Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Enemy and Ally, Bulwark and Mis-shapen Monster Perceptions and reflections on the Empire of Germany in the English press, 1618-1713 Ruhl, Anna-Karina Award date: 2019 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 Enemy and Ally, Bulwark and Mis-shapen Monster – Perceptions and reflections on the Empire of Germany in the English press, 1618-1713 Anna-Karina Rühl Bangor University, 2018 Abstract Despite various overlaps in English and German interests in the period from the beginning of the Thirty Years War to the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, the role of Germany in seventeenth and early eighteenth century English print discourse has received only minor attention in historical research. This thesis aims to start filling this gap and to contribute to some of the key trends recently discussed in the historiography. Contemporary works of reference, histories and travel literature will be studied for their knowledge and understanding - as well as for their views and images - of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. In case studies this thesis will then look at English print media related to the Thirty Years War, the Nine Years War, and the War of the Spanish Succession as three particular instances of English interest and intellectual concern. The contemporary political print discourse will be examined for English perceptions and reflection on Germany, for England’s self-perceived role in Europe, as well as for assumed English responsibilities towards German co- religionists and allies. It will be shown that the English interest in Germany was greater and that reflections on the country went deeper than has hitherto been assumed. The English (non-) involvement in German and imperial affairs repeatedly triggered debates about England’s foreign policy. It sparked criticism as well as praise and provided a background against which an English self- image could be constructed and defined. English self-perception, based on comparison with and reflections on the multi-confessional Empire, was more complex than just defining the English self against a catholic other. Equally, the shift from confessional to balance of power thinking in English debates about foreign policy matters seems to have been less definite than scholars have tended to assume. Contents Acknowledgements vii Author’s declaration viii Abbreviations ix Notes on style x Illustrations xi Introduction 1 1 “A large country which still is call’d by the name of Germania”: General English images of Germany in the long seventeenth century 23 1.1 The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, a political, confessional, and multi-ethnic patchwork 23 1.2 Describing and defining Germany – The sources and their authors 27 1.3 Describing and defining Germany – Terminology, geography, origins 34 1.4 Describing and defining Germany – Political institutions and their power 43 1.5 Describing and defining Germany – Territorial and religious diversity 49 1.6 The image of the German people – Tacitus and beyond 53 1.7 Germany’s changing face – Destruction and prosperity 59 2 “The mournefull face of a sister Nation”: Reflections on Germany and the Empire in the context of the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648 64 2.1 Events and developments of the Thirty Years War period 64 2.1.1 From a local crisis in Bohemia to a European war in Germany 65 2.1.2 Frederick V, the war, and the development of the English news market 79 2.2 The war in Germany 89 2.2.1 A just war for a just cause 89 2.2.2 Early news reports and the beginning of the Palatine cause 98 2.2.3 Habsburgs’ power, a threat to Germany’s liberties and Europe’s freedom 102 2.2.4 Alliances, battles, Protestant heroes – English special interest and unexpected reticence 107 2.2.5 The suffering of the German people 114 v 2.3 The war in England 124 2.3.1 Mediation, negotiations, calls for war – Stuart foreign policy and the reaction of the press 126 2.3.2 Preventing universal monarchy 140 2.3.3 Restoring the Palatinate – Restoring England’s honour 145 2.3.4 Germany, a warning 156 2.3.5 The English self defined, 1618-1648 168 3 “The Empire sav'd, and Europe deliver'd”: Reflections on the Empire in the context of the Nine Years War & the War of the Spanish Succession, 1689-1713 175 3.1 Events and developments in the period of the Wars of the Grand Alliance 178 3.1.1 William of Orange, the Revolution of 1688-89, and the changes in England’s foreign policy 178 3.1.2 Party politics and the development of the press 181 3.1.3 From the Nine Years War to the War of the Spanish Succession 186 3.1.4 The Thirty Years War and the Wars of the Grand Alliance – Similarities and Differences 197 3.2 The wars and Germany 202 3.2.1 Just wars for the liberty and balance of Europe and Christendom 202 3.2.2 Defending Christendom, a common cause 208 3.2.3 Allies against infidels and French universal monarchy – The changed role of the Habsburgs 212 3.2.4 The Palatinate and its poor people – Examples of French aggression and Catholic rule 223 3.2.5 Marlborough, the 1704 campaign, and the deliverance of the Empire 235 3.3 The wars and England 245 3.3.1 England’s national interest – Reflections on the Anglo-imperial alliance and the English role in the War of the Spanish Succession 246 3.3.2 “Austrian Cruelty, German Exorbitance” – A new-old threat to the Protestant interest and to Europe’s balance of power 260 3.3.3 The English self defined, 1689-1713 265 Conclusion 272 Bibliography 282 vi Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Tony Claydon, for accepting me as his Ph.D. student, for believing in me and my work and for encouraging me to continue when I was about to lose faith. His approach to history and historical research and his enthusiasm have been highly inspirational and his invaluable advice and support is ever so much appreciated. Our cooperation over the past decade may serve as yet another example for the fruitfulness of Anglo-German relations and alliance. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Thomas Corns, whose expertise in English literature provided a further perspective to my research and who drew my attention to the rich source material of the Thirty Years War period. Writing a Ph.D. thesis can sometimes be a difficult and lonely task. I wish to thank my friends and those people, who have repeatedly taken my mind off things and helped me see light at the end of the tunnel. I would like to thank my grammar school teacher Horst-Joachim Kalbe, who first piqued my interest in both history and English many years ago, and also my father- in-law for his continuous interest and appreciation of my research. I am endlessly thankful and grateful to my mother, for her infinite support and listening through all these years. A special and wholehearted thank you goes to my husband Axel. Without his love, support, encouragement, understanding and patience - across oceans and time - this thesis would not have seen the light of day. Finally, I would like to thank my daughter Mila, whose main contribution to this thesis has been to delay its completion. When asked, at the age of four, why her mother doesn’t have a proper job, she defended my work in the most delightful way, explaining, “Oh, my mummy has a real job: She writes a book about dead people.” To her, this thesis is dedicated. vii Author’s declaration Yr wyf drwy hyn yn datgan mai canlyniad fy ymchwil fy hun yw’r thesis hwn, ac eithrio lle nodir yn wahanol. Caiff ffynonellau eraill eu cydnabod gan droednodiadau yn rhoi cyfeiriadau eglur. Nid yw sylwedd y gwaith hwn wedi cael ei dderbyn o’r blaen ar gyfer unrhyw radd, ac nid yw’n cael ei gyflwyno ar yr un pryd mewn ymgeisiaeth am unrhyw radd oni bai ei fod, fel y cytunwyd gan y Brifysgol, am gymwysterau deuol cymeradwy. I hereby declare that this thesis is the results of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. All other sources are acknowledged by bibliographic references. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree unless, as agreed by the University, for approved dual awards. viii Abbreviations AHR The American Historical Review BRH Bulletin of Research in the Humanities CHJ Cambridge Historical Journal CHR The Catholic Historical Review Defoe, Review Daniel Defoe, A Review of the State of the British Nation (London, 1707-1713) DNB Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900 ECCO Eighteenth Century Collection Online ECS Eighteenth Century Studies EEBO Early English Books Online EHR English Historical Review EHQ European History Quarterly ESTC English Short Title Catalogue HJ Historical Journal HLQ Huntington Library Quarterly HRE Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation HZ Historische Zeitschrift JBS Journal of British Studies JES Journal of European Studies JEEH Journal of European Economic History JMH Journal of Modern History ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography OED Oxford English Dictionary TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Whatley, General collections Stephen Whatley, A general collection of treatys, declarations of war, manifestos, and other publick papers relating to peace and war: in four volumes, Volume 1, (London, 1732) ix Notes on style Dates are given old style for England/Britain and new style for the Empire and the Continent.