Scots in Habsburg Service, 1618-1648

Between 1618 and 1648, a number of Scottish expatriates appeared at the major centres of Habsburg dynastic power: Madrid, Brussels, and the peripatetic court of the Holy Roman Emperor. In dealing with their activities, this book challenges the notion that France or the northern Low Countries invariably provided the country's strongest continental connections during the early modern period. The first part of the text relates to the Spanish Habsburg lands, while the second introduces several military entrepreneurs who rose to prominence in the service of the eastern, 'Austrian' branch of the dynasty. From the mid-1630s, most of this diverse group became allies, in promoting the cause of the Scottish-born, former 'Winter Queen' of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, and her family.