A House Divided ─ Wittlesbach Confessional Court Culture in the Holy Roman Empire C 1550-1650

The map at the beginning of this study of the two opposing branches of the Wittelsbach families is a template for the Early Modern fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire into a patchwork of Catholic and Protestant regions. Thomas (history, Salem College) follows the disputes between the Calvinist Palatine branch and the Catholic Bavarian Wittelsbachs. He charts the ways in which the makeup of their respective courts followed confessional paths, especially in their patronage of artists, philosophers and religious leaders. Thomas also reintegrates the Wittelsbach women into the mainstream of court politics and influence. The fate of the Protestant Wittelsbach king of Bohemia and the course of the Thirty Years' War is particularly well incorporated into the struggle between two sides of one family and two versions of one religion that tore Europe apart. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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.