The Thirty Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

Does the Thirty Years’ War merit its gruesome reputation? Who were the winners and losers of the conflict? And why did a Protestant mob throw Catholics out of a top-floor window of Prague Castle in 1618? Peter Wilson answers your questions on the conflict that tore central Europe apart for three decades in the 17th century, in the latest in our series tackling history’s major topics.

Peter Wilson is the author of Europe’s Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years’ War (Penguin, 2010)