Thirty Years of War Online Quiz | War History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The Thirty Years' War is commonly said to have begun with the (Second) Defenestration of Prague when two officials and their secretary were punished by religious rivals. What is defenestration?

Answer: Being thrown out a window

The three men who were defenestrated were Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum, Count Jaroslav Borzita of Martinice, and their secretary, Philip Fabricius, who represented the Catholic side in a dispute within the Holy Roman Empire. The three men survived the fall although which reason one believed seemed to depend on the side taken in the conflict. Supporters of the Catholic side said that miraculous intervention was responsible for the men's survival. Supporters of the Protestant side said that the men survived because they landed in a conveniently placed dung cart.

"Defenestration" is a neo-Latin word from "de" meaning out of or from and "fenestra" meaning window or opening. The event I described in the question is sometimes called the Second Defenestration because a similar incident occured in Prague in 1419 when a mob threw several individuals out a window who all, unfortunately, died from the fall.

2. An important figure in the early days of the Thirty Years' War was Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate and briefly King of Bohemia. By which rather insulting--if seasonal--title was he known?

Answer: The Winter King

Frederick V (1596-1632) was crowned King of Bohemia on November 04, 1619. His army disastrously lost the Battle of White Mountain--which effectively ended his reign--on November 08, 1620, Printed pamphlets from as early as 1619 described him as the Winter King.

He was more successful as the Elector of the Palatinate, ruling from 1610 to 1632. Frederick's wife, Elizabeth Stuart, was the daughter of James I of England/James VI of Scotland.

3. The period before the Thirty Years' War had seen the Peace of Augsburg determine religious affiliation in local areas of the Holy Roman Empire. Under this agreement, which two religions could a local leader choose from for his/her terriitory?

Answer: Catholic or Lutheran

Under the terms of the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, a local ruler could choose between Roman Catholicism or Lutheranism. This was not religious freedom as it would be understood today. Rather, this was the idea of "cuius regio, eius religio" ("whose region, his religion") or the ruler choosing which religion everyone in the area would practice. If the local ruler chose a religion that someone in the area did not want to follow, that person had a grace period to freely move to an area where the religion of his/her choice was practised. Calvinism was not an option under the Peace of Augsburg--a fact that helped to stir religious tensions in the Holy Roman Empire in the early seventeenth century.

4. While the Thirty Years' War is sometimes seen as a religious war, the sides did not always neatly divide on religious lines. Which majority Catholic nation fought against the Catholic Hapsburg dynasty from 1635 to the end of the war?

Answer: France

Spain was ruled in the seventeenth century by a branch of the Habsburg Family and Austria (as well as the Holy Roman Empire) was ruled by another branch. Bohemia was also part of the Holy Roman Empire. France was surrounded on two sides by Habsburg lands (Spain to the south/southwest and to the north in the Spanish Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire to the east) and chose to ally with several nations including the United Provinces (today's Netherlands), Sweden, and England.

5. An important ruler and military commander in the first half of the Thirty Years' War was Gustavus Adolphus or Gustav II Adolf. Of which country was Gustavus the ruler?

Answer: Sweden

Gustavus Adolphus (1596-1632) ruled Sweden from 1611 to his death and was known as "The Lion of the North" during his lifetime. He is generally considered a very successful monarch both militarily and politically. Eric Flint's "1632" series of alternate history novels includes Gustavus as an important secondary character who did not participate in the 1632 Battle of L�tzen (where he lost his life).

6. Which modern nation regained its independence during the Thirty Years' War, several decades after being involuntarily being placed under the control of the monarch of another nation?

Answer: Portugal

Portugal was held in union with Spain from 1580 to 1640 under the Spanish monarchs Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV. The House of Braganza took the Portuguese throne and held it until 1910. During this time Norway was ruled by the Danish kings, Serbia was part of the Ottoman Empire, and Brittany was part of France.

7. Which military leader was NOT active during the Thirty Years' War?

Answer: John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill (1650-1722) was an important military leader during the Nine Years' War (1688-1697) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1714). Tilly was a field marshal who served the Catholic League. Wallenstein was a Bohemian nobleman who led his personal army on behalf of the Holy Roman Emperor. Christian IV was an active military commander in the early years of the war.

8. Which nation was most harmed by the Thirty Years War--perhaps because many of the battles were fought within its territory?

Answer: Holy Roman Empire

Estimates suggest that perhaps 20-30 percent of the population of the Holy Roman Empire died during the conflict. This is only an average as some areas were relatively lightly touched whereas in other areas the mortality rate may have been over 50 percent.

While battles accounted for a significant number of deaths, the spread of various diseases (including the plague) and starvation also played important roles in the mortality rate.

9. The Thirty Years' War was brought to an end in 1648 with a series of Treaties. What is the collective name given to these treaties?

Answer: Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Westphalia includes the Treaty of M�nster and the Treaty of Osnabr�ck, both signed in 1648. Under the Peace of Westphalia, the Peace of Augsburg was expanded to include Calvinism along with Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. The Congress of Vienna was an assembly in the 1814-1815 that met at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Treaty (singular) of Versailles was a peace treaty between the Allies and Germany at the end of World War I.

10. Which of the following was NOT an outcome of the Peace of Westphalia?

Answer: The Holy Roman Empire was strengthened

The Holy Roman Empire was in fact rather weaker at the end of the war. In addition to the recognized independence of Switzerland and the Netherlands (or Dutch Republic), many areas within the Empire had greater autonomy than they did before. The Portuguese played an important role in Ceylon (modern-day) Sri Lanka in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries before the Dutch gained an increased role in the mid-seventeenth century.

The Dutch also gained temporary control of parts of Brazil (then a Portuguese colony) during the Thirty Years' War.

Source: Author bernie73

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Thirty Years of War Trivia Quiz

This quiz deals with the seventeenth century European conflict, the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).

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