Stay ConnectedWDF examines how wars broke out, how they were concluded, and their consequences. Expect juicy diplomacy, sneaky intrigue, fascinating characters, and incredible drama. By Dr Zack Twamley, qualified history nerd.
Current Series: The July Crisis
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Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
King James of Britain was a complex fellow, and while his son is arguably more infamous, the father had some issues of his own to get through too. Most particularly, in the Spanish Match, the king's quest to balance Europe with a Palatine Protestant marital alliance on one hand and a Spanish Catholic on the other. Had it worked, Europe may have been spared the 30 Years War, and we could be talking about the Great Peacemaker. Unfortunately, this was a fantasy land only the King himself appeared to live in, and he would have to be rudely shaken out of it before that dodgy Spanish ambassador makes his move...
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1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
What happened when the most intensive, bitter conflict Europe had to offer spilled over into the other conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Elector Palatine? The Spanish and Dutch had fought for many decades, but the latest chapter in their war looked set to change everything, as the two branches of the Habsburg family merged their wars together, with dramatic consequences for all involved. Why did the Dutch feel they had to resume the war? Why did the Spanish believe they had no choice at all? Find out here, as the two theatres of war cross over, changing Europe and the Thirty Years War forever...
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
In today's episode we look at the story of the Dutch in a time of peace and tranquility - or at least, peace - and ask what went wrong. The problem was that the United Provinces were not so united after all, and were in fact beset by divisions on numerous levels. A state which had been forged in war, and which found its identity in war, suddenly had to cope without war, and it was harder than expected.
Between 1610-19, the Dutch Republic was struck by a new religious dispute which was soon folded into the political and societal tensions. The two camps became inflamed, and with the Spaniard always the subject of suspicion, it became clear that blood would have to be paid, for the crisis to pass...
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
After many episodes examining Frederick's woes, here we change our focus and look at that conflict long in the background - the Spanish Dutch War, which was resuming after twelve years of truce, in 1621. What had the truce done for both parties, and why did the Spanish feel particularly eager to resume war after going all in in Germany already? Could Madrid afford the extra expense? Probably not, but now that they held to the Rhine, the war against the Dutch could be brought to bear as a way to save the regions where Spain was truly hurting, as the professional piracy of the Dutch simply had to be stopped. Whether it as the last gasp or a desperate strike, either way, Spain had no choice but go on, even if that meant going down fighting...
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
Welcome to our coverage of the 30 Years War, where we cover the period 1622-23. It was a time of significant defeats and changes, but also of moments of great triumph and success for the Holy Roman Emperor.
In the aftermath of his enemy's disaster, Ferdinand was now free to shape Bohemia in his own image, in the process undoing centuries of history and traditions, all in the name of force, and through force alone. The country was effectively recast as a loyal Catholic dependency of Vienna, losing its independence and character, but Ferdinand wasn’t finished there. As his agents worked overtime to realise his victory, several prominent profiteers began to loom into view.
Among these new Bohemian men was a relatively minor noble by the name of Albrecht of Wallenstein, who played no small role in later years in securing Ferdinand’s security, not to mention creating the first standing Habsburg army. Other triumphs were affected too, as in February 1623, Maximilian of Bavaria cashed in his chips to become the Elector of Bavaria, thereby acquiring for himself and his realm a promotion which would have been the envy of the Empire. This, it seemed, was the reward which awaited those that aided the Emperor. And yet, there still fluttered in the Empire’s lands several rebellious flags, who had as their master not Ferdinand, but the defeated Frederick. The Winter King was certainly down, but he was by no means out...
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
In this episode, we examine the years between roughly 1620-22, as Frederick moved into his new home in The Hague, just as the war between Spain and the Dutch was about to resume. Like many others at the time, Frederick believed that the Eighty Years War had the potential to erupt into something more, and he banked that before long, all the wars in Europe would become one war. But this impression - which was also a statement later made by the King of Sweden, interestingly enough - did not happen quite yet, even though there were Spanish soldiers occupying his homeland.
The ravaging of the Palatinate was only one issue which Frederick would have to contend with though. Plans were afoot which would ensure that Frederick would be persona non grata in Germany, and in this desperate situation, what choice did Frederick have but to turn to his allies, the English, Danes and Dutch? Unfortunately for Frederick, these folks weren't quite ready to accept that the newly crushed Bohemian revolt would son spread into the 30 Years War. All in good time, though, Frederick was determined not to give up the fight, no matter what it cost him, his co-religionists, or his poor Palatinate!
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
In this episode, the Battle of White Mountain shatters Frederick's regime, but how did we get here? Let's roll back the clock a bit....
Frederick’s prospects were fair so long as his allies came to aid him against the Emperor. Yet, once these allies refused to pick up the phones, once his new subjects refused to pony up what was needed for defence, and once the Emperor called in HIS favours with the Spanish and several other electors, it was only a matter of time before Frederick’s mistake was brought home to in full. It began with a Spanish invasion of the Palatinate, alongside a Bavarian invasion which followed. Frederick had probably never expected or imagined such an act – after all, Spain was not at war with him, and Maximilian of Bavaria was a distant cousin for crying out loud! But family proved a curse rather than a blessing at this juncture, and worse news was to come. John George of Saxony was the most influential Protestant Elector in the Empire, and Frederick may have at least expected a sympathetic ear. Instead, he got an opportunistic enemy, who invaded Bohemia, seizing Lusatia, one of the kingdom’s contingent parts, and siding firmly with the Emperor. The walls were now closing in, and disaster then struck.
In November 1620, the Battle of White Mountain saw a Spanish-Bavarian-Imperial army defeat Frederick’s ragtag force of militia and mercenaries, and Frederick was only notified when the remnants of this shattered force began to stream back to Prague. The attack and disaster had come so quickly there was not even time to drain the bathwater, and Frederick fled along with his wife to the Netherlands, where a new chapter of their lives, and a new phase of the war, was due to begin in earnest. Ferdinand had won this round, but as far as Frederick was concerned, so long as he was breathing, the contest was far from over…
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
The Winter King had to carry on, and over November 1619- April 1620, he did just that. Frederick embarked on his royal progress, doing his best to persuade those he met that he was legit, and that his regime was here to stay. He had no other choice - Emperor Ferdinand was gathering his allies, and on the Habsburg side of the ledger, the omens were not good for the Elector Palatine. One by one, as 1620 progressed, his allies left his side.
Frederick was unfortunate to have to rely on people who had their own agendas. The Dutch were preparing for the resumption of the war with Spain; Brandenburg was terrified into quiescence, and his own father in law James I and VI was doing his best to arrange a grand partnership with a Spanish match. In short, the Winter King was alone, with only his increasingly anxious Bohemian subjects for company, and a looming threat of doom just over the horizon...
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website!
5) For merchandise including tees and mugs, all you have to do is click here!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Great news history friends - I've finally done it, and taken a large weight off my shoulders by joining up with Teepublic, a podcaster's favourite merchandise company! This is where you come in, because you guys can now make this a success by heading over to our Teepublic storefront. As an added incentive, we arranged to launch when a 35% off sale was already on!
All you have to do is click here!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.
Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here.
Last time in our 30 Years War story, Frederick V, a big time German ruler with small time power, accepted the Crown of Bohemia, and Europe seemed to breathe a sigh of shock. Some were shocked of course, but others were positively bouncing, and excited for the potential of what Freddy could achieve. All that was required to happen was for his friends and allies and relatives to stand up and be counted, and Emperor Ferdinand wouldn't stand a chance. Against the combined forces of England, Denmark, the Netherlands and countless Protestants in Germany, what chance did Emperor Ferdinand have? In fact, the Emperor was as cynical as he was fortunate - fortunate to have friends who depended on him as much as he depended on them. Bavaria and Spain, motivated by much more than religious and familial ties, could not afford to let this opportunity slide.
Was Frederick doomed as soon as he set out for Bohemia, or were matters outside of his control? As he marched for Prague, there was no shortage of promises and declarations in his favour, but a disconcerting shortage of practical contributions. This was the first sign of many that matters were perhaps not as rosy as Frederick had believed, but he pressed on regardless. Frederick set up his regime in Prague, making a grand impression upon the Bohemians, being joined by his wife Elizabeth, in addition to their infant children. Optimism was not hard to find, even if the omens were not good. There was a reason why history determined Frederick and Elizabeth the Winter King and Queen, and Frederick was about to find out precisely what it was…
**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**
1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!
2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!
3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!
4) For everything else, visit our website, where you'll find the shop, archive, and much more!
6) Get our new Thirty Years War book, For God or the Devil!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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