Combating the Hydra

"Combating the Hydra is a first history of Habsburg state violence against its own people, chronicling the often brutal confrontations and struggles between subjects and the state in the Habsburg Monarchy and Empire. Considering deportation and dragooned labor, religious dissenters and social outcasts, and 'Gypsies,' Steiner challenges a nostalgic view of the Habsburg Empire, and offers a judicious and more complete history of violence and resistance in an expanding, bureaucratic, multiethnic state. Steiner's incisive writing draws on extensive archival research and international scholarship in a range of languages, all the while remaining accessible and illuminating. Combating the Hydra is the authoritative study this vitally important subject so needed; a fascinating read." —William O'Reilly, Associate Professor in Early Modern History, University of Cambridge

"European religious and ethnic minorities' experiences of violence caused by contemporary state policies has been well-documented. Less understood are the origins and regularity of such practices in the past. Through haunting vignettes detailing the disruptive and destructive experiences of the early modern Habsburg state, Steiner's compassionate retelling of lives long buried in the archives echo with a humanizing vibrancy into our world today." —Ann Ostendorf, Professor of History, Gonzaga University

"Stephan Steiner has specialized in topics that have been largely neglected in previous research. Violence, expulsion or resettlement of those of other faiths, secret Protestantism, and persecuted minorities such as 'Gypsies' examine a field of the history of the Habsburg Monarchy that lies far away from homage and praise of the rulers and their reigns. This book breaks new ground." —Karl Vocelka, A.o. Univ. Prof. (i.R.), University of Vienna