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The Great European Witch Hunt and War of the 17th Century Overview

Learn about the mass hysteria over witchcraft, witch trials, the Thirty Years' War, phases of conflict, impacts, and the Peace of Westphalia in early 17th century Europe.

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The Great European Witch Hunt and War of the 17th Century Overview

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  1. Crises in early 17th c. Europe

  2. The Great European Witch Hunt

  3. Overview: • Europe was caught in the grip of a mass hysteria over witchcraft (mid-16th c. to late 17th c.) • 70,000 to 100,000 put to death for harmful magic (maleficium) & diabolical witchcraft • The witchcraft craze was a predominantly rural phenomenon • Witchcraft trials held in England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, parts of France & Low Countries • The charges against witches… • Inflicting harm on neighbors • Attending sabbats (mass meetings w/ devil & demons) • Indulging in sexual orgies w/ the devil • Cannibalism (devouring of small Christian children) • Ritual practices that denied Christian beliefs

  4. The Witches’ Sabbat English woodcuts c. 1600

  5. The Burning of Witches in Germany, c. 1555.

  6. A Little Humor?

  7. TheThirty Years War (1618-1648)

  8. 1618-1648

  9. Causes – 30 Years’ War • Growing Religious Tensions in HRE • Formation of Religious Leagues – Protestant Union (1608) & Catholic League (1609) • Austrian Hapsburgs hoped to unite HRE & preserve Catholicism (supported by Spanish relatives!) • Ferdinand of Styria (Hapsburg Archduke) elected new king of Bohemia

  10. Defenestration of Prague May 23, 1618

  11. The Bohemian Phase (1618-22) • Protestant Union led by Frederick V of the Palatinate • Catholic League led by Ferdinand (now HRE Ferdinand II), Maximilian of Bavaria & aided by Spanish • Battle of White Mountain (1620) – ends Bohemian phase • Frederick lost his lands in Palatinate to Spain • Bohemia given back to Ferdinand  confiscate nobles’ land & restores Catholicism • Rebellion in Bohemia inspired others CIVIL WAR Protestant Union Catholic League

  12. The Danish Phase (1625-30) • King Christian IV of Denmark entered war to bolster weakened Protestant position in Germany (+ satisfy imperial motives) • Ferdinand II hired Albrecht von Wallensteinto lead imperial army to victory • Edict of Restitution (1629): • Restored to Catholics all lands lost since 1552. • Deprived all Protestants, except Lutherans, of their religious and political rights. • Wallenstein becomes divisive figure Ferdinand fires him WAR King Christian IV Ferdinand’s Imperial Forces

  13. AlbrechtvonWallenstein

  14. Soldiers pillaging a Farm:

  15. The Swedish Phase (1630-35) • Secretly supported by Cardinal Richelieu of France • GustavusAdolphusof Sweden invades HRE (died in victory @ Lützen in 1632) • Ferdinand II forced to bring back Wallenstein to defeat Swedes. Wallenstein later assassinated for disloyalty. • Peace of Prague (1635): • Annulled Edict of Restitution • Guaranteed So. Germany would remain Catholic • Hapsburg dream of uniting Germany ended! WAR Gustavus Adolphus Ferdinand’s Imperial Forces

  16. GustavusAdolphus

  17. A Military Revolution? • GustavusAdolphus Model • Larger standing armies (conscription) • Armies more expensive • Military schools est. to train officers • Linear formations (SALVO, mobility & flexibility) • Increase use of firearms (musket w/ bayonet) • Naval arms race (“ships of the line”) • Heavy taxes to maintain armies

  18. The Franco-Swedish Phase (1635-48) France, United Provinces, Savoy, Scots, Finns & Germans HRE & Spain • Long & indecisive phase (no decisive battles) • French victorious  defeat Spanish at Rocroi (1643) • This phase was most destructive for Germany! • German towns decimated. • Agriculture collapsed  famine resulted. • 8 million dead  1/3 of the population [from 21 million in 1618 to 13.5 million in 1648] • Caused massive inflation. • Trade was crippled throughout Europe. WAR

  19. Peace of Westphalia (1648)

  20. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) • Political Provisions: • German princes become sovereign rulers  power of HRE & Spanish/Austrian Hapsburgs severely limited • Switzerland & Dutch Netherlands (United Provinces) made independent states • Important Territorial Gains • France  Ger. speaking province of Alsace • Sweden  lands in No. Ger. on Baltic & North Sea Coasts • Brandenburg (future Prussia)  territories on North Sea & central Germany • Religious Provisions: • “Cuius region, eiusreligio” = Peace of Augsburg reinstated w/ Calvinism added • Edict of Restitution revoked  guaranteed possession of former Church states to Protestant holders

  21. Nobody Was Happy! • Many Protestants felt betrayed. • The pope denounced it. • Only merit  it ended the fighting in a war that became intolerable! • For the next few centuries, this war was blamed for everything that went wrong in Central Europe.

  22. 1688-1700

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