Overview

The endless wars of the seventeenth century took their toll in the lives of millions of soldiers and crushing taxes. To legitimise war, Europes rulers turned to the Church: O God, we praise you, Te Deum Laudamus, was sung in the churches of France and Sweden to celebrate victory in battle. It was a way of thanking God, but also an opportunity for congregations to learn what had happened -- and an occasion for festivities. In this book, the historian Anna Maria Forssberg applies a narrative and ritual perspective to the Te Deum, looking at specific wars such as the Thirty Years War and at themes such as peace and enmity. This is a unique, comparative study of war propaganda in early modern times, and how it defined the roles of ruler and ruled alike. There were national differences, but ultimately all war stories were highly selective. Bloody defeat and uneventful everyday life were glossed over; what mattered were spectacular victories and royal glory. Yet in the end, the war stories peddled in both Sweden and France were profoundly challenged by the crisis of 1709.

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9789188168665

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Anna Maria Forssberg is a Swedish historian specialized in the European early modern history. He PhD thesis from 2005 treated domestic war propaganda in Sweden 1655-1680. Recently she has been working on the role of the church and the conception of war in France and Sweden. She is a senior curator in the Army Museum of Stockholm and has also been working on material culture and methods for researching museum collections.

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