Adam Graf von Schwar(t)zenberg (26 August 1583 – 14 March 1641) was a German official who advised George William, Elector of Brandenburg, during the Thirty Years' War and served as the Master of the Johanniterorden, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John (1625−41). Early life Schwarzenberg was born in Gimborn in the County of Mark. He was the son of Adolf, Count of Schwarzenberg, and a member of the House of Schwarzenberg from Franconian Seinsheim. The family was first documented in 1172 and elevated to the status of Reichsgraf in 1599. His mother was Margaretha Freiin Wolff von Metternich. In 1600 Schwarzenberg inherited the title and lordship of his father, who died fighting the Ottoman Empire. In 1609, he supported Elector John Sigismund's claims to Jülich and Cleves. Schwarzenberg married Margaretha Freiin Hartard von Pallant in 1613, but his wife died two years later while giving birth to his second son, Johann Adolf. Rather than remarrying, Schwarzenberg entered the Johanniterorden, becoming its Herrenmeister ("Lord of the Knights", or Grand Master) in 1625. He retained that office until his death, sixteen years later. Political career Brandenburg Privy Council In the following years, Schwarzenberg became a member of Brandenburg's Privy Council, where he quickly acquired a position of prominence, especially regarding Brandenburg-Prussia's Rhenish territories. He also used his stature in the Bergisches Land to secure the elevation of his Gimborn homeland to the reichsunmittelbar Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt. Schwarzenberg reached the height of his power during the reign of Elector George William. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg was predominantly Lutheran and its prince was Calvinist, the Roman Catholic Schwarzenburg advocated the imperial interests of Austria's Catholic Habsburg monarchy. George William pursued a policy of neutrality for Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War. Schwarzenberg's pro-imperial tendencies were opposed by the pro-Protestant faction led by the privy councilors Levin von Knesebeck and Samuel von Winterfeld, but supported by his protégé Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal. Schwarzenberg succeeded in having Winterfeld expelled in 1626 when the imperial cause loomed strong. When Sweden became involved in the war, the Calvinist chancellor Sigismund von Götzen gained control and forced Schwarzenberg to retire to Kleve in 1630. When the imperial cause regained momentum in 1634−5, Schwarzenberg returned to Berlin. He appointed von Blumenthal to raise an army of 26,000 troops to expel the Swedes and enforce George William's claim on Pomerania, but he was only able to