his position , Conti sent a message to the monarch suggesting a truce for the length of the oncoming winter . Fired by the devastation Conti had caused , The King responded : " The Swedes can fight in winter as well as in summer " . Suffering from illness ( likely cancer ) and disheartened by the King ' s rebuke , Conti resigned his post in favour of Colonel Hannß Casimir von Schaumberg . Both Gartz and Greifenhagen , where Conti had been garrisoned , were soon thereafter lost to the Swedes . Conti travelled to Vienna where he received an honourable discharge and was appointed Gonfalonier of the Church by Pope Urban . He married Countess Felice Sassatelli - Bevilacqua in Ferrara but they had no children and Conti died there in 1636 . Conti was the uncle of Michelangelo Conti who was elected to the papal throne as Pope Innocent XIII , though Michelangelo was born 19 years after Torquato Conti died .