A brief discussion of the Panzerkardinal
Below is the product of an exchange between canonized and myself. I've written a brief historical biography of the panzerkardinal, presented as the excerpt of an introduction to a history of the Cardinals DeWitt by a Jewish Portugese historian teaching at the University of Toledo. I hope you all enjoy it, and thanks again to canonized for giving me the opportunity to contribute to his AAR.
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An Excerpt From the Introduction to DeWitt: A Brief History of the Cardinals
by Isaiah Cardozo
Associate Professor of History
The University of Toledo.
This posthumous portrait of the Cardinal depicts him without his beard, of more slender stature, and perhaps a few years older, reflecting the Church's concern later concern with portraying him as a more traditional prince of the church.
One of the defining figures to emerge from the Spanish History and one of the most elusive is Cardinal-Duke James DeWitt. Lord Chancellor of the realm from the accession of the King of Spain to the position of Holy Roman Emperor, the Cardinal DeWitt, a German from Leibniz, has long been considered one of the most essential movers in the so-called “Spanish Synthesis,” and many historians have attempted to divine reasons for his actions, many of which went on to have a profound impact upon the evolution of the Spanish State and the church itself. In addition, his intriguing and sudden disappearance from the political radar in 1582 lends an air of mystery to his saga irresistible to both historians and fiction writers, as his legend and often a supposed survival has been capitalized on as a deus ex machine to explain away plot holes for over a century now, most recently in the bestseller The Michelangelo Code, where the Cardinal is supposed to be one of the guardians of the order of the chalice, a group dedicated to protecting the holy grail throughout the ages. What little we do know about the Cardinal however, suggests that he would have frowned upon any such unorthodoxy.
Born in 1538 to petty nobles in Leibniz, a city with a majority protestant community James’ parents took his name from that of a Scottish mercenary who served in the armies subduing the protestant rebellions in the area, whose actions preserved one of the family’s country estates. Indeed, in many ways his relatively cosmopolitan name first begins to shed light on the Cardinal, adept at moving between cultures. His upbringing is supposed to be significant for a number reasons. First, as suggested the family’s history of victimization at Protestant rebels and his upbringing as a religious minority has been seized upon by two very different schools of thought. The first and the most traditional interpretation is that this relative unrest instilled in James a lifelong abhorrence of religious tension, which he channeled into later efforts to suppress religious dissidence both in Germany and abroad. Indeed, his first success stories and the first mention of his name independently from that of his family’s appears in the records of the sectarian strife shortly after his ordination, where, contrary to many Catholic priests at the time who attempted to forge a degree of harmony between themselves and the protestants, in hope of fomenting a reconciliation, James open disdain for religious practice contrary to his own, which he regarded along black and white lines as heresy, garnered him support amongst the hierarchy of the Church who felt that any concessions to the protestants were in and of themselves heresy, DeWitt’s open and fierce defense of his faith caught their attention. His rapid rise through the ranks of the church, ascending to his first bishopric a mere ten years after his initial ordination, reflects this reputation. Ordained a bishop and cardinal-bishop in record time, the Cardinal’s ascension reflects the pride of a segment of the church at his effective defense of Germany from Protestantism. Thus many trace James’ relative intolerance to this upbringing, citing his later support of programs such as compulsory church attendance and his vigorous support of missionaries as direct consequences of his experiences in childhood. In addition, the primacy of religious strife, in which governments often seemed to be pawns to the whims of the various faiths, instruments of rather than instruments for the prosecution and defense of a particular denomination is seen as contributing to James’ later absolute comfort in the embrace of Spain, a foreign power to himself but whose vigorous embrace of the Catholic faith complimented his own. Thus, nationality was de-emphasized in his youth and religion emphasized.
The second interpretation of the effects of this upbringing and the one advocated by modern scholars who often view the Cardinal’s intolerance with a jaundiced eye, particularly in consideration of the cultural obliteration which the conversion of many of the native peoples of Spain’s overseas empire affected, lack any such sympathy. Rather than perceiving the Cardinal’s upbringing as a chalice for the courageous defense of faith, they perceive his upbringing as infecting him with a thinly veiled opportunism. Rather than a strict allegiance to a faith, the narrative goes, the Cardinal’s upbringing victimized him in such a manner that he sought power as a refuge from persecution, and having achieved it, sought to turn the considerable powers of the Spanish state, famously more intolerant than even its then vassal Austria to the subjugation of those who had persecuted him in his youth. Indeed, even casual historians have long noted that despite the Cardinal’s many achievements at creating stability, again notably through compulsory church attendance, he did so at the expense of freedoms, religious and otherwise.
In attempting to reconcile these disparate views in my work I have attempted to remove the respective prejudices of both sides. While there is clearly dangerous in viewing the man as a saint, likewise to vilify him as genocidal, as one Peruvian national historian famously did earlier this century oversimplifies the man’s true spirit. It is entirely possible that his actions were informed by both fear, indeed, there is at least one known incident where the Cardinal, as a priest was assaulted by a group of sectarian protestants, and that they had the motivations in a more tranquil, perhaps even idealistic worldview which saw Catholicism as a unifying force in Europe and the world at large. It is important to place the Cardinal’s life in its context, but also important not to allow that context to overshadow the considerable intricacies of his actions, which reveal pragmatism and idealism hand in hand. It is important to place the Cardinal’s life in its context, but also important not to allow that context to overshadow the considerable intricacies of his actions, which reveal pragmatism and idealism hand in hand. A noted example of this is in his dogged pursuit of an underground sect of radicals originating in the academic community, sometimes called cultists by those in the orthodox community. He personally pursued the "cultists" prior to his disappearance, an action it seems unlikely that one concerned with achieving purely practical results, with the resources of much of the Spanish state at their disposal, would see necessary to attend to a few dissident academics personally if his sole concern was practical. . Likewise, compulsory church attendance was acknowledged even by his contemporaries as a somewhat extremist position, though the Cardinal realized that by congregating the people of the Empire through one unified system, the state and the church would be able to more effectively indoctrinate them. The desire to root out Protestantism can not be seen in the context of it’s long-established modern tradition as a minority faith, but rather as an attempt to root out a relatively new and not yet formally established and enduring denomination.
His relatively cosmopolitan nature, a Scottish name, German background, and Spanish nature no doubt endeared him to the new Emperor, who, endeavoring to solidify Spain’s recent and extraordinary gains emerging from the war with the Austrian alliance after the vassalization of Spain, which has long been viewed as the last serious and ultimately futile attempt of the European powers to unite to contain Spain’s aggression on the continent, reflects the desire of the Spanish to portray themselves as just so cosmopolitan, even as they assembled an Empire from the Iberian peninsula greater than that of Rome, and ultimately much grander. Indeed, so enduring was the Cardinal’s co-option by Spain that he, along with his nephew, were denounced by German Nationalists during the Great War as traitors to their country, the first in a long line of collaborators
Another cause for concern about the Cardinal’s service to Spain has arisen in the form of the relative modern religious toleration, and the tempered adoption of nationalism around the empire in the form of more autonomy for various regions, the Cardinals embrace of the union of Church and State can not be interpreted in light of a modern context. Rather, it is important to consider that during the sixteenth century the two were often seen as serving the same God, indeed, Kings were considered to derive their power directly from God, which implied naturally that Cardinal’s service to them was both natural and fitting. A modern interpretation must be resisted.
Indeed, although famed for his celebration for orthodoxy the Cardinal himself emerges as a dynamic figure. His armor, the hulking red suit which he wore into battle, survives in the National Museum. Upon viewing it, even the casual observer is struck by its immensity, and indeed, the Cardinal towered over his peers, a solid man of immense height and build who for pure physique alone certainly deserves the “Panzerkardinal” sobriquet long assigned to him. Indeed, accounts of him from the period describe an intimidating physical presence, suggested both as a source of pride and command for him, as it helped him win over the confidences of those diplomats and soldiers who would otherwise perhaps not have consented to take orders from a priest for any reason. In addition, contemporary portraits of the Cardinal reveal a beard, a practice discouraged by the church. Although there is a temptation in some circles to label this as but another example of the Cardinal’s manifest hypocrisy, it seems indicative of another notable feature of his personality, namely, that he did not fear making waves. A decisive and pugnacious advocate of his positions, the Cardinal concerned himself relentlessly with results. This is one proposition both his critics and his defenders agree upon is that the Cardinal’s fear of controversy rarely if ever dissuaded him from a particular course of action. Although this caused considerable strife at court occasionally, it did make him an effective Lord Chancellor, a point which all parties concede. As usual, it is not the particular effectiveness of accomplishing his goals which the Cardinal must justify, but their consequences, which are, as discussed earlier, a mixed bag. Although he converted millions directly or indirectly to the faith, the upheaval this caused in established cultures can not be determined by any retrospective eye, as we have no way of determining what the consequences of allowing those cultures and religions to proceed on their course as they were might have been.
Historically, the full extent of the Cardinal’s influence, clear in some events, has been difficult to determine due to the relative shadows in which some of his operations proceeded. Although other figures, like Duke Jimenez, provide us with clear and precise paper trails to follow the records available on the Cardinal’s activities provide no similarly exact paper trail for his actions, leaving a gap in just how vast his influence was. Admitted to be considerable, it is assumed that many events otherwise attributable to other individuals were in fact the brainchildren of the Cardinal, mostly those concerned with enforcing the orthodoxy of the faith. Rumors persist that the Cardinal’s famous nephew, Jakob Cardinal DeWitt, in fact destroyed or hid many of the papers associated with the Cardinal’s reign as Lord Chancellor, or took possession of them himself.
The two’s relationship has also been a source of speculation, with Jakob often the center of conspiracy theories to explain James’ sudden disappearance, most often asserting that the younger DeWitt did so to usurp the elder’s power, and in fact ultimately caused his death, a position for which they claim is supported by the fact that the certificate declaring James finally dead is in fact signed by the younger DeWitt. Although this rumor finds little support in the scholarly community, it remains a source of legitimate speculation, as few stood to benefit from an official declaration of the Cardinal’s death as much as Jakob, DeWitt’s heir, as a Cardinal and scion of a noble house, James left a considerable estate behind. Yet much of the estate Jakob distributed to the church, which makes a financial motivation unlikely, still, the circumstances remain murky. Fostered by his uncle for years, Jakob was the heir of DeWitt in more than one way, and the Cardinal’s behavior towards him echoes that of a father son relationship in many ways, even as Jakob would ultimately follow in James’ footsteps in becoming a prince of the church.
The mystery surrounding DeWitt’s sudden disappearance has generally been assigned to an unfortunate premature death at the hands of cultists, one which removed him finally from the stage of history. Yet sightings persist to this day, an old tale amongst protestant and Jewish families, one I myself was taught as a boy, remains that of the Panzerkardinal as something of a boogeyman, ready to appear and frighten those Protestant and Jewish children who fail to do such diverse tasks as their homework or taking out the trash. It is certain that his disappearance has at least made him more celebrated by history, which rejoices in these sorts of mysteries.
While the story of the Panzerkardinal is far from complete, an exploration of his life provides us with an interesting portrait of a complicated man, loathed and loved, along with a necessary history of the pivotal years of the late sixteenth century in which he played so important a role.
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