CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017
| Author | Gresock, James Michael |
|---|---|
| Title | Rebellious Heretics and Faithful Martyrs: Media Polemics and the Symbolic Language of the 'Bohemian Question' Throughout the Thirty Years' War |
| Summary | The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) stands as one of Europe’s defining conflicts. It is often referred to as Europe’s last religious war, yet questions of how much religion truly underwrote the war’s bloodshed yield varying conclusions. This work investigates the origins of the pervasive perception that religion was a primary concern which provoked thirty years of protracted and far-flung war. Justification for this evaluation is found in the birthplace of the war, the Kingdom of Bohemia. Specifically, conceptions of religious and political collaboration which had been cultivated over the Bohemian Reformation pervaded justifications for their insurrection in 1618. This particular lexicon of unrest informed affective media products from the subsequent ‘Bohemian Phase’ and was quickly assimilated into a wider European context. From its origin in the Bohemian context, to its appropriation and application to other cases of radicalization, the particular details shifted to suit circumstance, yet the underlying dynamics of intertwined religious and political conflict stuck throughout the war. The persistence of themes of traditional religious liberties, inviolable constitutional frameworks, and the just rule of kings, born in revolutionary Bohemia, outlived the kingdom’s experiment with self-rule, surviving and defining historical perception of the war’s entirety. |
| Supervisor | Riedl, Matthias; György, Szönyi |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2017/gresock_james.pdf |
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