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
Patreon Series: The Age of Bismarck
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Why be first of your name when you get the first instalment of my historical fiction series, set during this very war! Matchlock begins 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.
Episode 9 of the Thirty Years War, First of His Name, is out NOW!
You can’t have a Habsburg protagonist without also having the anti-Habsburg antagonist, and in the years before the war, few individuals were better placed to challenge the Habsburg position than the Elector Palatine, one of seven men granted the honour of voting for the next Emperor, and a greatly influential ruler in his own right, holding sway over the disconnected lands that snaked along the Rhineland and beyond. Frederick V, Elector Palatine, was a Calvinist member of the House of Wittelsbach, but that wasn’t all. He was also pledged to be married to Elizabeth, daughter of King James I and VI.
This granted him supremely useful connections, which he proved determined to make use of in the coming years, to the detriment of the Empire, but to the wonder and fascination of history friends like us. Check out this instalment of the series to get up close and personal with the REAL Elector Palatine, rather than the idealised version which tends to paint Frederick as feckless, lazy or just plain stupid. On the contrary, Frederick was an amiable, considerate, intelligent ruler, in possession of something profoundly important for posterity – an inherited mission to combat Habsburg influence wherever it could be found.
**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
I've got 99 problems but a new historical fiction series ain't one! Find out why by checking out Matchlock and the Embassy for yourself! 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.
We get straight to the point with that title, because while we've done some exposition on it, it's pretty clear to me history friend that we need to talk about the HRE...
As the name suggests, the Germans were occasionally a problematic people, especially when there was so much on the line. We are given something of a grand tour of the Empire in this episode, and introduced to some of the major issues which the German people faced. The Habsburgs had only been able to monopolise the office of Emperor since 1438, but there regime was by no means secure if they failed to account for the fears and ambitions of their potential supporters.
Unfortunately for Germany, on the line of succession in the Imperial office was a man who rarely considered these issues – Ferdinand of Styria. We get our first glimpses of Ferdy in this instalment, but it should be said, Ferdinand was more than a bit preoccupied with his vision of the Counter-Reformation instilled within his by his Jesuit upbringing to notice us. Simply by existing, Ferdinand presents us with an ideal example of what can happen when the dice roll turns against mankind, and towards fanaticism. He was to be a crucial partner to the disaster that followed, but far from the only one...
**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Do you know what is truly delightful? My new historical fiction series, Matchlock! Matchlock is 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 look at an oft-forgotten theatre of the Thirty Years War, the east. Specifically, we examine the Habsburg border with the Ottoman Empire, and assess the conflicts and slights which the two radically different powers had committed in previous years. The conflict wasn’t merely religious, or opportunistic or political – it was also a matter of pride, since both the Turkish Sultan and the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor laid claim to that banner of tradition: the inheritor of Rome. The Turkish Sultan had earned this by conquest, the Emperor through the Pope, but both argued fiercely that theirs was the more legitimate, and battle had a way of simplifying the question.
Interestingly, the urgency of war lends us some fascinating examples of realpolitik in the early modern era, as the enemy of my enemy is my friend was bought into wholly. While the Turks enjoyed healthy relations with all the traditional enemies of the Habsburgs, the latter were not above contacting the Islamic foes of the Sultan, Safavid Persia. With this border to the east effectively resembling a militarised wasteland, the Emperor would need every wile in his possession if he was to turn his attentions westward. In this episode, we examine how this balance was managed.
**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Retreat to your own personal island with our new historical fiction series, Matchlock! Matchlock is 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.
Traditional narratives of the Thirty Years War frequently gloss over the English/Scottish or British contribution, and in this episode, we do our best to rectify that error! We start with a scene of peacemaking not dissimilar to that visited in our previous episode, with the added twist that James I and VI had ended a twenty-year war instigated by his famous predecessor. The Anglo-Spanish war was at an end, with little good gains to show for it and all that had been spent, but there was still work for King James to do. Ireland required planting, money needed borrowing, ships needed sailing, and foreign diplomats needed talking to.
If James was to bring Britain out of its Spanish funk and into the continental system, arrangements with old foes like France would have to be reached, and the relationship with the Dutch properly formalised. In the background of course, were the residual impacts of twenty years of war – a deep-seated suspicion among the British populace of everything Spanish or Catholic. Such trends would have to be combated, and time would tell whether James was equal to the task.
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**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Talk about triumphs, how much of a triumph would it be if little old Zack could be an Amazon best-seller? You can make it happen! 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.
War wasn’t good for everything in the early 17th century, and nowhere was this more evident than in the spate of peace treaties which were signed between Spain and its enemies during the years 1598-1609. Spain went from at war with, to at peace with, its three primary enemies in the space of little more than a decade, and I think it’s time we examined why! Such a task isn’t possible without first looking at where the most dominant of these conflicts – that of the Dutch War – first came from. We go a bit deeper into the history of the Dutch revolt here, and assess how a lucrative corner of Spain’s Empire went onto become the greatest pain in Madrid’s backside.
What began as the Burgundian Netherlands had split into North and South, Dutch and Spanish, loyal and rebellious, by 1609, but the conflict had dragged on relentlessly since the 1560s, so it was little wonder that some inclinations towards peace were pursued. Here we are introduced to the logic behind a temporary peace with one’s enemies, as well as the family charged with taking the fight to the Spanish in the first place, the House of Orange. This semi-royal House started off as a source of loyal Spanish governors for Madrid, but had been transformed into stadtholders – agents of rebellion and military reform, with talents that surpassed and ruined all Spanish expectations. Orange and the Dutch henceforth were inseparable, much like the two Habsburg branches.
**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The only connection you need is from your eyes to the pages, because we have a historical fiction series out NOW which will definitely be right up your street! Matchlock is 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.
This episode continues where we left off in the previous instalment, by delving deeper into the motives of the French King Henry IV, in the context of the ongoing Julich-Cleve Crisis. Would Henry intervene, thereby reigniting the war against Spain which had only come to an end in 1598? The answer was no, but not for lack of trying. At the last moment, Henry was assassinated in 1610, on the verge, perhaps, of a great rupture with the enemies of France. That rupture would have to wait fifteen years, as the Empire focused back in on itself. A major force in the Empire was plainly Maximilian, the Duke of Bavaria, and in this episode we get closer to grips with him, assessing his influence, his wealth and his power. Much of these qualities were enhanced, as we will see, thanks to his relationship with the Habsburgs. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, or in Maximilian’s case – marry them! The Bavarian-Imperial arrangement was to prove mutually beneficial to both sides, and effectively carried the Thirty Years War forwards, and we investigate it here.
Important though Bavaria was, the Emperor would have been utterly lost without his Habsburg brethren, the King of Spain, on hand for a handy loan of money or the occasional lending of a whacking large army of professionals. Unfortunately for the King of Spain Philip III, his kingdom was at war with the Dutch, or at least it had been, until an unlikely mediator, the assassinated King of France, helped bring it to a temporary end. The Twelve Years Truce paused the war with the Dutch, but it did not relieve Spain completely from the burdens which were to follow. Europe seemed to be moving into two distinct camps – one Habsburg, and one against that great dynasty. Only time could tell what consequences might follow…
**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Long lists of characters are much easier to manage in fiction, and that's where my new series comes in! 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.
If you thought you properly understood how the Empire worked at long last – then think again! There was always some wrinkle or exception to the rule, but perhaps no rules were more important than those concerning the role of Electors. We touched on them in the last episode, but here we place them in their proper context, and unwrap what specifically made them so important to the functioning of the Empire. The Habsburgs, powerful though they were, depended upon the Electors for their legitimacy, and after the Reformation, the seven invaluable votes which could be offered were split along these lines. What was the solution? To a generation of Habsburg rulers, it was quite simple – maintain such a monopoly on power that the votes come in regardless. How to manage this feat? Marriage, of course!
Into this examination we throw several wrenches, including the Julich-Cleve Crisis of 1609-14, which provided a dangerous training ground for the two ideological blocs of the Empire to square off. Another incident, the destruction of the city of Donauworth in 1608, and its capture by the Duke of Bavaria, also deserves mention. The Empire, stable though it somehow remained, was in danger of a major rupture if calmer heads did not prevail. Somewhere to the west, an individual was seeking an opportunity to capitalise, and bring his Kingdom to the front of the Emperor’s lists of problems. Henry IV, the King of France, had emerged triumphant from the French Wars of Religion, but this scion of the House of Bourbon had a way to go before he could sponsor the showdown with the Habsburgs that his son and grandson were to pursue. Tune into episode 3 to see exactly how Europe sustained such domineering personalities and powers!
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**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!
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 Holy Roman Empire was a unique place, full of unique laws, unique settlements and very unique rulers. Unique is just a polite way of saying, that the HRE was a freakin’ mess, but it is a mess which we have to acquaint ourselves with if we’re to stand any chance of understanding the event which it housed – the Thirty Years War. It was in the lands of this sort of state/sort of empire that the events of this conflict were played out. It was fanned and exacerbated by men like Electors and Emperors, it was driven by arguments over religion and constitutions, and it was empowered by actors outside of the Empire, who had their eye on manipulating the situation to their advantage.
Our focus in this episode goes to 1555, where a settlement between protestant and catholic agents was agreed. The Peace of Augsburg, the religious and profane peace, as it would come to be known, was a crucial milestone in the history of the Empire, but it is also vital to our understanding of the conflict which followed three generations later. How did the Empire work, what did the Electors did, how did the Emperor get elected, what did the whole thing look like in practice – all of these are questions which we will get to grips with in this episode, so I hope you’ll join me!
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**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today in our Patreon feed, the first episode of the Poland Is Not Yet Lost narrative is released, which is super exciting! But, even if you've been tempted in the past to sign up for $5 a month and get this extra content, you may be wondering, what exactly does this series look like, and how do I know if I'll like it? All good questions, which I hopefully answer with some preview clips of episodes we've released before in this exclusive series.
If you find yourself wanting more, you know where to go! Head over to the Patreon page for this podcast by clicking this link here. By supporting the show you're not only accessing great history content you won't get anywhere else, you're also helping me live my dream in my History PhD! So thanksss so much!
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Start off your new Thirty Years War journey the right way, by exploring our other offering - historical fiction! Matchlock is a 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.
We're back! After running through 17th Century Warfare with a fine-toothed comb, I am finally ready to deliver to you the most exciting series we've ever covered here at WDF Towers. It's eerily familiar, but also breathtakingly different - it sounds like the Thirty Years War!
Our first proper episode of the Thirty Years War begins with a somewhat surprising scene – Hernan Cortez, far away in South America, coming face to face with the Aztecs. Why do we begin our story with such a controversial, pivotal character? Simple – Cortez was, truth be told, an agent of the Habsburgs, or more specifically, Charles V, the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.
Charles was the embodiment of Habsburg power and influence; he was arguably the most powerful man in Europe since the era of Roman Emperors, and he owed his position to the incredible marital policy of his forebears, who married their way out of obscurity in an isolated Swiss castle, to become THE predominant European family by the turn of the 16th century. The Thirty Years War is a story which cannot be told without the Habsburg dynasty, so I hope you’ll join me in this first true instalment of our series to see where this dynasty came from, and where it went next!
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**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!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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