The Thirty Years War A Sourcebook

"This is an original work, one that stimulates further reflection on the social as a crucial concept in both sociology and philosophy. Pyyhtinen has certainly brought the social alive for a contemporary audience." -- David Frisby, Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK A book of translated sources on the Thirty Years War (1618-48), providing students with easily accessible source material on this destructive conflict. Using relevant and highly varied sources, it gives a comprehensive overview of the war and its impact, from both political and religious perspectives, on Europe and the Holy Roman Empire.

PETER WILSON is GF Grant Professor of History at the University of Hull. He is author of War, State and Society in Württemberg (1995), German Armies: War and German Politics 1648-1806 (1998), The Holy Roman Empire 1495-1806 (1999), Absolutism in Central Europe (2000), From Reich to Revolution 1558-1806 (2004) and Shinsei Rôma Teikoku 1495-1806 (2005). He is editor of Warfare in Europe 1815-1914 (2006), 1848: Year of Revolution (2006), The Blackwell Compendium to Eighteenth Century Europe (2008) and, with Alan Forrest, The Bee and the Eagle: Napoleonic France and the End of the Holy Roman Empire, 1806 (2009).

List of Maps and Figures
Chronology
Introduction
Political and Religious Tension in the Empire after 1555
Confessional Polarisation? Protestant Union and Catholic League
Crisis in the Habsburg Monarchy
The Bohemian Revolt and its Aftermath
Spain and the Netherlands
The War in Western and Northern Germany 1621-9
The Catholic Ascendancy
The Edict of Restitution
Swedish Intervention
The Destruction of Magdeburg, 1631
Sweden’s Search for Security and Reward, 1631-5
Wallenstein’s Second Generalship 1632-4
The Peace of Prague, 1635
War and Politics, 1635-40
Military Organisation and the War Economy
Experience
Peace Making 1641-8
The Peace of Westphalia
Peace Implementation, Celebration and Commemoration
Guide to Further Reading
Index