Hello! I am currently writing an essay in a British history course about religion as a cause of unrest in seventeenth century Britain. Among other conflicts, I chose to write about the Thirty Years' War and to what degree religion was a cause of it. That part has gone well, but I am struggling to prove that this war was one that affected / caused unrest in Britain! I read in an introduction of some PhD thesis that there were some 50,000 British mercenaries that contributed in the war, and figured this was enough proof (since a fair share of these soldiers presumably died in battle), but I can't find any sources for this except this: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/3653 . Considering that it isn't an article, I doubt my professor will approve of it as an academic source... Does anyone know of any credible source that I can use to prove that British soldiers contributed to the Thirty Years' War?
Peter H. Wilson's The Thirty Years War has some tidbits about British soldiers during the war.
Horace Vere commanded the Palatine fortress of Frankenthal during Ng the earlier stages the war with a mostly English garrison. Later on during the war, Scottish mercenaries served in the Swedish army, like Robert Monro. And since Monro published a diary, there must be some articles written about him.
And even though James I and Charles I refused to contribute much directly, there were strong connections between the English royal family and the Palatine exiles in the Hague.
To piggyback on this I would strongly encourage you to check out Steve Murdoch’s book ‘Scotland in the Thirty Years War’. It’s very much a comprehensive look at Scottish participation in the thirty years war. As far as British participation in the thirty years war you won’t find a better author. He has published numerous books on the topic. Hope this helps!