A House Divided: Wittelsbach Confessional Court Cultures in the Holy Roman Empire, C. 1550-1650 : Wittelsbach Confessional Court Cultures in the Holy Roman Empire, C. 1550-1650

This book examines the intersection between religious belief, dynastic ambitions, and late Renaissance court culture within the main branches of Germany's most storied ruling house, the Wittelsbach dynasty. Their influence touched many shores from the coa This book is the only book-length monograph comparing the impact of confessional identity on both halves of the Wittelsbach dynasty which provided Bavarian dukes and German emperors as well as its implications for late Renaissance court culture. It demonstrates that religious conflict led to the development of distinctly confessional court cultures among the main Wittelsbach courts. Likewise, it illuminates how these confessional court cultures contributed significantly to the splintering of Renaissance humanism along religious lines in this era. Concomitantly, it sheds new light on the impact of late medieval dynastic competition on shaping the early modern Wittelsbach courts as well as the important role of Wittelsbach women in the creation and continuation of dynastic piety in their roles as wives, mothers, and patronesses of the arts. Andrew L. Thomas, Ph. D. (2007) in History, Purdue University, is Assistant Professor of History at Salem College. He and Charles Ingrao have copublished two monographs dealing with the influence of Austrian Habsburg consorts in the High Baroque. Andrew Thomass book deserves high merit for its comprehensive treatment, based on a broad range of sources, and for its mastery of several bodies of scholarly literature. The theme of the two Wittelsbach branches as dynastic and territorial rivals, and as representatives of the religious fragmentation of the German lands, is not a new discovery. Andrew Thomas gives it, however, an original and comprehensive treatment that is surely both new and valuable. His highly interesting, challenging book engages many of the principal themes of German history in what has come to be called the confessional age. Thomas A. Brady, Jr., University of California, Berkeley. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 42, No. 1 (2012), pp. 181-182. "Die Dissertation ist gut recherchiert. Ihre Ergebnisse werden im berlegten Aufbau und formal einwandfreier Form niedergelegt. Die Ausfhrungen sind durch einen hinreichenden, jedoch nicht berbordenden Anmerkungsapparat hilfreich untermauert. [...] Insgesamt ist eine Untersuchung gelungen, die Wissenschaftlichkeit, Lesbarkeit und Benutzbarkeit gekonnt miteinander verbindet. Das originell ansetzende, inhaltlich anregende und formal rundum gefllige Buch stellt einen anregenden und weiterfhrenden Beitrag der interdisziplinr arbeitenden Kulturgeschichte zur Reformationsforschung dar." Alois Schmid, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen. In: Francia-Recensio 2012. Reflecting Dynastic Destinies: Mirror Of Prince Literature And Wittelsbach Education -- Patronage And Piety: The Confessionalization Of Wittelsbach Courts In Heidelberg And Munich -- Confessional Frontiers And Border Wars: The Confessionalization Of Bavaria And The Palatinate -- Wedding Bells And Cannon Fire: Wittelsbach Confessional Diplomacy -- A Winter's Tale: The Winter King And The Court At Prague -- Image-breaking: Iconoclasm And Identity Crisis -- Clarion Calls: White Mountain And Wittelsbach Legitimacy -- Metamorphosis: The Palatinate In Transition And The Bohemian Court In Exile At The Hague -- Appendix A: Wittelsbach Genealogy (1300-1550) -- Appendix B: Palatine Wittelsbachs Genealogy (1550-1650) -- Appendix C: Bavarian Wittelsbachs Genealogy (1550-1650). By Andrew L. Thomas. Based On Author's Thesis (ph. D.)--purdue University, 2007. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [337]-383) And Index.