The Habsburgs: To Rule the World

The story of a powerful dynasty that dominated Europe for almost a thousand years, as well as its original universe, which she herself created, then to lose at the dawn of the 20th century. Starting as modest Swabian feudal lords, in the 15th century the Habsburgs achieved dominion over the Holy Roman Empire, and then, in a few decades, over a huge part of the globe, from Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain to Peru and Mexico. Historians often depict the Habsburg Empire as an accidental state formation, a patchwork quilt, but Reidy clearly demonstrates the unbending will of the Habsburgs to power, fueled by their belief in their supreme destiny as defenders of the Catholic faith, guarantors of peace and patrons of enlightenment. This book contains everything you need to know about the dynasty that forever changed the European continent and the whole world.