Age of Absolutism 1: Central Europe and the Rise of the Habsburgs

We follow how a relatively obscure family of Swiss counts took advantage of the chaos of the late Middle Ages to become the most powerful dynasty in the history of central Europe, towering over European affairs, ruling "an empire on which the sun never sets," and even setting their sights on the dream of global dominion. We then consider the obstacles that the French, the Ottoman Turks, and the Protestants threw in their way, leading to the disastrous Thirty Years' War and their gradual fall from power.

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Suggested further reading: Paula Sutter Fichtner, "Meaning Well: The Curious Life of a Habsburg Idealist."