Even the Duke Karl, a commander of first-rate military talent, could not possibly turn 100,000 illiterate peasants into seasoned veterans overnight, especially with limited funds and manpower. Not to mention, the Duke also had to contend with the resistance of the old nobility officer corps, gloomy and inept at combat, known for dragging their feet, as well as pressure from the court, and his own ailing health condition—the Habsburg family's tradition of inbreeding to maintain bloodline purity had burdened the Duke with hereditary epilepsy, and he was also a carrier of the hemophilia gene.