1634: The Bavarian Crisis
Encyclopedia
1634: The Bavarian Crisis is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series
, written by Virginia DeMarce
and Eric Flint
as sequel to Flint's novella
"The Wallenstein Gambit"; several short stories by DeMarce in The Grantville Gazettes
; 1634: The Ram Rebellion
; and 1634: The Baltic War
.
soon joined with him as an expert collaborator and is one of the regular contributing writers to 1632 Tech Manual, the canonical Grantville Gazettes and a key member of the 1632 Research Committee with a PhD in history and an international expert specialized in European Genealogy. Her stories regularly deal with historical social and social science matters, as may be expected from DeMarce's PhD dissertation about the 1525 German Peasants' War
and her life work as a 17th Century European History specialist. Unfortunately this shows strongly in The Bavarian Crisis which has a tendency to feel more like a history lesson than a novel.
The Bavarian Crisis was delayed due to the delayed start and completion of the preceding major work in the set, The Baltic War. If The Bavarian Crisis had been published first, it would have contained plot spoilers for 1634: The Baltic War
. As it begins concurrently with the events revealed in that book and that of 1634: The Galileo Affair
as well as 1634: The Ram Rebellion
, the overall scope of plot detail (historical canvas) in the series might be readily intuited. As it is, most of the narrative in all four novels span the same period of 1634, the late winter-to-early summer, though 1634: The Galileo Affair expends a few early chapters within the year 1633 as backdrop activities within the Catholic Church and Richelieu's offices are germane to the arch of the plotting.
heiress Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria
to gather information as aided and abetted by a dowager aunt and her younger sister behind the backs of her father Emperor Ferdinand II
and his Jesuit watchdogs. Duke Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
becomes a widower in need of a suitable Catholic bride, while the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
whose armies have reconquered 80–85% of the Low Countries
by the summer of 1634 is contemplating a dynastic move of his own which his brother King Philip IV of Spain
will find a bit disconcerting. Veronica Dreeson and Mary Simpson meanwhile plan a trip to tend to personal matters to the Upper Palatinate
border region conquered by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
and administered for him from Amberg
by ally Duke Ernest of Saxe-Gotha
, one of the four Wettin dukes that were supplanted by Grantville's (formation of the NUS) actions in 1631 and 1632. Events in the other 1634 novels (1634: The Galileo Affair, 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1634: The Baltic War) are integrated into the action and political events behind the scenes, and this book ties a host of little oddities into a coherent canvas capturing a snapshot of the state of Europe in early summer of 1634.
Concurrent with their pet projects, the formidable Dreeson and Simpson women are accompanied by a trade delegation with the strategic goal of restoring the iron production of the Upper Palatinate to feed the war needs of the USE.
gives a positive review finding it a "complicated but coherent story" and "refreshing to read an alternate history that doesn't depend upon the clash of anachronistic arms, but rather on how modern ideas of human rights, education, sanitation and law might have affected the Europe of the 30 Years War."
1632 series
The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books...
, written by Virginia DeMarce
Virginia DeMarce
Virginia Easley DeMarce is a historian who specializes in early modern European history, as well as a prominent author in the 1632 series collaborative fiction project. She has done prominent genealogical work on the origins of the Melungeon peoples.-Biography:DeMarce received her Ph.D...
and Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
as sequel to Flint's novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
"The Wallenstein Gambit"; several short stories by DeMarce in The Grantville Gazettes
The Grantville Gazettes
The Grantville Gazettes are anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632.The Gazettes started as an experiment: a professionally edited, officially sanctioned "fan magazine" published electronically...
; 1634: The Ram Rebellion
1634: The Ram Rebellion
1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as a "main plot line or thread" of historical speculative focus that are loosely organized and classified geographically...
; and 1634: The Baltic War
1634: The Baltic War
1634: The Baltic War is the direct novel sequel to 1633 in the collaboratively written alternate history shared universe 1632 series by David Weber and Eric Flint...
.
Publication
DeMarce, who wrote Flint congratulating him on his research and verisimilitude found in the novel 16321632 (novel)
1632 is the initial novel in the best-selling alternate history 1632 book series written by historian, writer and editor Eric Flint. The flagship novel kicked off a collaborative writing effort that has involved hundreds of contributors and dozens of authors...
soon joined with him as an expert collaborator and is one of the regular contributing writers to 1632 Tech Manual, the canonical Grantville Gazettes and a key member of the 1632 Research Committee with a PhD in history and an international expert specialized in European Genealogy. Her stories regularly deal with historical social and social science matters, as may be expected from DeMarce's PhD dissertation about the 1525 German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
and her life work as a 17th Century European History specialist. Unfortunately this shows strongly in The Bavarian Crisis which has a tendency to feel more like a history lesson than a novel.
The Bavarian Crisis was delayed due to the delayed start and completion of the preceding major work in the set, The Baltic War. If The Bavarian Crisis had been published first, it would have contained plot spoilers for 1634: The Baltic War
1634: The Baltic War
1634: The Baltic War is the direct novel sequel to 1633 in the collaboratively written alternate history shared universe 1632 series by David Weber and Eric Flint...
. As it begins concurrently with the events revealed in that book and that of 1634: The Galileo Affair
1634: The Galileo Affair
1634: The Galileo Affair is the fourth book and third novel published in the 1632 series by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It follows the activities of an embassy party sent from the United States of Europe to Venice, Italy, where the three young Stone brothers become involved with the local...
as well as 1634: The Ram Rebellion
1634: The Ram Rebellion
1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as a "main plot line or thread" of historical speculative focus that are loosely organized and classified geographically...
, the overall scope of plot detail (historical canvas) in the series might be readily intuited. As it is, most of the narrative in all four novels span the same period of 1634, the late winter-to-early summer, though 1634: The Galileo Affair expends a few early chapters within the year 1633 as backdrop activities within the Catholic Church and Richelieu's offices are germane to the arch of the plotting.
Plot summary
Early revelations detail machinations by the HabsburgHabsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
heiress Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria
Maria Anna of Austria
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria , was Electress of Bavaria as the spouse of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. She also served as Regent of Bavaria during the minority of her son...
to gather information as aided and abetted by a dowager aunt and her younger sister behind the backs of her father Emperor Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
and his Jesuit watchdogs. Duke Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Duke/Elector of Bavaria , called "the Great", was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War ....
becomes a widower in need of a suitable Catholic bride, while the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Infante of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo , and military...
whose armies have reconquered 80–85% of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
by the summer of 1634 is contemplating a dynastic move of his own which his brother King Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
will find a bit disconcerting. Veronica Dreeson and Mary Simpson meanwhile plan a trip to tend to personal matters to the Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...
border region conquered by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
and administered for him from Amberg
Amberg
Amberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. Population: 44,756 .- History :...
by ally Duke Ernest of Saxe-Gotha
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha
-Family and children:In Altenburg on 24 October 1636, Ernst married his cousin Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. As a result of this marriage Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg were unified, when the last duke of the line died childless in 1672. Ernst and Elisabeth Sophie had eighteen children:#...
, one of the four Wettin dukes that were supplanted by Grantville's (formation of the NUS) actions in 1631 and 1632. Events in the other 1634 novels (1634: The Galileo Affair, 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1634: The Baltic War) are integrated into the action and political events behind the scenes, and this book ties a host of little oddities into a coherent canvas capturing a snapshot of the state of Europe in early summer of 1634.
Concurrent with their pet projects, the formidable Dreeson and Simpson women are accompanied by a trade delegation with the strategic goal of restoring the iron production of the Upper Palatinate to feed the war needs of the USE.
Historical figures
- Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria
- Duke Maximilian I, Elector of BavariaMaximilian I, Elector of BavariaMaximilian I, Duke/Elector of Bavaria , called "the Great", was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War ....
- Cardinal-Infante FerdinandCardinal-Infante FerdinandCardinal-Infante Ferdinand was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Infante of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo , and military...
- Duke Ernest of Saxe-GothaErnest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Family and children:In Altenburg on 24 October 1636, Ernst married his cousin Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. As a result of this marriage Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg were unified, when the last duke of the line died childless in 1672. Ernst and Elisabeth Sophie had eighteen children:#...
- Duke Bernhard of Saxe-WeimarBernhard of Saxe-WeimarBernard of Saxe-Weimar was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:Born in Weimar within the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt.Bernard received an unusually good education and studied at the...
- General Johan BanérJohan BanérJohan Banér was a Swedish Field Marshal in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four year old he was forced to witness how his father, the Privy Councillour Gustaf Banér, and uncle, Sten Axelsson Banér , were executed at the Linköping Bloodbath...
Literary significance and reception
Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
gives a positive review finding it a "complicated but coherent story" and "refreshing to read an alternate history that doesn't depend upon the clash of anachronistic arms, but rather on how modern ideas of human rights, education, sanitation and law might have affected the Europe of the 30 Years War."
External links
- Simon & Shuster 1634:The Bavarian Crisis
- sample chapters (first draft)
- Official snippets