The Swabian League: The History and Legacy of the Mutual Defense Pact for the Holy Roman Empire's Imperial Estates

The Holy Roman Empire was a fascinating institution as well as one of the most perplexing and contradictory. It was both German and universal. It was created by the Catholic Church, yet in the end enshrined confessional freedom in its constitution. It was both an empire and a collection of loosely federated principalities and city-states. It was Roman, but based in Germany, and for most of its existence it either ignored the Vatican or was at war with it. The Swabian League, an alliance of...