William Tyler
The Early Habsburgs
Summary
William Tyler gives us an introduction to the House of Habsburg, one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history.
William Tyler
William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
I think the parallel is more between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, prior to enduring the First World War and the EU. And the answer is with extreme difficulty. I will, I promise, towards the end of our time talking about Habsburgs come to that question because it’s a fascinating one. It also raises the question about Britain’s attitude.
Because the popes in Rome represent the religious side of the empire, if you like, and it’s holy because it’s a Christian Empire, even though the Roman empire was Christian at the end, it’s a mediaeval view of Christianity, as being Catholic Christianity sees itself as a world religion. So holy is because of the Catholicism.
And Brian’s answered the question for me. I like it when people answer. “Marriage!” he says. Well, partly, partly through marriage, partly through battle. But we’ve seen the marriage that brought Burgundy in, which gives us later in history, the Austrian Netherlands and then the Spanish Netherlands, and that is still an important division in the Netherlands where the south is Catholic. I remember staying in Maastricht. First time I ever went to Maastricht, we arrived at my family at night and the first thing we encountered was a Catholic procession. And that struck me then and does now as a very odd thing to encounter in Protestant Netherlands. Until you remember that the south was Spanish Netherlands and had remained Catholic. Reich means empire. Absolutely.