Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday, February 16, 2005

 Justin E. Brosnan

1. On Wednesday February, 16^th we started the discussion talking about the 16th-century successor to Charlemagne (=Charles the Great), namely Charles V (King of Spain).

2. We first turned our attention to the 16^th century Italian Renaissance. It is here that we discussed Titian, the most renowned painter at this time.

3. Religious wars began in Germany in 1546. Martin Luther dies this same year, after German Princes revolt against the Emperor. It is here that there is a split between the Protestants and Catholics. In Titian’s portrait, Charles V is depicted as a Christian warrior.

4. Next we looked at a picture on the screen. It was in 1545, that printed propaganda began between the religions. In the picture, Martin Luther appears to be the direct link to God. It is a battle of the good versus bad religions. It was a battle between the Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Most of the class noted how biased the picture was. There was a definite distinction between good (Lutheran ideas of Christianity) and bad (the Pope as the Anti-Christ). It was also noted how many of the students never noticed how early printed propaganda began.

5. The Thirty Years War then began. The Thirty Years War consisted of a series of declared and undeclared wars which raged through the years 1618-1648 throughout central Europe. At least 1/3 of the people in the Holy Roman Empire die of war, famine and infections. During the Thirty Years War the "Catholic" side was represented by the House of Austria, under the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III, together with their Spanish cousin Philip IV. The opponents were the Danish, Dutch, French and Swedes. France was very successful during the 30 Years War in weakening the power of the Habsburgs.

6. After 1650 there are no religious wars, but rather political battles. During this time the Netherlands and Switzerland give an idea of federation. They believe in accepting religion, political systems etc.

7. We then moved on to the Hohenzollern (Prussian) Dynasty. Frederick the Great of Prussia was an accomplished musician. His father wanted a military son to follow in his footsteps. As Crown Prince, Frederick wrote a pamphlet called Anti-Machiavelli. This idea was based around thinking it was a bad idea just to fight wars. But as soon as he became the King of Prussia in 1740, Frederick began a succession of wars against Austria in order to seize the territory of Silesia, so that Prussia might become a major  European power.

8. Lastly we discussed the 7 Years War, also known in North America as the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1756-1763. It was essentially the First World War. It was a battle in which Great Britain and Prussia were allied against France, Austria, and Russia. Essentially we ran out of time, but Professor Mahoney said this war represents the struggle for a balance of power in Europe that was becoming more complicated.