Monday, March 4, 2013

The Explorers' Club
№ CCCXXX - The Thirty Years' War, Part I: Prelude—The Peace of Augsburg (1555) & the rise of Calvinism, the Colonge War (1583-1588), the founding of the Protestant Union (1608) & the Catholic League (1609), the Jülich-Cleves War (1609-1614), the Twelve Years' Truce (signed 1609) of the Eighty Years' War, & the Spanish Road.







Commentary: Thus begins our series on the Thirty Years' War, a series that will run throughout March. This series is in response to a request from Doctor Hee Haw, my favorite sawbones. I've avoided the Thirty Years' War—a conflict that engulfed all of Europe & that persisted for the equivalent of from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War, a conflict that pounded the last nails into the casket of feudalism & secured Westphalian sovereignty's preeminence on the world stage—largely due to its massive scale. Even the several episodes of "The Explorers' Club" ahead will only scratch the surface of the topic's inexhaustible complexity. As ever, "The Explorers' Club" is never the last word on a subject, it is an invitation for each reader to embark upon her own exploration. Enjoy!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Flogging Molly, "Grace of God Go I" from Swagger (T.L.A.M.)

2 comments:

Dr. Hee Haw said...

I am flattered that my request was considered and selected for The Explorers' Club. I aim to educate myself. Thank you, and I hope all is well.

Mike Wilson said...

I thank you for the request, old chum, as my aim is to encourage & aid those who aim to educate themselves. As The M.C. Bat Commander exclaims, "There's so much to learn!" As with the R.B.D.S.O.T.D., nominations for "The Explorers' Club" are rare & thus precious to me.

My complaints are trivial & my difficulties self-inflicted; so, I am as well as could be expected. I thank you for your well-wishes.