History 321: State and Society in Early Modern Europe:

The Thirty Years War

Primary Sources for Preliminary Bibliography

Wilson, Peter H., ed. The Thirty Years War: A Sourcebook, docs. 8, 32. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

OR“A Calvinist prince’s view: Christian II of

Anhalt’s diary.” In Wilson, Peter H., ed. The Thirty Years War: A Sourcebook, 149-50. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

“The Upper Austrian Peasants’ Rising, 1626.” In Wilson, Peter H., ed. The Thirty Years War: A Sourcebook, 72-73. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

A religious war? Articles of the Bohemian

Confederation Ferdinand II’s plan for Habsburg

lands Treaty of Munich (1619) Treaty of Ulm (1620) Perspective “from the ground”

Central Questions1. What were the key political and diplomatic

developments of the 1620s?

2. How was warfare financed?

3. What were the main military conflicts in the 1620s?

4. Ferdinand II issued the Edict of Restitution in 1629. Why was this act a “grave error” (p. 446)?

These questions represent an analysis of the assigned reading that is based entirely on Europe’s Tragedy but that does not always strictly follow the progress of Wilson’s presentation, especially with reference to questions 1 and 3.

Maps Mantua and environs

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KezhQ6waZT0/SDDkGU-R85I/AAAAAAAAEMw/N0DeJSIr8FA/s1600-h/mantua.jpg

Baltic region http://

www.emersonkent.com/map_archive/baltic_regions_1386.htm

Central Europe, 1618 http://

www.hup.harvard.edu/features/wilson/wilsoncemap.jpg

Political and diplomatic developments

“The revival of Catholicism in the Empire was received with mixed feelings by France and Spain” (p. 362).

Political and diplomatic developments

Spain Philip IV (1621-1665) Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-

Duke of Olivares reputación and war with the

Dutch enhancement of Spain’s navy

Admiralty of the North Union of Arms (p. 370)

soldiers and tax problems

financial crises (pp. 434-35) bankruptcy of 1627 capture of treasure fleets,

1627, 1628

Political and diplomatic developments

France Louis XIII (1610-1643) court factions

dévots vs. Bons Français Cardinal Richelieu

chief minister (1624-1642) “The interests of a state

and the interests of religion are two entirely different things” (1616, p. 377).

“a dangerous opponent” (p. 379) for Spain (Olivares)

Habsburg encirclement

Political and diplomatic developments

France Edict of Nantes (1598) Huguenot rebellions,

1620s distraction from

international involvement siege of La Rochelle

(1627-1628, pp. 440-42) Peace of Alais (1629)

Political and diplomatic developments

Cardinal Richelieu’s four strategies1. general alliance against

Spanish dominance and for European peace

2. bilateral alliances: money and troops

3. protection for weaker territories in exchange for transit of French troops

4. limited warfare for the sake of protection

strategy “fundamentally flawed” (p. 381).

Political and diplomatic developments

Danish involvement Christian IV (1588-1648) interest in German

bishoprics (p. 386) rivalry with Sweden Treaty of the Hague, 1625

Political and diplomatic developments

rise of Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583-1634) defection to Emperor,

1619 “a major beneficiary of the

land transfers” (p. 392) Duke of Friedland, 1624 commander of Imperialist

forces, 1625 Duke of Mecklenburg,

1629 upstart, critical of

subordinates

Political and diplomatic developments

other commanders Wallenstein General Tilly Maximilian I, Catholic

League recognition of his electoral

title by Saxony (1624) and Brandenburg (1627)

Regensburg Electoral Congress, 1630 “a significant demonstration

of the Empire’s collective purpose” (p. 454)

dismissal of Wallenstein

Financing warfare state

taxation, e.g. war taxes (p. 456) borrowing

military officers plunder credit: for raising an army muster system: towns provide food and wages

for an entire troop contributions (“tax of violence” / extortion): to

be paid also after a troop has left a region challenges

pay arrears camp followers

Military conflicts: Spain vs. Dutch Republic

surrender of Breda (siege: August 1624-June 1625) = “pyrrhic victory” (p. 434)

Dunkirk privateers: attack on Dutch ships

Treaty of Compiègne (1624): France and Dutch Republic

subsidies from France for Dutch naval support

Frederick Henry of Nassau

Military conflicts: Spain vs. Dutch Republic

Piet Hein: capture of Spanish treasure fleet (1628)

“Spain’s inability to send reinforcements to the Netherlands placed a premium on imperial assistance” (p. 436)

siege of s’Hertzogenbosch (Bois-le-duc), 1629

Military conflicts: Spain vs. France

Holy Slaughter in the Valtellina, July 1620 diplomatic solution: papal troops replaced

Spanish troops Savoy’s attack on Genoa, 1625

French conquest of the Valtellina Treaty of Monzón, 1625: a Catholic Valtellina;

replacement of French with papal troops Savoy’s alliance with Spain

Military conflicts: Spain vs. France

War of the Mantuan Succession (1628-1631) claim of Charles of Nevers upon Mantua: 1627 under Imperial jurisdiction (Ferdinand II) control of Montferrato: Spain and Savoy

fortress of Casale: taken by Charles, 1628 Imperial intervention: “Madrid failed to see that

its assertiveness in Italy forced the emperor to intervene to preserve his own authority, rather than because he wished to counter France” (p. 443).

fall of Mantua (1629) solutions: Peace of Regensburg (1630), Peace of

Cherasco (1631): Charles in Mantua; preservation of Imperial jurisdiction; tensions with Spain

Danish Intervention, 1625-1629 motives

ecclesiastical property, not “religious solidarity” (p. 387)

misgivings of Danish nobility Treaty of the Hague (1625)

England, Dutch Republic: aid for Denmark strategy

Danish attack in northern Germany attack of Bethlen (d. 1629) from Transylvania

Danish Intervention, 1625-1629 Imperialist reaction

neutrality? Tilly to Hessen: “It’s called obedience, not neutrality. Your lord is an imperial prince whose overlord is the emperor” (p. 389).

imperial order (7 May 1624) Battle of Dessau Bridge (1626)

Wallenstein vs. Mansfeld (d. 1626) Battle of Lutter (1626)

Tilly vs. Christian IV Interlude: Upper Austrian Rebellion (1626) the problem of re-Catholicization

Danish Intervention, 1625-1629

Imperialist reaction 1627 campaign against

Holstein Peace of Lübeck (1629)

Denmark lost none of its own territory.

Denmark agreed1. to abandon claims to

bishoprics2. keep out of Imperial

affairs “a gift from heaven” (p.

423)

Military conflicts: Wallenstein’s Baltic Design

Background: Swedish southern advance (1621-1627)

“Austro-Spanish naval cooperation” (p. 426)

blockade of Magdeburg, siege of Stralsund

Stralsund (1628): Gustavus’ “German base” (p. 431)

Military conflicts: Wallenstein’s Baltic Design

Imperial intervention in Poland goal: dislodge Swedes from Vistula delta limited success Truce of Altmark (1629)

facilitated by France Sweden abandoned Courland, most of

Livonia, and all but three Prussian ports Richelieu’s plan

redirect Sweden’s attention away from Poland and towards the Holy Roman Empire

Edict of Restitution, 1629

“…Ferdinand committed a grave error by issuing the Edict of Restitution in March 1629” (p. 446)

“a blunder of the first order” (p. 453) a failed attempt to establish peace connected to “the controversial land

transfers, contributions and military demands that stirred well-founded suspicions in many Catholics as well as Protestants” (p. 446)

Edict of Restitution, 1629

a “glorious enterprise” God on the Catholic side militant Catholic

interpretation of the Peace of Augsburg

Paul Laymann SJ, Pacis compositio (1629)

William Lamormaini SJ (1570-1648): surpassed Ferdinand in “religious fundamentalism” (p. 447)

Edict of Restitution, 1629 a judicial, not a religious act a return to the “clear letter” of the Peace

of Augsburg? Calvinism excluded return of ecclesiastical property

secularized after 1552 recovery of 6 bishoprics, 2 imperial abbeys,

ca. 150 monasteries, convents, churches “not a uniform attack on German

Protestants” (p. 449) main victims: Denmark, Guelphs,

Württemberg

Edict of Restitution, 1629 Catholic dismay: Spain,

Bishop of Vienna, Wallenstein; religious orders vs. bishops

Protestant response alienation of moderate

Lutherans Johann Georg’s arguments

about Peace of Augsburg in favour of suspending

implementation

Edict of Restitution, 1629 Consequences

Catholic disunity adamant Protestant

opposition to “wholesale” restitution vs. case-by-case investigation

“the vitality of an Empire-wide political culture” (p. 453) that valued reasonable compromise

Regensburg Electoral Congress, 1630 opposition to Wallenstein opposition to Mantuan

War