The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was a period of unparalleled destruction in central Europe, razing towns and villages to the ground and claiming millions of lives through combat, famine, and disease. In 2018 the UA Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies is marking the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War with a series of events on “The Miseries of War.”

This year’s Summer Lecture Series will extend its scope beyond the political strategies, military tactics, and battle fronts. The lectures will seek to examine the daily hardships, suffering, and devastation inflicted on civilian populations in towns and villages. They will focus on various aspects of the experience of religious wars: that of civilians compelled to quarter invading troops, the role of women in early modern armies, clergy advising on war and military activities, and the emotional effects on individuals and communities.

Ute Lotz-Heumann, Director of the Division and Heiko A. Oberman Professor of Late Medieval and Reformation History, and Beth Plummer, Susan C. Karant-Nunn Professor of Reformation and Early Modern European History, will contextualize and comment on each of the following lectures.