Habsburg Policy Research Articles

Kontekst małżeństwa Bony Sforzy z Zygmuntem I Starym: dyplomacja Maksymiliana I we Włoszech i Środkowej Europie

This article will focus on the circumstances which contributed to the 1517 dynastic marriage of Bona Sforza of Milan to Sigismund I the Elder of Poland. It will examine the decline of Sforza and Neapolitan Aragon influence on the Apennine Peninsula in the face of Valois and Habsburg claims to supremacy. This article aims to place Habsburg diplomatic manoeuvring to secure the installation of Maximillian I’s niece as Queen of Poland in the context of Habsburg-Valois rivalry in Italy and Habsburg ambitions for dominance in Central Europe where they challenged the Jagiellon dynasts of Bohemia and Hungary, and of Poland and Lithuania. This article will demonstrate that the contracting of the Sforza-Jagiellon marriage was initiated by Maximillian I as an extension of a deliberate and assertive Habsburg policy. Habsburg policy objectives included removal of the prime claimant to the throne of Milan and the placing of a queen acquiescent to Habsburg strategy at the Jagiellon court in Poland. This article will conclude that the marriage was used by the Habsburgs as a dynastic and political tool to limit the Jagiellon dynasty’s power and authority in Central Europe.

Bohuslav Balbín and the Patriotic Reconceptualization of Bohemia, c. 1650–1675

AbstractThis article examines four Marian histories written by Bohuslav Balbín (1621–88), a Bohemian Jesuit, scholar, and noble, in the second half of the seventeenth century. Assessing the content and form of these works, it argues that Balbín reinterpreted and intellectualized the genre of Marian hagiotopography, expanding the historical sections of his works and conceiving of hagiotopography as historical scholarship. Balbín's unique approach to this genre and his focus on Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian history allowed him to present his particular vision of the Bohemian composite monarchy, which was influenced by his status as a Jesuit and by his patriotism. Balbín's representation of the inherent unity of the territories which made up the composite state criticized Habsburg policy during and following the Thirty Years’ War. In this way, the article sheds light on the interplay between Catholicism, patriotism, and scholarship in early modern Europe.

Nyheder og/eller falske nyheder?

Taking off from El prodigio de Alemania [The Wonder in Germany, 1634], a recently discovered collaborative play by Calderon and Coello about general Albrecht von Wallenstein, this article discusses the conception of factuality informing Golden Age dramatic representations of contemporaneous history. Vis-a-vis the recurrent critical disparagement of this type of drama as artistically inferior propaganda, I will demonstrate the dramatists’ delicate handling of the breaking news about Wallenstein’s death and their use of advanced aesthetic and performative devices to stimulate audience thinking about Wallenstein’s destiny: Why did he become a traitor? Highlighting the subtle doublespeak informing especially the epilogue and the protagonist’s great monologue, I will argue that the play is at once loyal and critical toward Habsburg policy: it follows the official explanation of the general’s murder — that he was planning high treason — yet at the same time demonstrates an essentially interrogatory conception of factuality that invites reflection on what is historical “truth”.

Foreign rule? Transnational, national, and local perspectives on Venice and Venetia within the ‘multinational’ empire

The history of the Habsburg Empire in the post-Napoleonic era is frequently approached from the perspective of its various component nationalities. These were traditionally portrayed in the historiography as engaged in more-or-less open struggle with control from Vienna. This article argues that the over-privileging of such national categories can distort the picture. By looking at a number of case studies – the naming of Lombardy-Venetia, theBiblioteca italiana,the Panteon veneto – the relationship between Venice (and its Terraferma) and Habsburg rule during the second Austrian domination is examined. It will be argued that it is more profitable to see Venetian identities (municipal, local, Italian, and as part of a wider transnational European culture) as capable of working for as well as against the empire, and that Habsburg policy was as often concerned with managing potential local rivalries (notably between Lombards and Venetians) as with controlling a perceived Italian threat. It is also suggested that, while cultivation of local identity was often used to reinforce the national, the Austrian authorities were also happy to annex both to further imperial interests.

The Primary School Movement in the South Slav Lands of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Era of Dualism. Ideal and Reality

The roots of this paper go back to the author’s early days in Sarajevo researching Austro-Hungariancultural policy in Bosnia. As a naive young man from the cold North I was delighted by the idealism of nineteenth-century Balkan pedagogy, the language of the noble mission of the primary school to guide a suffering people towards the light of national progress. But even a naive young man soon saw that the ideal did not fully correspond to the reality. It took longer to realize that the contrast between affecting aspiration and practical constraints is the tale of primary education in almost all modernizing contexts. Common to all such situations was the struggle to create a new, autonomous and respected branch of the teaching profession in an era of rapid change and increasing social competition. More distinctively Balkanwere the problems of implementing ideas drawn in part from central and western Europe in less developed milieux. The ‘people’s school’ proved a challenging concept in lands where the people were often divided confessionally and ethnically, subject to foreign rule and too poor to sustain some of its underpinnings. Yet Balkan exceptionalism in these respects can be exaggerated and the use west European primary school teachers made of philosophical notions among the elite has parallels with the transmission of ideas between different parts of Europe. The present papermakes no claim to novelty, though it links the experience of various regions, and presents the primary school experience in terms of the teachers’ movement,a little more than is customary. The concentration ismainly on Croatia-Slavonia and Bosnia of the late Habsburg Monarchy’s south Slav lands, with archival material confined largely to Bosnia and illustrations based on some of the extensive pedagogical literature of the time. The primary school has only a modest part in mainstream Balkan historiography. A fine institution, the specialist ‘school museums’ founded in the 1890s on Czech lines in Zagreb, Belgrade and Ljubljana, has perhaps unwittingly contributed to this marginalization and the relative absence of overarching perspectives, even in the Yugoslav period. An exception was the cooperative Zbornik za historiju skolstva i prosvjete, published in Zagreb, then Ljubljana, from 1964 to 1990, whose editor, DragutinFrankovic, was also responsible for two important works on Croatian education. 1 The Vojvodina-orientated Pedagoska stvarnost (Novi Sad) published annually from 1955 is the longest standing historical periodical in the field. In Bosnia work has had a relatively narrow focus on establishing a record of statistical and curriculum development, maintenance and regulation. 2 Wider attention has been accorded primary education chiefly when it most directly involved national issues, as in questions of the language of instruction or in critiques of Habsburg policy, or Serb-Croat confrontation. 3 By the same token, the historiography of secondary education is more extensive because that education contributed more obviously to the emerging intelligentsias which Balkan lands needed in the process of ‘modernisation’. In fact,

Reconquista and Reconciliation in the Dutch Revolt: The Campaign of Governor-General Alexander Farnese (1578-1592)

Abstract The campaign in the Low Countries led by governor-general Alexander Farnese from October 1578 onwards resulted in the reconquest of more cities for the King of Spain than had been achieved by any of his predecessors or successors. It serves here as a starting point for a contextual analysis of the relationship between the ruler and the city defiant during the Dutch Revolt, not only to cast new light on the oft-neglected and complex Spanish Habsburg policies, but also to understand the broader context of questions of resistance and reconciliation during the Dutch Revolt. Most capitulation treaties accorded by Farnese show at least four features at odds with the pattern of repression of urban revolts. The governor aimed at keeping the civic patrimony intact, he granted full pardon and oblivion, he conditionally restored urban privileges and he often felt obliged not to insist on immediate reconciliation with the Catholic Church. The divergent reactions to this Habsburg policy indicate that the Dutch Revolt showed striking features of a civil war, in which not only the conditions of revolt but also of reconciliation caused discord.

Chance and Legal History

AbstractThe author presents four cases, where he analyses the role of chance. (1) An accident of chronology caused a dynamic king, interested in legal matters, to rule in England in the second half of the twelfth century. Consequently a modernized English common law was established before the neo-Roman law of the Schools and the officialities could intervene. (2) Finding the complete Corpus iuris civilis in northern Italy in the second half of the eleventh century, was the result of a chance discovery and not due to a search party sent to Greece in order to obtain a copy of Justinian's lawbook. (3) The 'reception' of Roman law in late fifteenth-century Germany was caused, inter alia, by the circumstance that Emperor Maximilian happened to be surrounded by an 'Academy' of humanists and to have Roman-imperial ambitions. (4) The formation of the Seventeen Provinces of Emperor Charles V was the result of a conscious Burgundian and Habsburg policy. But their sixteenth-century separation into present-day Belgium and Holland was the result of their Spanish ruler, King Philip II. He himself had come to rule over the Low Countries because of a fortuitous series of infant deaths in the Spanish dynasty in 1497–1499, which led to the accession of a Habsburg prince to the Spanish throne and eventually to a Spanish king ruling over the Low countries.

The Development of Habsburg Policy in Hungary and theEinrichtungswerkof Cardinal Kollonich, 1683–90

Historians interested in Habsburg policy in Hungary at the end of the seventeenth century have long focused their attention on theEinrichtungswerk des Königreichs Ungarn, a reform program drawn up under the direction of Cardinal Leopold Kollonich in 1688–89. Like a small number of similar “essential” documents—here the 1627 Verneuerte Landesordnung for Bohemia and the Pragmatic Sanction of 1723 spring to mind—the oft-asserted signifi cance of theEinrichtungswerkhas long overshadowed the document itself: although most historians studying the Habsburg Empire know of Kollonich's plan, few actually know very much about it. Instead of a realistic appraisal of its actual provenance and place in the historical development of Habsburg policy, the document—or rather its impression—has been applied as an open-ended description of the ambitions of the imperial court. In the words of Austrian historian Oswald Redlich, Kollonich's plan for Hungary was fully “characteristic of the outlook and spirit of the Vienna ruling circles” at the end of the seventeenth century, and as such provides a reliable guide to imperial policy. Hungarian historians have turned to theEinrichtungswerkas a source from which to divine the Habsburgs' intentions toward Hungary—debating whether its proposed measures refl ect a genuine “anti-Magyar” spirit or only an antipathy toward the Hungarian nobles. It is carefully regarded as reflecting a genuine and largely missed opportunity for change, full of meaning for the future development of the kingdom.

‘Denari in loco delle terre…’ Imperial Envoy Gerard Veltwijck and habsburg policy towards the ottoman empire, 1545–1547

This study concerns itself with the first Imperial Envoy Gerard Veltwijck (ca. 1500–1555), who negotiated with the Ottoman Sultan Süleymān. Using newly discovered as well as recently published sources, it will focus on the part this diplomat of Charles V played in the negotiations with the Sub-lime Porte and on the considerable problems the French King and his representatives in Istanbul experienced during the talks. The Most Christian King thus became a victim of his ambivalent foreign policy while his alliance with the Sultan experienced a severe crisis. Finally, this study tries to demonstrate the impact of a diplomatic sojourn in the Levant for the envoy, as such a mission was very often followed by a considerable and far from only financial reward.

AUSTRIA'S ITALIAN POLICY RECONSIDERED: REVOLUTION AND REFORM IN RESTORATION ITALY

This article examines Austrian policy towards the Italian states from the Congress of Vienna to the revolutions of 1848. It argues that the paramount concern of Habsburg policy was not revolution, but rather the maintenance of a hegemonic position in the peninsula against threats from the Habsburgs’ traditional enemy - the French. Revolution caused significant concern only because it might provide the French with a pretext for intervention in the peninsula. Consequently a number of strategies were adopted both to forestall insurrection (vigorous policing, encouraging moderate reform programmes, armed intervention), and to retain influence over the peninsula's rulers (diplomatic pressure, dynastic and military alliances, promises of assistance against unrest). However, by the 1830s the Austrians were faced by increasing challenges to their position of dominance. This was in part because of the personal ambitions of individual Italian rulers, but it also reflected the changing situation in Paris after the July Revolution, and in Vienna after the death of Francis I.

Law and order in Habsburg Venetia 1814–1835

ABSTRACTMuch recent historiography has adopted a revisionist approach to Habsburg policy in restoration Italy, jettisoning the ‘black legend’ which long surrounded Austrian rule of Lombardy-Venetia. Nevertheless the Habsburg police still tend to be portrayed as essentially repressive, constantly preoccupied with the threat of revolution. This case study of the police in the Venetian provinces during the reign of Francis I challenges such a view. It looks first at the problem of establishing forces of law and order in the aftermath of Napoleonic rule, demonstrating how under-funding conservatism and a desire for uniformity with the rest of the empire meant that the Venetian constabulary was often ill-suitedfor the prevention of crime. Then follows an examination of the part played by the police in the administrative machine. This emphasises a number of roles performed by higher-ranking police officials and the secret police, and suggests their major concerns were not merely with the threat of revolution, but with gathering information essential for efficient government, and with maintaining a watchful eye over other branches of the bureaucracy. These in turn contributed considerably to the efficiency of Habsburg rule and the remarkable political passivity of the Venetian provinces in this era.

Miriam J. Levy Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1988. Pp. x, 231. $17.50.

Miriam J. Levy Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1988. Pp. x, 231. $17.50.

Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century

Governance and Grievance touches on various aspects of Habsburg domestic policy, focusing on how the rulers influenced and were influenced by developments in both Italian and German Tyrol, and how they used to advantage the competing regional interests.

Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century.

Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century.

Book Reviews : Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century. By Miriam J. Levy. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. 1988. x+231 pp. $17.50 paperback

Book Reviews : Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century. By Miriam J. Levy. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. 1988. x+231 pp. $17.50 paperback

Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century

Governance and Grievance: Habsburg Policy and Italian Tyrol in the Eighteenth Century

Felix Schwarzenberg, Military Diplomat

At nine o'clock in the evening of March 13, 1848, Prince Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich resigned as imperial chancellor. With the “coachman” in absentia, Central Europe's peoples struggled to gain more freedom in that remarkable revolutionary movement of 1848. The Habsburg monarchy, although teetering on the verge of dissolution, survived the mid-century's most tumultuous year. Despite weakness at the helm of government, improvement of dynastic fortunes had gathered momentum by mid-summer as the imperial army under Prince Alfred Ferdinand zu Windischgrätz, Count Joseph Wenzel Radetzky, and Count Josip Jelačić od Bužima advanced irregularly but steadily on the peripheries of the realm. By autumn provision of a coherent Habsburg policy to be applied throughout the far-flung empire became mandatory. To provide a strong man to enforce the policies, Field Marshal Windischgrätz recommended for minister-president his forty-eight-year-old brother-in-law, Prince Felix Ludwig zu Schwarzenberg, an individual who possessed both the confidence of the army and considerable diplomatic experience.

Habsburg Policy and the Austrian War of 1809

In April 1809—less than four years after Austerlitz—Austria declared war on France and entered the field as the champion of a vanquished German Empire. In their analyses of the Habsburg bid to restore the old order in the Germanies, historians have stressed certain internal developments within the Austrian Empire that made war possible: a revitalized army, a strong feeling of German nationalism, an embittered émigré lobby, and a powerful war party. This article explores the importance of the factions within the imperial family in relation to these events and points up an irony in the Austrian decision. For while the emperor Francis viewed the war as a final effort to save the dynasty, Count Philipp Stadion, his chief minister and leader of the war party, capitalized on the divergent points of view within the family to attain his own ends. His principal concern was to restore the old political order, to reverse the terms of the Treaty of Pressburg (1805), and to reconstruct the Holy Roman Empire in Germany. By skillful manipulation of ideology and dynastic ambition, he won most of the imperial princes to his side. They, in turn, persuaded the emperor to commit himself to a foreign policy that jeopardized his monarchy for the sake of a war whose diplomatic goals interested him scarcely at all.