WorldViews. The World in Textbooks

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Bibliographic data

Winter, Hans: Mittelalter und Neue Zeit bis zum Westfälischen Frieden. Lehrbuch der Deutschen und Bayerischen Geschichte mit Einschluss der wichtigsten Tatsachen der außerdeutschen Geschichte und der Kulturgeschichte für Höhere Lehranstalten, Vol. 1. Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag, 8. Aufl., 1913, 163–164.

The European Rule of Habsburg Family

In this history textbook, which deals with the specificities of Bavarian history and the merits of the Wittelsbachs, the royal family of Bavaria, Charles’ European rule takes second place behind the central topic which generally characterises this era, namely, the religious and political division which originated in Germany.The emphasis here is on the development of the Reformation in Germany and in neighbouring countries, as well as the development of the Thirty Years’ War. The paragraph about the position of Charles V in the empire is incorporated into Chapter II, entitled The Advance of Secular Powers from 1521 under Charles V (1519-1556). The section begins with an outline of Charles’ performance as a public figure on the national and European stage in light of his reputation as a self-confessed opponent of the Reformation, and is followed by an account of the most significant events, dating from the Reichstag in Worms in 1521 to the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555.

Winter, Hans

This textbook was conceived for the lower sixth form of the upper level of secondary schools in the Kingdom of Bavaria. The textbook treats the history of the modern era in five sections, the second of which is devoted to the Age of Schism and Religious Battles (1517-1648).

Oldenbourg Verlag

[p. 163]

§ 54

II. Intervention in Worldly Powers since 1521

under Emperor Charles V (1519-1556).

1. Charles V and his position. The first phase of the new religious movement occurred during the reign of Emperor Maximilian. Unlike Leo X, the art-loving Medici on the papal throne, Emperor Maximilian is said to have observed with considerable interest how the monks used to bicker between each other. After his death in 1519, the selection of a new emperor remained undecided for quite a while, and alternated between between Franz I from France and Charles I from Spain, a grandson of Maximilian. The latter was victorious.

King Charles I, having been named the German Emperor Charles V, owed more to Spain than to Germany on account of his nationality and education. Having acquired a traditional way of thinking, he defended the idea of a Christian universal empire, which could only be conceived of in connection with the undivided papal church.

Charles’ dual sovereignty. On his father’s side, Charles V was the rightful heir to Austria and Burgundy. On his mother’s side [p.164], however, he was the heir to Spain and its Italian and non-European possessions. He was known to say that the sun never set in his empire. The only obstacles to him enforcing a sustainable imperial rule in Germany were the huge expanse and the remoteness of the lands over which he ruled, for which he had to go to battle against the French in the west and the south, and against the Turks in the east. This situation nonetheless made conditions more favourable for church reform.

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