In defense of patria: Resisting magistrates and the duties of patriots in the empire from the 1530s to the 1640s (The emergence of constitutional patriotism in 16th-century Germany)

In 1509, families of the Hessian nobility united into an association to def end themselves against outside foes, but if need be, against the Hessian la ndgraves as well. When in 1647 the Hessian nobility opposed the Hessian lan dgraves again, their arguments had changed substantially. They were no long er founding an association, but were addressing themselves as patriots who had the duty to defend the laws of their fatherland, Hesse, against any vio lation, even by their own prince. This article studies the emergence of con stitutional patriotism in Germany from the debates about the right to self- defense by law of nature during the debate about resistance against Charles V in the 1530s to the 1560s, to the further development of these arguments and their application during conflicts between territorial estates and pri nces during the Thirty Years' War.