The Origins of the Thirty Years War? 25family was Catholic, although both religions coexisted in the territo-
ries, but the duke was mentally incapacitated and had no children, so
that even in his lifetime a dispute over the prospective inheritance had
begun. Eight or more contenders had claims of some kind, but two
were better placed than the others, and the emperor was involved as
potentially responsible for an adjudication. As the territories were on
the border of the Netherlands the neighbouring powers were also inter-
ested parties, not least because of the route of the Spanish supply road
through the region. Thus Spain wanted a Catholic ruler whereas the
United Provinces wanted a Protestant, while France was principally con-
cerned to secure an outcome which would avoid any strengthening of
the Habsburg position.
The duke died in March 1609, whereupon the two leading claimants,
both Lutherans, Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg and
Wolfgang Wilhelm, son of the duke of Pfalz-Neuburg, each set about try-
ing to gain control of as much of the territory as possible, place by place,
until an Imperial commissioner arrived with a mandate to head an
interim government pending a resolution of the claims. This was most
unwelcome to both contenders, particularly as the emperor was thought
to favour a third powerful claimant, the Lutheran elector of Saxony, for
political reasons, so they promptly made an agreement to rule jointly
until their respective claims were decided. Emperor Rudolf II declared
their actions illegal and agreed to his 23-year-old cousin Archduke
Leopold going to represent him, thereby increasing widespread suspi-
cions that he intended to seize the territories before deciding the claims
in a way which would serve Habsburg interests. Leopold, who was
bishop of both Passau and Strasbourg although more interested in mil-
itary adventures than in his ecclesiastical duties, dashed to Jülich, but
with only a small force of soldiers he quickly found himself blockaded
in the fortress.
The two ‘possessor princes’, as they became known, had already raised
small forces of their own, but their attempts to rally wider support, both
within Germany and internationally, met with little success initially.
Henri IV of France was the first to offer help, but his promises were
vague and heavily conditional upon contributions from others, as well
as upon the efforts of the claimants themselves. The Dutch were reluc-
tant to take any action which might imperil their recently concluded
truce with Spain, while James I of England was a determined propo-
nent of peace but was in any case constrained by lack of money. The
Palatinate, on the other hand, was as ready as ever to oppose Catholic
Habsburg endeavours, but although some of the other princes were