The Wars of Religion - The struggle for power in 16th century Europe - Book I of III

by Adolphus William Ward, Martin Andrew Sharp Hume

THE present volume, as its title imports, relates a complicated series of conflicts of which the origin or the pretext has for the most part to be sought in the great religious schism of Christianity. But the cause of the restoration of Catholic unity in the West was, in the minds of both the supporters and the opponents of that cause, inextricably interwoven with the purposes of dynastic ambition, and powerfully affected by influences traceable to the rapid advance of the monarchical principle and to the gradual growth of the conception of the modern national State. Although in graver peril than ever before from the persistent advance of the Ottoman Power, Europe no longer finds a real unifying force in either Papacy or Empire. The spiritual ardor of the Catholic Reaction, which might have served to strengthen the resistance to the general enemy of Christendom, is expended largely on internecine conflicts. It allies itself with the settled resolution of Philip of Spain to control the destinies of Western Europe; and thus there is not a phase of the religious and political struggle here described which remains unconnected with the rest. The Religious Wars of France, with an account of which this volume opens, furnish the most complete instance of the constant intersection of native and foreign influences; but it is illustrated by almost every portion of the narrative. Since, therefore, the story of no European country or group of countries in this troubled period admits of being told as detached from the contemporary history of its neighbors, allies, or adversaries, the same series of events must necessarily appear more than once in these pages as forming an organic part of the history of several countries, but treated in each case from a distinct point of view.Contents of Book I SUMMARYTHE WARS OF RELIGION IN FRANCEFRENCH HUMANISM AND MONTAIGNETHE CATHOLIC REACTION, AND THE VALOIS AND BÁTHORY ELECTIONS, IN POLANDTHE HEIGHT OF THE OTTOMAN POWERTHE EMPIRE UNDER FERDINAND I AND MAXIMILIAN IITHE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDSWILLIAM THE SILENT

Genres: History

460 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2015

About the author

Sir Adolphus William Ward (2 December 1837 – 19 June 1924) was an English historian and man of letters.

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly accessible work, given that it was written at least 100 years ago. I haven't been able to find the date of original publication, but the authors both died in the first decade of the 20th century, so this is definitely an older work. This is also the kind of popular history that isn't written much anymore--a survey of an age, using the religious conflicts of the 16th and early 17th centuries, to write a 3-volume history of Europe during that time.

The writing, for the most part, feels modern, and there are some insights into political motivations that feel fresh, even if they are at least 100 years' old. The authors follow one country at a time, which makes it easier to follow the history of a particular place. Still, the reader has to bear in mind that events about which she has already read (like the St. Bartholomew's Massacre in the section on the French civil wars) have yet to occur as she reads the history of, say, the Netherlands.

The most challenging aspect of the book is the assumption of knowledge that was likely more widely-shared by an educated, English-speaking elite at the end of the 19th century. So, for example, the authors just leap into the history of France at the beginning of the civil wars without laying much, if any foundation, of the Valois dynasty and the tensions between the crown and the nobles that pre-dated the later religious conflict. There is also no explanation of how southern France became a Huguenot stronghold while the north (nearer to the hotbeds of Protestant/Reformation zeal) remained staunchly Catholic.

I found the chapter on the Holy Roman Empire to be a slog. It starts immediately after the Peace of Augsburg, and gives only a brief overview of that critical religious settlement, before launching into a detailed examination of the politics and the intersection of religious belief, political rivalry, and territorial ambition. The authors don't explain the political structure of the HRE, so the description of tensions between some of the Electors and the Palatine lacks coherence; I didn't know who these people were or what their roles were in relation to the Empire or each other (I know that they were politically important, but that's all). It's too bad, because I get the impression that there are a lot of interesting insights here, if only I understood the context.

I give it four stars because, despite its challenges, it is a surprisingly accessible read, and it's so rare to read a popular historical survey.