The Sack of Magdeburg

Hi, this is Our Bloody History, where we drown in a sea of conjecture to bring you a sip of summarised historical goodness.

In the spotlight today:

The worst massacre of the Thirty Year War, which took place this week, 391 years ago, on 20 May 1631.

Brace yourselves, as this one's hard to stomach.

First, let's set the stage.

We're roughly in the middle of the Thirty Year War (1618-1648), one of Europe's bloodiest wars that will send an estimated 4.5-8 million people to their graves and irrevocably redraw political maps. It's messy and complex with lots of moving parts, changing motivations and multiple factions.

And it all starts with religion.

Roman Catholics v Protestants.

The first phase of the Thirty Year War is primarily a religious and civil war among German members of the Holy Roman Empire with external powers weighing in when convenient. It's a story about Protestant Princes rebelling against Roman Catholic absolutism. A story about religious othering and dynastic, territorial and commercial rivalries.

In the midst of this vicious struggle stands the city of Magdeburg, a symbolic centre of Protestant Germany, the rebellious bastion of Lutheran Protestantism in the north of the Holy Roman Empire.

Considered 'our Lord God's chancellery,' Magdeburg already has a heroic track record of resistance. In 1629 it defies imperial decrees and withstands a siege, prompting festive singing "in all the city's taverns and in the streets."

But in 1631, a mere two years after the joyous celebration, this flourishing jewel is faced with its darkest days. The 25,000+ residents of Magdeburg are besieged again. This time by a force roughly the same size as the entire city's population. Shoot.

The siege is led by Imperial Field Marshall Pappenheim, a Catholic convert, under the command of the Count of Tilly, a Flemmish Mercenary. For two months Pappenheim tries to take Magdeburg, but succeeds only in conquering a few exterior fortifications.

God, it seems, is with Magdeburg.

Pappeneim sends for reinforcements. Tilly, who's out ravaging the countryside and campaigning elsewhere, finally shows up with a bunch of fresh dudes, bolstering the Imperial forces to more than 40,000. It's about to get real.

Meanwhile, on the inside, the exhausted residents of Magdeburg are desperately waiting for deliverance. It is believed that the Swedish King, a Lutheran Christian, is coming to their aid. If they can just hold out until then...

He never comes.

And on the morning of 20 May, Tilly's forces smash into the city.

Soldiers amuse themselves with throwing children into the flames and stabbing infants at their mother's breast. In a single church fifty-three women are found beheaded.

It's hard to read. But can you imagine witnessing this?

Some of the officers are horror-struck. They urge Tilly to stop the carnage. But his chilling response is:

"Return in an hour. I will see what I can do; the soldier must have some reward for his danger and toils."

And so the soldiers continue to satiate their most brutal appetites.

Eventually the blazing flames force the Imperialists to retreat to their camp. In less than twelve hours, this strong and flourishing city is reduced to ashes. Only two churches and a few houses remain standing.

But it's not over.

As soon as the flames die down, the soldiers return to renew their pillage among the ruins and ashes. Many suffocate on the smoke as they dig for booty in hidden cellars.

Only about 1,000 residents survive the massacre.

Word spreads fast, striking fear in the hearts of Protestants. The Roman Catholics gush with triumphant joy, for God had weighed in. Divine justice had been dropped.

Although Magdeburg doesn't recover its importance until the 18th century, it's complete destruction fails to deter the Protestant movement. Initial fear turns to outrage and convinces many Protestant rulers on the fence to stand up to the Roman Catholic empire for years to come.

Again, this stuff is sickening to read, especially those Friedrich Schiller quotes (there's two in there for extra measure). But how do we even begin to combat hate and intolerance if we can't look at them in the face, and unflinchingly pull apart the different guises they wear?

Religion. Race. Political affiliation.

Magdeburg stands today as a reminder of how disgustingly easy it is to other those who have different beliefs. I think we often fall into the trap of thinking that our ancestors were a tad less enlightened or just straight out barbaric. My 2c: society may have evolved to put stronger constraints on slaughtering our neighbours (fortunately, it happens less and less), but it's still happening right now. The Uyghur, the Rohingya, Afghanistan, Ukraine, another white supremacy shooting...

We still suck so much at tolerating our fellow brothers and sisters across the divide, whether it be religious, political, cultural or economical.

I'm probably going out on a limb here, but in addition to physically sacking cities to eradicate those who believe differently, we now use new forms of media to divide and wound each other as well.

Connecting has never been easier, but so is building deeper and deeper chasms.

I offer no solutions, only a thought that perhaps we aren't too different from our ancestors after all. We're just better constrained with different tools.

Check out this beautiful yet haunting poem from J. W. von Goethe entitled The Destruction of Magdeburg.

3 quick facts:

• The Sack of Magdeburg is also called Magdeburg's Wedding, symbolising a pure virgin that has her virtue stripped from her.

• The devastations were so great that Magdeburgisieren (or "magdeburgization") became a common term signifying total destruction, rape and pillaging for decades. The terms "Magdeburg justice", "Magdeburg mercy" and "Magdeburg quarter" also arose as a result of the sack, used originally by Protestants when executing Roman Catholics who begged for quarter.

• Magdeburg is AGAIN completely destroyed in the future. Dang. The Allies bomb it in 1945 during WWII. But in 2005 Magdeburg celebrates its 1200th anniversary and today it's a thriving hub, the capital and second-largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Someone please give this city an award for resilience.

Other conflicts that happened this week:

• 16 May 1943: The Dambuster Raids are carried out during WWII. Special bouncing bombs are dropped on German dams causing catastrophic flooding.

• 17 May 1987: An Iraqi fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. warship USS Stark (FFG-31), killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.

• 18 May 1268: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch. The destruction of the city of Antioch is so great as to permanently negate the city's importance.

• 19 May 1848: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S States for $15 million dollars.

• 20 May 1449: The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as a principal royal family of Portugal.

• 21 May 1879: Peru's ironclad Huáscar sinks the Chilean wooden Esmeralda, after four hours of combat in the Battle of Iquique, a naval engagement during the War of the Pacific.

• 22 May 1455: Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England at the First Battle of St Albans during the Wars of the Roses.

A historical quote about historical things:

Take a deep breath. Get some air. We'll see you next week!

DisclaimerYou are reading my abstractions based on the abstractions of others. History is not always an accurate map of what really happened. The map is not the territory. Reality can be very different. We are like blind people groping an elephant, describing what we feel. It always pays to do your own research and ask questions.