Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including Anglicized spellings of the names of some places and people. Some changes have been made. They are listed at the end of the text, apart from some changes of puctuation in the Index. OE ligatures have been expanded. Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. Bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. EPOCHS OF HISTORY EDITED BY EDWARD E. MORRIS, M.A. THE ERA OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. S. R. GARDINER. _EPOCHS SELECTED._ =THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION.= By F. SEEBOHM, Author of 'The Oxford Reformers.'--_Now ready._ =THE CRUSADES.= By the Rev. G. W. COX, M.A.; Author of the 'History of Greece.'--_Now ready._ =THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648.= By SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER.--_Nearly ready._ =THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES=; CHARLES the GREAT and ALFRED; the HISTORY of ENGLAND in its connexion with that of EUROPE in the NINTH CENTURY. By the Very Rev. R. W. CHURCH, M.A. Dean of St. Paul's. =THE NORMAN KINGS AND THE FEUDAL SYSTEM.= By the Rev. A. H. JOHNSON, M.A. =THE EARLY PLANTAGENETS= and their relation to the HISTORY of EUROPE; the foundation and growth of CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT. By the Rev. WILLIAM STUBBS, M.A. &c. Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford. =EDWARD III.= By the Rev. W. WARBURTON, M.A. =THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK=; with the CONQUEST and LOSS of FRANCE. By JAMES GAIRDNER of the Public Record Office. =THE AGE OF ELIZABETH.= By the Rev. M. CREIGHTON, M.A. =THE STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION.= By J. LANGTON SANFORD, Author of 'Studies and Illustrations of the Great Rebellion.' =THE FALL OF THE STUARTS=; and WESTERN EUROPE from 1678 to 1697. By the Rev. EDWARD HALE, M.A. Assistant-Master at Eton. =THE AGE OF ANNE=. By EDWARD E. MORRIS, M.A. Editor of the Series. =FREDERICK THE GREAT= and the =SEVEN YEARS' WAR=. By F. W. LONGMAN, of Balliol College, Oxford. =THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.= By JOHN MALCOLM LUDLOW. EACH 1 VOL. 16MO., CLOTH, UNIFORM. PRICE, $1.00. New York: SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 1618-1648 BY SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER _Late Student of Christ Church Author of 'History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Disgrace of Justice Coke' and 'Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage'_ NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO. 1874. JAS. B. RODGERS CO., Electrotypers and Printers, 52 & 54 N. SIXTH ST., PHILADELPHIA. PREFACE.