A house divided : Wittelsbach confessional court cultures in the Holy Roman Empire, c. 1550-1650 / / by Andrew L. Thomas.

• Superior document: Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions, v. 150
• Author: Thomas, Andrew L.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions ; v. 150.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (415 p.)
• Notes: Based on author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Purdue University, 2007.

This book is the only book-length monograph comparing the impact of confessional identity on both halves of the Wittelsbach dynasty which provided Bavarian dukes and German emperors as well as its implications for late Renaissance court culture. It demonstrates that religious conflict led to the development of distinctly confessional court cultures among the main Wittelsbach courts. Likewise, it illuminates how these confessional court cultures contributed significantly to the splintering of Renaissance humanism along religious lines in this era. Concomitantly, it sheds new light on the impact of late medieval dynastic competition on shaping the early modern Wittelsbach courts as well as the important role of Wittelsbach women in the creation and continuation of dynastic piety in their roles as wives, mothers, and patronesses of the arts.

Table of Contents

Reflecting dynastic destinies: mirror of prince literature and Wittelsbach education -- Patronage and piety: the confessionalization of Wittelsbach courts in Heidelberg and Munich -- Confessional frontiers and border wars: the confessionalization of Bavaria and the Palatinate -- Wedding bells and cannon fire: Wittelsbach confessional diplomacy -- A winter's tale: the "Winter King" and the court at Prague -- Image-breaking: iconoclasm and identity crisis -- Clarion calls: White Mountain and Wittelsbach legitimacy -- Metamorphosis: the Palatinate in transition and the "Bohemian" court in exile at The Hague -- Appendix A: Wittelsbach genealogy (1300-1550) -- Appendix B: Palatine Wittelsbachs genealogy (1550-1650) -- Appendix C: Bavarian Wittelsbachs genealogy (1550-1650).