history 321: state and society in early modern europe: the thirty years war
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History 321: State and Society in Early Modern Europe: The Thirty Years War. Course Requirements. Reading Value of attendance and participation Review the questions on p. 4 of the syllabus in preparation for each class . Bring assigned readings to every class . Tests Written assignments - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
History 321: State and Society in Early Modern Europe:
The Thirty Years War
Course Requirements Reading Value of attendance and participation
Review the questions on p. 4 of the syllabus in preparation for each class.
Bring assigned readings to every class. Tests Written assignments Consult the syllabus regularly and follow all
instructions carefully.
Resources for Course Home page
slides for lectures and tutorials Maps
online Europe’s Tragedy Sourcebook
Genealogy in Europe’s Tragedy Chronology in Sourcebook SFU Library
Interpreting the Thirty Years War
Earliest interpretations: popularity of the Peace of Westphalia (1648): “preserving the liberties of Protestant Germans and strengthening the imperial constitution” (p. 3)
after the French Revolution (1789) and in the context of European Romanticism1. narrative of death and destruction2. “tragic inevitability” (p. 6)3. a choice of Germanies
Interpreting the Thirty Years War
other national narratives a religious war a war that contributed to the
secularization and modernization of Europe absolutism
a wider war (international war school)
Wilson’s Argument Three distinctive elements:
1. The war affected all of Europe.2. The war was not fundamentally a
religious war.3. The war was not inevitable.
Wilson’s Argument1. The war affected all of Europe.
Russia Poland, Ottoman Empire Dutch Republic; France, Spain Britain Denmark, Sweden
Wilson’s Argument2. The war was not fundamentally a
religious war. religion: “a powerful focus for identity” (p. 9) “The war was religious only to the extent that faith
guided all early modern public policy and private behaviour” (p. 9)
moderate believers: “pragmatic;” unity of Christendom a “distant” goal
militant believers: a minority, observers and victims, fundamentalists; stubborn resolve “poorly suited to achieving military success” (p. 10)
“Militants’ influence was at times disproportionate to their numbers, but this does not mean we should interpret the conflict through their eyes” (p. 10)
Wilson’s Argument3. The war was not inevitable.
1555-1618: a period of peace
Trouble in the Heart of Christendom
The Empire Confessionalization Religion and Imperial Law
What was the Empire? a “monstrosity” (Samuel Pufendorf, d.
1694) Communities
Matthäus Merian, Topographia Germaniae (1642-1654)
delineation between urban and rural space sacred space political space
Who ruled (in) the Empire? Emperor Reichskirche: Imperial Church Lords: immediate / mediate: fiefs
1. 7 Electors (by Golden Bull of 1356) Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, Trier Kingdom of Bohemia, Palatinate, Saxony,
Brandenburg2. Princes: bishops, archbishops, dukes, landgraves,
margraves Habsburg dynasty: 2/5 of Empire, +7M subjects
3. lesser lords: counts, etc. Free Imperial Cities (ca. 80)
Augsburg (48,000); most had -4,000
How did the Empire function?
Emperor as overlord and adjudicator: Habsburg dynasty
financing the Empire: from Emperor’s lands and from imperial contributions/taxes: Roman months (multiples of pay for 24,000 soldiers / month)
How did the Empire funciton?
Reichstag (Imperial Diet) a representative and consultative body:
for binding decisions and sounding out opinions
vote by imperial estates recommendation Recess
How did the Empire function?
two supreme courts: Reichskammergericht (Imperial
Cameral Court) Reichshofrat (Imperial Aulic Council)
Imperial Circles (10 by 1570) to enforce verdicts of the courts to raise taxes to raise troops for internal peace and
defence of Empire Each circle had its own assembly.
What characterized the Empire’s political culture?
German freedom: privileges and responsibilities “within the imperial hierarchy” (23)
impersonal and personal dimensions the cumbersome search for
compromise
What were the contours of the religious situation in the Empire?
Confessionalization and social disciplining cultural differences limits: intermarriage, relative absence of violence
in the second half of the sixteenth century Catholicism and “the primacy of
organization” (p. 25) Lutheranism and “the primacy of doctrine”
(p. 26) Calvinism and the “primacy of practice” (p.
26)
What were the contours of the religious situation in the Empire? “Religious tension impaired the working
of the imperial constitution and contributed to the outbreak of the war in 1618” (p. 25).
“Militancy was certainly growing, particularly as those who had only known a confessionally divided world reached maturity and positions of influence around 1580. But it is impossible to ascribe the outbreak of war in 1618 directly to such sentiment” (p. 40).
What were the contours of the religious situation in the Empire?
Catholicism Catholicism’s basic strengths in the
Empire: Reichskirche, Habsburgs, Bavaria Council of Trent (1545-1563) Catholic piety: processions, pilgrimages,
cult of the saints Society of Jesus (Jesuits): controversialists,
confessors, educators
What were the contours of the religious situation in the Empire?
Lutheranism Augsburg Confession (1530) territorial Church Schmalkaldic Wars (1546-1552) intraconfessional conflict:
Philippists vs. Gnesio-Lutherans Book of Concord (1580)
preponderance in territory and population but not in imperial institutions
What were the contours of the religious situation in the Empire?
Calvinism John Calvin, reformer of Geneva (d. 1564) doctrinal differences a minority with Lutheran converts foothold in Empire: Palatinate (1560),
Hessen (1603), Brandenburg (1613) Heidelberg Catechism (1563) leadership of the Elector Palatine
What was the Peace of Augsburg (1555)?
a religious peace within a context of constitutional reforms
an ambiguous peace: faith and terms (e.g. “reformation) not defined adherents of the Confession of Augsburg right of reformation (ius reformandi): 1552 right to emigrate (ius emigrandi) Article 18: ecclesiastical reservation Declaration of Ferdinand
“the most contested parts of the 1555 Peace” (p. 45)
What was the Peace of Augsburg (1555)?
cuius regio eius religio: The religion of the prince determines the religion of his territory.
Calvinists arbitration for disputes:
Reichskammergericht
How should the Peace of Augsburg be interpreted?
Puzzles1. Could Lutheran princes incorporate
ecclesiastical territories? Lutherans in cathedral chapters; diocesan
administrators2. What was the status of unincorporated
mediate ecclesiastical property in Lutheran territories?
3. What was the status of subjects’ religious freedoms?
princely expulsion vs. voluntary freedoms
How should the Peace of Augsburg be interpreted?
“the fundamental underlying problem: the Peace had given Lutherans legal equality, but left Catholics with a political majority” (p. 45)
imperial efforts to defuse tension: Ferdinand I, Maximilian II
How should the Peace of Augsburg be interpreted?
Catholic views the lesser of two evils (toleration vs. war) moderates:
a stable peace with unequal Lutheran dissenters in a Catholic Empire
a limit to Lutheran expansion with the opportunity of conversion to Catholicism
militants: a temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms (1521) until a theological resolution Council of Trent!
How should the Peace of Augsburg be interpreted?
Protestant views a beginning, not an end resistance or obedience?
just war: recognized authority, just cause, extent of resistance: fight injustice or overthrow a regime?
right of resistance for lesser magistrates
the effect of 1555
How should the Peace of Augsburg be interpreted?
Wilson’s views vs. Geoffrey Parker: “a temporary end to
open confessional warfare in Germany” 63 years of peace a “comparatively satisfactory settlement” (p.
43) foundation for the Peace of Westphalia “little basis…for the standard interpretation…
of steadily polarizing opinion” (p. 46) waxing and waning of moderate and militant
opinions
How should we read primary documents?
Who produced the document? What date can we assign to the document? What is the document’s context? What are the main concepts in the document? What basic message does the document
communicate? How is it historically significant?
Do particular passages reveal significant information?
Is the document logically self-consistent, or do you notice any contradictions?
Sourcebook, docs. 1 and 2 the primacy of peace Who benefits? What are the issues? What is at stake? Article 18 and the Declaration of
Ferdinand