Charles on England and the Thirty Years War

England and The Thirty Years War (Charles Smith)

The Thirty Years War was in a word, complicated. Although the conflict lasted from 1618 to 1648, in reality the Thirty Years War is a smaller chapter of a larger period of political and religious conflict between various European factions and powers spanning roughly 300 years. The particular dynamics of the Thirty Years War were catalyzed by the election of “ultra-Catholic” Ferdinand II to lead the Holy Roman Empire (Sutherland, 588). Ultimately Ferdinand’s conflict with German Protestant states envelopes most of Europe, pulling in foreign powers along the lines of Religious affiliation.

 England’s involvement during this period was mainly characterized by its Protestant affiliations and ongoing competition for power and survival with both France and Spain leading up to the war. James I tried unsuccessfully to balance the English relationship to both Protestant and Catholic sides leading up to the conflict through marriages. He is successfully able to marry Elizabeth of England to German Frederick V, who was a Calvinist. However his intention to create a stronger connection to the Catholic Spain by marrying off Charles I to a Spanish wife was unsuccessful (Sutherland, 601). France, under the capable leadership of Henry IV, was in a much better position to make in impact on the conflicts in Germany than Britain was. However Henry IV is killed in 1610, and James I is “said to have turned whiter than his shirt upon hearing this” (Sutherland, 607). James I wanted to stay uninvolved in the larger war and maintained a peaceful stance, although some English troops were loaned out here and there.

The most direct involvement England had in the Thirty Years War came under the rule of Charles I, following James I. Charles I ultimately married Henrietta Maria of France after the failure of negotiating a Spanish marriage, and in 1623 decided along with the Duke of Buckingham to initiate hostilities against Spain in response to a Spanish incursion into Germany. This is something which England was really in no position to do, and the endeavor failed miserably (Sutherland, 519). This failure, coupled with Charles’s marriage to the Catholic Marietta and general dissatisfaction with his rule, ultimately led to the English Civil War and kept England out of the broader events and resolution of the Thirty Years War. Essentially the failure of the English monarchy to successfully navigate the political mire of the Thirty Years War is what leads to the domestic political strife and conflict in England during the latter part of the 17th century.