Witchcraft (though NOT the Salem variety) and More Chapter 15 Notes

 “He was as dignified and majestic in his dressing gown as when dressed in robes of state, or on horseback at the end of his troops.”  He “loved truth, justice, order, and reason.”  ‘He did not lose control of himself ten times in his whole life, and then only with inferior persons.”  Other than me, who does that describe?  But there were some negatives about Louis XIV as well:  “Louis XIV’s vanity was without limit or restraint”  This led to his “distaste for all merit, intelligence, education, and most of all, for all independence of character and sentiment in others,” as well as “to mistakes of judgment in matters of importance.”  But other than that, he was great!...

 Because there was so much inflation in the 16 th century, economic times took a turn for the worse in the 1620s  By the 1630s and 1640s, imports of silver from the Americas declined leading to economic recession, especially near the Mediterranean  Italy and Spain, specifically, were in bad shape  Increased food supply and warmer climates in the 16 th century led to an expanding population; however populations leveled and then declined in the first half of the 17 th century, especially in central and southern Europe  The only populations to grow were The Netherlands, England, and France  Why do you think population declined?  Answer: war, famine, and plague  A “little ice age” in the mid 16 th century led to affected harvests and famine…leading to social craziness which is oh so fun to read about…

 WITCHES!!!!!! WITCHES!!!!!!

 Religion is back at it again…C’mon God!  A struggle between militant Catholics and militant Calvinists led to the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War  As time moved forward, however, the way become increasingly secular with a focus on dynasties and nationalism  This was Europe-Wide war, focused mostly in the Germanic lands of the Holy Roman Empire  Many historians see it as a larger conflict for European leadership between the Bourbons of France and the Habsburgs of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire (those view it as a 50 year struggle from )  Catholic and Lutheran tension had cooled since the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 but now the Calvinists were in on the act  The Protestant Union was formed amongst German Protestant states by Frederick IV of the Palatinate  This was countered by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, who formed the Catholic League of German states  By 1609, Germany was dividing into 2 religious camps ready for war  Additionally, the Habsburg emperors were looking to consolidate their authority in the Holy Roman Empire; their princes resisted  The princes wanted their “German liberties” and to individually rule  The Habsburgs turned to Catholic Spain; the princes turned to the enemies of Spain (especially France)

 Phase One: The Bohemian Phase ( )  Phase Two: The Danish Phase ( )  Phase Three: The Swedish Phase ( )  Phase Four: The Franco-Swedish Phase ( )

On Like Donkey KongDonkey Kong  I see a little silhouette-o of a man…  The Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand was accepted as the Bohemian Estates’ king  These nobles were quickly unhappy with their choice because many of them were Calvinists, while Ferdinand was a devout Catholic  In and of itself, the Catholicism would not have been a problem, but Ferdinand began re-Catholicizing Bohemia and strengthening royal power  The Protestant nobles rebelled against Ferdinand in May 1618 and it was on like Donkey Kong  No, they literally did something that Donkey Kong may have considered: they threw two Habsburg governors and a secretary out of the window of the royal castle in Prague!

 They lived.  No. Seriously. They fell 70 feet from a castle and lived.  Now mind you, these are very religious people, so the Catholics pointed out that they survived only because of the Virgin Mary  The Protestants pointed out they fell into a manure pile  (You can’t make this up—sometimes history is greater than fiction)  The Bohemian rebels seized Bohemia, ousted Ferdinand and elected Frederick V (also head of the Protestant Union) as his replacement  Ferdinand refused to accept his deposition, as he was also recently elected as the Holy Roman Emperor  If Ferdinand had left, the balance of religious and political power in central Europe may have shifted, giving the Protestants more control of the Holy Roman Empire  Therefore, Ferdinand sought the help of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria and the Catholic League and Frederick was defeated on November 8, 1620  Spanish troops took advantage of Frederick’s predicament by invading the Palatinate and conquering it by the end of 1622  Frederick fled, the Spanish took control of the western part of the Palatinate to gain access from Italy to the Netherlands  Now Emperor Ferdinand, he established Bohemia as a Habsburg possession, confiscated the land of the Protestant nobles, and established Catholicism as the sole religion  And that’s what happens when keepin’ it real goes wrong…