Germany and the Holy Roman Empire: Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1490-1648

752 Pages·2012·5.66 MB·english

by  Joachim Whaley

OXFORD HISTORY OF
EARLY MODERN EUROPE
GeneralEditor: R.J.W.EVANS
GERMANY AND THE HOLY
ROMAN EMPIRE
This page intentionally left blank
Germany and the Holy
Roman Empire
BY
JOACHIM WHALEY
VOLUME 1
FROM MAXIMILIAN I TO THE PEACE OF
–
WESTPHALIA 1493 1648
1
3
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For Alice
Acknowledgements
I have incurred numerous debts during my work on this project and it is my
pleasuretorecordsomeofthemhere.Thelistofinstitutionsmaybecomplete,but
IhavenodoubtthatIhaveoverlookedmanyindividualsandIshouldapologizeto
thematthispoint.
The British Academy provided me witha generous Wolfson European Fellow-
ship when I started work, which enabled me to spend time at the Herzog August
Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel. Book and research grants provided by Gonville and
Caius College, Cambridge have been invaluable at every stage. The College also
generously awarded me an additional grant towards the cost of the index. I am
gratefultotheElectorsoftheTiarksGermanScholarshipFund,whokindlyagreed
topayforthemapsandtohelpwithothercostsIincurredintheproductionofthe
manuscript.AgenerousgrantfromtheNewtonTrusthelpedmeinthefinalstages
ofcheckingthemanuscriptforsubmissionandpreparingitforpublication.
Among the many people who have given me help and encouragement over
the years, I should like to thank the following: Geoff Bailey, Derek Beales, Ilya
Bercovich,TimBlanning,NicholasBoyle,AnnabelBrett,AnitaBunyan,PaulCastle,
StephanieChan,ChristopherClark,ChristopheDuhamelle,RichardDuncan-Jones,
Richard Evans, Stephen Fennell, Axel Gotthard, the late Trevor Johnson, Andreas
Klinger, Charlotte Lee, Neil McKendrick, Ian Maclean, Alison Martin, Sharon
Nevill, Barry Nisbet, Sheilagh Ogilvie, William O’Reilly, Roger Paulin, the late
Volker Press, Ritchie Robertson, Heinz Schilling, Anton Schindling, Alexander
Schmidt, Georg Schmidt, Luise Schorn-Schütte, Brendan Simms, Ingrid
Sindermann-Mittmann, Gareth Stedman Jones, Mikuláš Teich, Alice Teichova,
AndrewThompson,MaikenUmbach,HelenWatanabe-O’Kelly,SiegridWestphal,
PeterWilson,CharlotteWoodford,andChrisYoung.
My work would not have been possible without the assistance of the staff of
theCambridgeUniversityLibrary.Inparticular,DavidLoweandChristianStau-
fenbiel have been absolutely marvellous. I have much appreciated Christian’s
willingness to respond to (far too many) e-mails marked ‘urgent’ and the speed
with which he has so often made it possible for me to consult a newly acquired
book.HeandDavidLowetogethermaketheUniversityLibrarysurelyoneofthe
bestplacesintheworldtopursueresearchinGermanstudies.
At Gonville and Caius College, Yvonne Holmes, Wendy Fox and Louise Mills
haveprovidedassistanceatcrucialpoints.ThecombinedeffortsofHarveyBarker,
Maki Lam, Matt Lee, and Richard Pettit in the College Computer Office have
ensuredthatIdidnotonoccasiondeletelargepartsofthetextbymistakeandthey
rescuedmepromptly,andwithgreatgoodhumour,fromalltoomany‘computer
crises’. In the Caius library, Mark Statham and Sonia Londero have always been
unfailinglyhelpful.
Acknowledgements vii
IamgratefultoPhilipSticklerandDavidWatsonoftheCambridgeUniversity
Department of Geography Cartographic Unit for their help in devising the maps
whichaccompanyeachvolume.
At Oxford University Press, I would like to thank my wonderfully helpful
Commissioning Editor Stephanie Ireland, and Production Editor Emma Barber.
Elizabeth Stone (copy-editor) and Fiona Barry (proofreader) have also been most
thoroughandefficient.
Robert Evans invited me to undertake this project and he has been constantly
supportiveeversince.Hehasalsobeenextremelypatientinawaitingtheoutcome.
Iamdeeplygratefultohimforhistrustinmeandforthecareandattentionwith
which he read various sections of the text over the years and then the draft of the
wholemanuscriptinthesummerof2010.
Among many more personal debts, I amgrateful toDavid Theobald and Peter
Crabbe for cups of tea and diverting conversations about things other than ‘the
book’,andtotheReverendMargaretMabbs,whoaskedeveryyear.
Mygreatestdebt,asthededicationindicates,istoAlice.
JoachimWhaley
Cambridge
31.x.11
Contents
ANoteonTerminologyandUsage xi
ANoteonMapsandOnlineResources xiii
Abbreviations xv
ListofMaps xvii
Maps xix,xxi
Introduction:NarrativesofEarlyModernGermanHistory 1
I. GERMANY AND THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE IN 1500
1. OriginsandFrontiers 17
2. TheReichasaPolity 25
3. FragmentedTerritories 40
4. TheReichandtheGermanNation 50
II. THE REFORM OF THE REICH AND
THE CHURCH, c.1490–1519
5. TheReformationErainGermanHistory 61
6. TheReichunderMaximilianI 67
7. Reich,Papacy,andReichskirche 81
8. ReligiousRenewalandtheLaity 95
9. HumanismintheReich 102
10. The‘PrintRevolution’andthePublicSphere 117
11. EconomicLandscapes,Communities,andtheirGrievances 122
12. MartinLutherandthe‘LutherAffair’,1517–1519 143
III. CHARLES V AND THE CHALLENGE OF THE
REFORMATION IN THE 1520s
13. TheReichduringtheFirstDecadeofCharlesV 155
14. LutherandImperialPolitics,1517–1526 168
15. LutherandtheGermanReformMovement 183
16. AlternativeReformationsandtheDominanceofLutheranism 190
17. TheKnights’War,1522–1523 209
18. ThePeasants’War,1525 220
19. ReformationintheCities 240
Contents ix
IV. MASTERING THE REFORMATION, c.1526–1555
20. TheEmergenceofProtestantTerritories 255
21. ThePersistenceofCatholicism 272
22. CharlesV,Ferdinand,andtheReichinEurope 284
23. TheEstablishmentofProtestantism,1526–1530 295
24. TheSchmalkaldicLeague,itsCounterparts,andthePolitics
oftheReich,1530–41 304
25. CharlesVas‘LordofGermany’,1541–1548 317
26. TheTriumphoftheReich,1548–1556 325
V. MANAGING THE PEACE, 1555–1618
27. Contoursofthe‘ConfessionalAge’ 339
28. Emperors,ImperialOfficials,andEstatesafterthePeaceofAugsburg 343
29. ConstitutionalDevelopmentsafter1555:Reichstag,Kreise,
Courts,andLegislation 355
30. TheReichinEurope 372
31. ManagingtheDomesticPeace,1555–c.1585 383
32. TheConsensusFalters,c.1585–1603 404
33. Paralysis,1603–1614 418
34. ProblemsoftheHabsburgDynasty 428
35. TheReichintheReignofEmperorMatthias,1612–1619 438
36. TheCrisisoftheHabsburgLands 448
37. ImperialPublicLawandtheStruggleovertheImperialConstitution 457
38. IrenicismandPatriotismontheEveoftheWar 462
VI. THEGERMANTERRITORIESANDCITIESAFTER1555
39. ProblemsofInterpretation 477
40. ABenignEnvironment? 481
41. StateFormation? 486
42. DomesticOrderandDefence 492
43. Confessionalization? 498
44. Finance,Taxation,andEstates 512
45. TheResurgenceoftheCourts 522
46. TheImperialCities 531
47. RespondingtoCrises 541