The Habsburg Empire under Siege

During the seventeenth century Hungary's diverse population of peasants, townsmen, soldiers, and county nobles rose up against the violent imposition of the Counter-Reformation, the Habsburg military occupation, and exhorbitant war taxes. In The Habsburg Empire under Siege Georg Michels explores the little-known grassroots revolts that threatened the Habsburgs' hold over the Hungarian borderlands.

Based on extensive research in Hungarian, Austrian, and Dutch archives, this revisionist study shifts attention away from high politics, diplomacy, and military confrontation to the popular revolts that took place during the two decades before the 1683 siege of Vienna. Michels reveals a complex environment in which Calvinist Hungarians, Lutheran Slovaks, Lutheran Germans, and Orthodox Ukrainians worked to defend their religion against brutal Habsburg Counter-Reformation campaigns. Challenging preconceived notions of European, Middle Eastern, and East European history, this book tells a dramatic story of Reformation and Counter-Reformation violence, covering proxy wars, guerrilla warfare, refugee flight, migration from Hungary into Ottoman territory, and largely unknown Christian-Muslim encounters.

Offering a trans-imperial perspective that reassesses the complex relationship between Hungarians, Habsburgs, and Ottomans, The Habsburg Empire under Siege portrays the resistance of ordinary men and women and their hopes for liberation from Habsburg oppression, reclaiming their place in history.

"This work has been produced through very thorough research and knowledge of all the historical literature written in Central European languages. The book is written in a very effective style that clearly guides the reader through the logic of the author.” *Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung *

“This work has been produced through very thorough research and knowledge of all the historical literature written in Central European languages. The book is written in a very effective style that clearly guides the reader through the logic of the author.” *Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung *

“Michels’s account is based on years-long meticulous research and presents many thought-provoking arguments and conclusions for Habsburg and Ottoman scholars. [His] narrative is a lesson in historiography.” Yasir Yilmaz, Das Achtzehnte Jahrhundert und Österreich

“Wer sich mit der osmanisch-habsburgischen Geschichte im 17. Jahrhundert beschäftigt, wird in dieser Monographie sicherlich zahlreiche neue Forschungsimpulse entdecken.” Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas

“Michels’ meticulous study makes multifarious contributions to Ottoman history in terms of core-frontiers relations and frontier dynamics.” Turkish Historical Review

"[O]utstanding piece of scholarship." Central Europe History

« L’ouvrage de Georg B. Michels est fondé sur une documentation très étendue de sources historiques. [Sa] connaissance de l’histoire hongroise est remarquablement étayée tout au long des pages du livre. » Dix-septième siècle

“This is a fascinating and deeply researched narrative [whose] significance lies in its detailed account of local Hungarian politics, and of the numerous cross-border contacts and relationships. It provides a fascinating new perspective on Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry by demonstrating the important role that local actors played in driving conflict between the two great empires of central and eastern Europe.” The English Historical Review