WDF 25.3 Stuff

Hey history friends, welcome to the new episode on the 30 Years War! This time we look at Freddy's acceptance of the crown of Bohemia, the revolt in Bohemia itself, and look at Ferdinand's treatment of the rebels and his not so stellar reputation.

Here's the bibliography, and remember to check the post further down for the maps. Note that, to my immense embarrassment, the 'C.W. Wedgewood' that I've been referring to is actually a Ms C.v. Wedgewood, apologies for the confusion!

Peter Wilson, Europe's Tragedy; a History of the Thirty Years War (Penguin Group Publishing; 2001).
Geoffrey Parker, Europe In Crisis 1598-1648 (Fontanna Press; 1990).
David Maland, Europe at War 1600-1650 (MacMillan Press; 1980).
G. Pages, The Thirty Years War 1618-1648 (A & C Black Ltd; 1970 (translated in 1970, originally published in 1931) ).
C. V. Wedgewood, The Thirty Years War (New York Press Review; 2005).
David Sturdy, Fractured Europe 1600-1721 (Blackwell Publishers; 2002).


Thankssss!

Palatin...what?!

Are you a tad confused by my state hopping? Fear not, the HRE really is a very confusing place, so I scoured the net for a map of the HRE that would fill in some of the gaps for you guys and settled on this one. It's not prefect, but does a good job of showing you that each so-called state is actually like a Land-Polynesia of states surrounded by other states, connected only by a common prince.
Look in Particular for the min names I spout off in the next episode, such as Bohemian and the Palatinate. Look at Bohemia, seems simple right? That's because Bohemia has the fortune of being an actual kingdom, so it doesn't look like a child attempted to draw it into a map of Europe. Now look at Mainz. This Electorate is a vital 'state' in the HRE because it provides one of the votes during the voting for the next Holy Roman Emperor. But look at its lands. See that pink in the HRE with the words 'Elect. of Mainz' written across it? Well follow that pinkish colour southwards aswell, because it pops up in little bits all throughout Austria. Now you see my dilemma; if I was to tell you where Mainz actually was, I'd be describing Austria's location!

Anyway you get the idea. Here's a few maps that'll hopefully give you a better picture of the HRE geographical situation.

And this one, a little more city-oriented:

Finally, Here's a handy link to a map of the HRE that you can really zoom in on. It's from 1789, but still.
-> http://www.zonu.com/fullsize-en/2009-12-21-11431/Holy-Roman-Empire-1789.html


Hope that clears up some of the confusion for you history friends, WDF 25.3 out soon!