Scots in the Habsburg Service, 1618 - 1648 (History of Warfare, V. 21)

Between 1618 and 1648, a number of Scottish expatriates appeared at the major centres of Habsburg dynastic power: Madrid, Brussels, and the peripatetic court of the Holy Roman Emperor. In dealing with their activities, this book challenges the notion that France or the northern Low Countries invariably provided the country’s strongest continental connections during the early modern period. The first part of the text relates to the Spanish Habsburg lands, while the second introduces several military entrepreneurs who rose to prominence in the service of the eastern, ‘Austrian’ branch of the dynasty. From the mid-1630s, most of this diverse group became allies, in promoting the cause of the Scottish-born, former ‘Winter Queen’ of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, and her family. Between 1618 and 1648, a number of Scottish expatriates appeared at the major centres of Habsburg dynastic power: Madrid, Brussels, and the peripatetic court of the Holy Roman Emperor. In dealing with their activities, this book challenges the notion that France or the northern Low Countries invariably provided the country s strongest continental connections during the early modern period. The first part of the text relates to the Spanish Habsburg lands, while the second introduces several military entrepreneurs who rose to prominence in the service of the eastern, Austrian branch of the dynasty. From the mid-1630s, most of this diverse group became allies, in promoting the cause of the Scottish-born, former Winter Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, and her family." From 1618-1648, Scottish expatriates appeared at the centres of Habsburg dynastic power - Madrid, Brussels, and the peripatetic court of the Holy Roman Emperor. This work challenges the notions that France provided the country's strongest continental connections during the early modern period This book offers an original approach to the study of the Scottish diaspora in Europe. It highlights the activities of a group of emigrants and exiles who served the twin-headed Habsburg dynasty during the first half of the seventeenth century.