The Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648

CONTENTS.

Events in English History not noticed in the text, or only referred to, are printed in Italics.

CHAPTER I. CAUSES OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
Section I.—Political Institutions of Germany (1440-1517).
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	National institutions of Germany defective	1
	(a) As regarded the Emperor	1
	(b) As regarded the great vassals	3
	Attempts made to introduce order by giving a regular form to the Diet	5
	These, though only partially successful, are not altogether useless	6
	Constitution of the Diet	6
Section II.—Protestantism in Germany (1517-1570).
	Protestantism acceptable to the majority of the nation, but rejected by the Emperor and the Diet	8
	The result is a civil war, resulting in a compromise, called the Peace of Augsburg (1555). Its terms being ambiguous on some important points, give rise to controversy	10
	But as Protestantism is on the increase, the ambiguous points are, at first, construed by the Protestants in their own favour	11
	The main points at issue relate to the right of Protestants to hold bishoprics, and to the right of Protestant princes to secularize church lands	12
Section III.—Reaction against Protestantism (1570-1596).
	Theological controversies are carried on with bitterness amongst the Protestants	13
	The Catholics, accordingly, begin to gain ground	14
	And having the Emperor and Diet on their side, are able to use force as well as persuasion	14
	Want of any popular representation prevents any fair settlement of the dispute	15
Section IV.—Three Parties and Three Leaders (1596-1612).
	Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists are respectively guided by Maximilian Duke of Bavaria, John George Elector of Saxony, and Christian of Anhalt	15
	Character and policy of Maximilian dangerous to the Protestants	15
	The Protestants of the south more alive to the danger than the Protestants of the north	17
	Spread of Calvinism, especially in the south, accounted for by the greater danger from Catholic States	17
	Character and policy of Christian of Anhalt	18
1603	Accession of James I. of England
1605	Gunpowder Plot
1607	DonauwÖrth occupied by Maximilian	19
1608	Formation of the Protestant Union and the Catholic League	21
1609	The quarrel for the succession of Cleves does not result in open war	21
1612	John George fruitlessly attempts to mediate between the Catholics and the Calvinists	22
1613	Marriage of Frederick V., Elector Palatine, to Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England
CHAPTER II. THE BOHEMIAN REVOLUTION.
Section I.—The House of Austria and its Subjects (1600-1618).
	Political and religious dissensions between the rulers and their subjects	24
1609	The Emperor Rudolph, as King of Bohemia, grants the Royal Charter to Bohemia	25
1611	He is succeeded by Matthias in spite of the intrigues of Christian of Anhalt	26
	Matthias evades the charter	27
1617	Ferdinand accepted by the Bohemian Diet as King by hereditary right	28
1618	The Protestant churches on ecclesiastical lands declared illegal by the government of Matthias; one at Braunau shut up, one at Klostergrab pulled down	29
Section II.—The Revolution at Prague (March-May 1618).
Mar. 5.	Meeting of the Protestant Estates of Bohemia	29
May23.	Attack headed by Thurn upon the Regents at Prague. Martinitz and Slawata thrown out of window. Beginning of the Thirty Years' War	30
	Appointment of Thirty Directors as a Revolutionary Government in Bohemia	31
Section III.—The War in Bohemia (May 1618-February 1619).
Aug. 13.	Bohemia invaded by the Emperor's general, Bucquoi.
	The Bohemians look abroad for help. Mansfeld brings troops to them. He besieges Pilsen, whilst Thurn makes head against Bucquoi	33
Nov.21.	Pilsen surrenders	34
	Christian of Anhalt urges Frederick V., Elector Palatine, to intervene on behalf of the Bohemians, and asks the Duke of Savoy to help them	34
1619 Feb.	The Duke of Savoy talks of dividing the Austrian dominions with Frederick	35
Section IV.—Ferdinand on his Defence (March-November 1619).
Mar.20.	Death of Matthias	36
June 5.	Vienna besieged by Thurn. Ferdinand threatened by a deputation from the Estates of Lower Austria	36
	He is delivered by a regiment of horse, and Thurn raises the siege	37
Aug. 28.	Ferdinand II. elected Emperor	38
Aug. 26.	Frederick, Elector Palatine, elected King of Bohemia, Ferdinand having been previously deposed	38
Nov. 4.	Frederick Crowned at Prague	39
CHAPTER III. IMPERIALIST VICTORIES IN BOHEMIA AND THE PALATINATE
Section I.—The Attack upon Frederick (November 1619-January 1621).
1619	Maximilian of Bavaria prepares for war	39
	Vienna fruitlessly attacked by Bethlen Gabor	40
	Frederick finds no support in the Union	41
1620 Mar.	The North German Princes agree to neutrality at MÜhlhausen	42
June 3.	Spinola, the Spanish General, prepares to attack the Palatinate, and the Union, being frightened, signs the treaty of Ulm, by which it agrees to observe neutrality towards the League	42
June 23.	Maximilian, with Tilly in command of his army, enters Austria and compels the Austrian Estates to submit, whilst Spinola reduces the Western Palatinate	42
	Maximilian joins Bucquoi, and enters Bohemia	43
Sep. 28.	Frederick, having failed to organize resistance, joins the Bohemian army	44
Nov. 8.	Defeat of Frederick at the Battle of the White Hill, 1619 and submission of Bohemia to the Emperor	45
Jan. 22.	Frederick put to the Ban of the Empire	46
Section II.—The War in the Upper Palatinate (January-October 1621).
1621 Jan.	Frederick does not abandon hope of regaining Bohemia	47
Ap. 12.	The Treaty of Mentz dissolves the Union	47
	Bad character of Mansfeld's Army	48
May.	Mansfeld takes the offensive	49
Aug.	Recommencement of the War in the Lower Palatinate	50
Oct.	Mansfeld unable to hold out in the Upper Palatinate	50
Oct. 10.	Signs an engagement to disband his forces, but escapes with them to Alsace	50
Section III.—Frederick's Allies (October 1621-May 1622).
1621	James I. of England proposes to take Mansfeld into his pay, but he cannot agree with the House of Commons, and is therefore in want of money	50
1622	He then tries to obtain a settlement of the German disputes with the aid of Spain	51
May.	A conference for the pacification of Germany held at Brussels	52
	Frederick prepares for War, with the help of Mansfeld, the Margrave of Baden, and Christian of Brunswick, the latter being a Protestant Administrator of the Bishopric of Halberstadt	53
	He ravages the diocese of Paderborn	55
Section IV.—The Fight for the Lower Palatinate (April-July 1622).
Ap. 12. May 6.	Frederick joins Mansfeld. Tilly defeats the Margrave of Baden at Wimpfen	57
June.	Frederick, hopeful of success, refuses to consent to a treaty, and seizes the Landgrave of Darmstadt	58
	But is driven by Tilly to retreat	59
June 30.	Defeat of Christian of Brunswick at HÖchst	59
July.	Mansfeld abandons the Palatinate, and Frederick, after taking refuge at Sedan, retires to the Hague	60
CHAPTER IV. MANSFELD AND CHRISTIAN IN NORTH GERMANY.

Section I.—Mansfeld's March into the Netherlands (July-November 1622).
1622	Tilly proceeds to reduce the fortified places in the Lower Palatinate	60
1623 Feb. 13	The Electorate transferred from Frederick to Maximilian	61
1622	Change of feeling in North Germany	61
Aug.	Mansfeld and Christian establish themselves in Lorraine, and then try to cut their way through the Spanish Netherlands to join the Duke	63
Aug. 28.	Battle of Fleurus. Christian loses his arm	63
Nov.	Mansfeld establishes himself in East Friesland	64
Section II.—Christian of Brunswick in Lower Saxony (November 1622-August 1623).
1622	The Lower Saxon Circle urged by Tilly to join him against Mansfeld, and by Christian of Brunswick to join him against Tilly	64
1623 Feb.	Warlike preparations of the Circle	65
Aug. 6.	Christian expelled from the Circle, and defeated by Tilly at Stadtlohn	66
Section III.—Danger of the Lower Saxon Circle (August-December 1623).
1623	The North German Protestant Bishoprics in danger	66
Aug.	Alarm in the Lower Saxon Circle	68
Dec.	But nothing is done, and its troops are disbanded	68
Section IV.—England and France (October 1623-August 1624).
Oct.	Foreign Powers ready to interfere	69
	Return of the Prince of Wales from Madrid	70
1624 Feb.-May	Divergence between the English House of Commons and James I. upon the mode of recovering the Palatinate	70
	Position of the Huguenots in France	72
Section V.—Rise of Richelieu (August 1624-September 1625).
Aug.	Lewis XIII. makes Richelieu his chief minister. He is divided between a desire to combat Spain and a desire to reduce the Huguenots to submission	72
	Richelieu's position less strong than it afterwards became. He has to make great allowances for the King's humour	74
Dec.	French attack upon the Spanish garrisons in the Valtelline	75
1625 Jan.-June	Failure of Mansfeld's expedition intended by James to recover the Palatinate	76
Jan.	Richelieu's plans for engaging more deeply in the war frustrated by the rising of the Huguenots of Rochelle	77
Sept.	The Huguenot fleet is defeated, but Rochelle holds out	77
CHAPTER V. INTERVENTION OF THE KING OF DENMARK.
Section I.—Christian IV. and Gustavus Adolphus (1624).
	Character and position of Christian IV., King of Denmark	78
	Genius of Gustavus Adolphus	79
	Sketch of the earlier part of his reign	80
	His interest in German affairs	82
Section II.—English Diplomacy (August 1624-July 1625).
1624 Aug.	The Kings of Denmark and Sweden asked by James I. to join him in recovering the Palatinate
1625 Jan.	The English Government, thinking the demands of Gustavus exorbitant, forms an alliance with Christian IV.	172
Nov.	Ratisbon taken by Bernhard	173
	Spanish opposition to a peace which would leave Spain exposed to French attacks	173
Dec.	Wallenstein thinks of making peace, whether the Emperor consents or not	175
Section III.—Resistance to Wallenstein's Plans (January-February 1634).
1634 Jan.	OÑate, the Spanish Ambassador, persuades the Emperor that Wallenstein is a traitor	175
	Ferdinand determines to displace Wallenstein	176
Feb. 19.	Wallenstein engages the Colonels to support him	177
Section IV.—Assassination of Wallenstein (February 1634).
Feb. 18.	Wallenstein declared a traitor	179
Feb. 21.	The garrison of Prague declares against him	179
Feb. 24.	Wallenstein at Eger	179
Feb. 25.	He is assassinated	181
	Comparison between Gustavus and Wallenstein	181
Section V.—Imperialist Victories and the Treaty of Prague (February 1634-May 1635).
1634 Feb.	The King of Hungary reorganizes the imperial army	181
Sept. 6.	In conjunction with the Cardinal-Infant, he defeats Bernhard at NÖrdlingen	183
	Consequent necessity of an increased French intervention	184
1635	Peace of Prague	184
May 30.	It is not universally accepted	185
	Miserable condition of Germany. Notes of an English traveller	187
CHAPTER X. THE PREPONDERANCE OF FRANCE.
Section I.—Open Intervention of France (May 1635).
1635	Protestantism not out of danger	189
May.	Close alliance of some of the Princes with France	190
	Importance of the possession of Alsace and Lorraine	191
May 19.	France declares war against Spain	192
Section II.—Spanish Successes (May 1635-December 1637).
1635	Failure of the French attack on the Spanish Netherlands	192
1636	Spanish invasion of France	193
Oct. 4.	Baner's victory at Wittstock	194
1637 Feb. 15.	Death of Ferdinand II. Accession of Ferdinand III.	194
	Imperialist success in Germany	195
Section III.—The Struggle for Alsace (January 1638-July 1639).
1638	Bernhard's victories in the Breisgau and Alsace	195
July 8.	Death of Bernhard	196
Section IV.—French Successes (July 1639-Dec. 1642).
	French maritime successes	[Pg xxvi] [Pg 1] Clyx.com