The quest for compromise: peacemakers in counter-Reformation Vienna

pt. I. The Emergence of an Irenic Court. 1. From confrontation to conciliation: the conversion of Lazarus von Schwendi. 2. Jacopo Strada and the transformation of the imperial court

pt. II. Maximilian II and the High Point of Irenicism. 3. Hugo Blotius and the intellectual foundation of Austrian irenicism. 4. Ordering a chaotic world: the reformation of the imperial library. 5. Protestant ecumenism and Catholic reform: the case of Johannes Crato. 6. Finding a via media: Lazarus von Schwendi and the climax of Austrian irenicism

pt. III. The Failure of Irenicism. 7. Confessional ambiguity and unambiguous critics: religion and the Austrian middle way. 8. The funeral of Maximilian II: struggling for the soul of central Europe.