The Last Valley

A Scene of the Thirty Years War - Ernest Crofts
(Source)

The Thirty Years War ended on the 15th of May in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia. What began as a series of religious squabbles in the German states eventually dragged the major powers of Europe into open warfare. The bulk of the fighting was in what we now call Germany.

Over 8,000,000 people died. From the war itself, from disease, and from starvation. There were areas of Germany which lost 25 to 40% of their population. The male population in many areas was reduced by as much as half.

The Treaty of Westphalia marked the virtual end of the feudal system in western Europe and also marks the birth of the nation-state. But the thirty years preceding that treaty were a savage and horrible time.

Friday evening I went looking for a film which I remember watching long ago. Probably due to researching material for yesterday's post on the last stand of the Swiss Guard. One of the paintings I looked at (and have used here on the blog before) was of a unit of pikemen, surrounded by the detritus of war, at the Battle of Rocroi.

This one -

Rocroi, el último tercio (Rocroi, The Last Tercio) - Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau
(Source)

Why that painting had me charging off to Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube for a dimly remembered movie tells you something about the way my mind works. Not sure what, but there it is.

The film (I eventually found it, and watched it on YouTube) was The Last Valley -

Michael Caine and Omar Sharif in The Last Valley
(Source)

At the opening of the film, Omar Sharif's character, Vogel - a teacher, is fleeing from the war itself. Like many during the Thirty Years War he has been reduced to the clothes on his back and only what he can carry. He sees horrific sights along the way, including the pillaging of a village he has stumbled into, seeking food and shelter.

Eventually he finds his way to a village in a high Alpine valley (the movie was shot in the Tirol) which is apparently deserted. He is closely followed by a band of mercenaries (of both Protestants and Catholics, for the Thirty Years War began as a religious war and only later became a struggle between warring kings) led by Michael Caine's character, the Captain.

The villagers eventually return to be surprised by the soldiers. The Captain and his men wish to pillage the village and return with what they find to their army. Vogel convinces the Captain that winter is approaching, if they return to the army whatever they find in the way of food will disappear "down a thousand throats" and he and his men will face an uncertain future. But if they stay in the valley for the winter, they will have plenty of food and shelter.

The Captain agrees.

Much of the film is about the interactions between the soldiers and the villagers. There is friction between those who wish to pillage the village and return to the army and those who just want a few months of peace. There is friction between Catholic and Protestant, the Captain's band is a mix of the two. The village is Catholic. It's a good film of people who have found a refuge from an insane world.

I cannot imagine living in such times. Armies, composed of many mercenaries, taking what they wanted, killing all who stood in their way, disease killing thousands. There really were very few places that were safe.

For those who think the times we live in are bad, and admittedly for some they are, there are areas of the world now which rival the Thirty Years War for disease and suffering, for the most part we have it good. For whatever reason, there are some in the world who feast on suffering and lies, even in our own country.

My home is my last valley, it is my refuge from a sometimes insane world.

I aim to keep it that way.