The Manifold Ties Between France and the German Rhineland

Chapter 1 Connections: The Manifold Ties between France and the German Rhineland

Behind the seemingly straightforward notion of foreign intervention lie a num- ber of complex associations that do not necessarily apply in an early modern context. International relations in post-Westphalian Europe are alleged to be characterized by a clear distinction between domestic and foreign concerns, with borders serving to demarcate the limits of political and legal jurisdictions. Consequently, it is assumed that a very good reason is needed before interfer- ing in the affairs of another country. The notion of national identity is also strongly associated with the distinction between foreign and domestic. It is now taken for granted that it is more pertinent to concern oneself with the affairs of one’s own nation or country and that events beyond the border are somehow less relevant. When we read or write about German involvement in the French Wars of Religion, these notions colour our interpretation. Adjec- tives such as ‘French’ and ‘German’ evoke a range of associations concerning cultural, linguistic, and political belonging. These feelings of belonging, which will be discussed in detail in this chapter, imply not only cohesion within the borders of a country, but also separation from other nations. Historians have long recognized that the role of the nation in international politics was limited in the early modern period, but it is nonetheless still difficult to move beyond our modern conceptions of the distinction between foreign and domestic. When questioning why one power meddles in the affairs of another, it can be tempting to judge such interventions to be an infringement of national sover- eignty and to assume that the furthering of national interests must have some- thing to do with it. This chapter interrogates to what extent the distinction between domestic and foreign applied in the sixteenth century. It investigates the factors that in- formed the perspective of the German princes on political and religious events outside the Holy Roman Empire. As will be demonstrated, the international- ism of the aristocracy as well as the lack of clear borders, the cosmopolitanism of the Rhineland, and the relative unimportance of national sentiment ensured that events in France were not seen as foreign or distant. As a conse- quence, intervention in the French Wars of Religion was not quite as big a step as it would seem.

1 National and Regional Identity in the Sixteenth-Century Rhineland

In his essay entitled ‘The Elusive Netherlands’, Alestair Duke lists all the factors that contribute to the construction of national identity and one by one demon- strates how they do not quite apply to the sixteenth-century Low Countries.1 The region lacked a common language, natural borders, a shared dynastic history, political unity, or even a commonly accepted name for its inhabitants. Religion, which as the Dutch Revolt unfolded became an increasingly important contribu- tor to the Dutch self-image, was for most of the sixteenth century a divisive rather than a unifying factor.2 A similar argument can be made about the Rhineland, the region of the Holy Roman Empire bordering the kingdom of France and the ancestral heartland of most of the princes studied in this book. Geographically, the Rhineland was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Al- though this entity in some ways resembled other early modern states, the exact nature of the Empire defied definition. Historically, it claimed to be the natural successor of the Roman Empire and the realm of Charlemagne. According- ly, the Empire should have had no boundaries and instead have encompassed the entirety of Latin Christendom.3 In practice, at the turn of the sixteenth century, the shape of the Empire had become relatively fixed. During the last decades of the fifteenth century, it had become common practice to refer to the ‘Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.’4 This term is somewhat mislead- ing. It is not clear what exactly constituted this German nationhood, although language certainly played a role. Although some form of German was spoken throughout most of the Empire, French, Italian, and various Slavic languages were also spoken in certain parts.5 The Rhineland was a particularly multi- lingual region. Dialects of Low and Middle German were commonly spoken around and east of the Rhine, but different forms of French, such as Lorrain and Franc-Comtois, were used in the Duchy of Lorraine and of the Franche- Comté, regions of the Empire situated less than a hundred kilometres west of the Rhine. The Imperial city of Strasbourg, the most important urban centre in the Rhineland, was home to a significant Francophone minority.6

1 A. Duke, Dissident Identities in the Early Modern Low Countries (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009), 9–56. 2 Judith Pollmann, Catholic Identity and the Revolt of the Netherlands, 1520–1635 (Oxford: Ox- ford University Press, 2011), 44–67. 3 T.A. Brady, German Histories in the Age of Reformations, 1400–1650 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 12. 4 Ibid, 11–28. 5 Ibid, 14–15. 6 R. von Thadden, ‘Calvin und der Fortgang der Reformation im Reich’, Historische Zeitschrift 208 (1969), 1–23.