The Habsburg and Hohenzollern Dynasties in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

"The opening of the seventeenth century found the Habsburg dominions in central Europe in a state of considerable, and unaccustomed, uncertainty....This family disunity was superimposed on a great ideological division that had come ro run through all their dominions, in consequence of rhe Reformation.... "It was in almost every respect an unhappy age both for the dynasty and its peoples. The political tension between Catholic rulers and largely Protestant Estates found a counterpart...in severe social distress. ...Catholics and Protestants throughout central Europe girded themselves for a conflict, which the Protestants of Bohemia precipitated by throwing two of [the Emperor] Matthias’s Catholic advisers out of a window of the Royal Palace in Prague.... "He would have been a bold man who had prophesied in 1600 that less than two hundred years later the Hohenzollerns would be challenging the Habsburgs for the leadership of central Europe....Historians usually date the upturn of the family fortunes from the accession of the Elector Frederick William, who ruled from 1640 to 1688 [and made his realm]...a force to be reckoned with internationally, while at home he had laid the foundations on which his successors were to construct the efficient edifice of the Prussian military-bureaucratic state.... "The selection of documents [here]...is of necessity highly eclectic. It does not pretend to constitute a compendium of the most important pieces of the period—who shall say exactly which these arc?—but to illustrate the trends with examples from each."— C. A . M a c a r t n e y Acknowledgments jx Part I: The Habsburg Dynasty j Introduction: The Expansion of the Habsburg Power in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1 1 The Counter-Reformation in German Austria 13 2 Rudolf Il’s Imperial Patent (Majestatsbrief) of July 9,1609 22 3 The Defenestration of Prague 33 4 The Revised Constitution of the Kingdom of Bohemia (Vernewerte Landesordnung des Konigreichs Bohaimb) of 1627 37 5 The Sufferings of Hungarian Protestants Under the Counter-Reformation 45 6 The Sultan’s Declaration of War on the Emperor, 1683 57 7 The Raising of the Siege of Vienna, 1683 59 8 The King of Poland (John III Sobieski) on the Raising of the Siege of Vienna 66 9 "Austria Over All, If She Only Wills It" 70 10 The "Serb Privilege" of 1691 78 11 The Habsburg Succession, 1687-1722/23 82 A. Extracts from the Laws of the Hungarian Diet of 1687 85 B. The "Pactum Mutuae Successions" (September 12, 1703) 87 C. The Pragmatic Sanction 88 D. Extract from the Hungarian Laws of 1712-15 91 E. The Hungarian Implementing Legislation, 1721-22 91 12 Maria Theresa’s Political Testament 94 13 The Habsburgs and Hungary, 1741-91 132 A. The Hungarian Diet of 1741 132 B. Joseph II's Recantation 137 C. Leopold II's Settlement with Hungary, 1790-91 140 14 The Habsburgs and the Churches, 1740-92 145 A. Maria Theresa in a Nutshell 148 B. Maria Theresa and Joseph II on Toleration 148 C. The Placetuni Regium 15 3 D. The Toleration Patent 154 E. The Monasteries Patent 157 F. The Seminaries Patent 160 G. The "Livings Patent" 162 H. The Jewish Patents 164 15 The Habsburgs and the Peasant Question, 1740-90 169 A. Maria Theresa and the Nexus Subditelae 171 B. Peasant Patents Issued by Joseph II 174 16 "Manners Makyth Man" 184 17 Maria Theresa on Proposals to Partition Poland and Turkey in Europe 187 A. Memorandum by Maria Theresa, January 22, 1772 188 B. Second Memorandum, February, 1772 189 C. Maria Theresa to Count Mercy, July 31, 1777 191 18 Joseph II and the "Greek Project" 192 19 Problems for Joseph II 194 20 Leopold II’s "Political Credo" 204 Part 2: The Hohenzollern Dynasty Introduction: The Rise of the Hohenzollerns, 1600-1790 207 1 The First Brandenburg Privy Council 217 2 The Religious Issue Between the Elector John Sigismund and His Subjects 222 A. John Sigismund Deprecates Fanaticism from the Pulpit 223 B. Extracts from John Sigismund’s Reverse in the Mark, 1615 227 3 The Brandenburg Recess of 1653 228 4 The Treaty of Wehlau, 1657 242 5 Introduction of the Excise Tax in Brandenburg, 1667 253 6 The Readmission of Jews into Brandenburg 258 7 The Great Elector’s Venture into Overseas Commerce 262 8 Protection of the Brandenburg Woolens Industry 265 9 The French Huguenots Made Welcome in Brandenburg 269 10 The First King in Prussia 275 11 Frederick William I on Colonization in Lithuania 292 12 Frederick William I Wants Untinted Spectacles 298 13 Frederick William’s "Directorate General" 299 14 Frederick William’s "Political Testament" 309 15 Frederick William and His Son 322 16 Frederick the Great Plans His Coup 326 17 Frederick the Great as Others Saw Him (1751) 328 18 Frederick the Great’s Political Testament (1752) 331 19 Frederick the Great on Industrialization 346 20 Abuses in the Kurmark 348 21 Frederick the Great Before Leuthen 350 22 Land Settlement and Amelioration in the Neumark 353 23 Frederick II and the Partition of Poland 354 Bibliography 361 Chronology 365 Index 375