The wide range of interests and powers that gathered at the two Westphalian cities each tell a fascinating story. Whether it was the two French agents that loathed one another; the Dutch tradition of representing each of the seven provinces; Swedish desires to legalise its control over Pomerania; Johan Oxenstierna's frequently drunken state, when he wasn't insisting on trumpets blasting to announce his presence; the Franco-Swedish request on having all Imperial estates represented at Westphalia, regardless of their size; French plans to court Bavaria; the Emperor's plan to prevent the smaller states from attending, and the confusion over exactly what religious settlement would be pushed for - all of these issues made the negotiations dynamic, unpredictable, and occasionally hilarious. Join me as we cover their early phase, while the war carried on in the background.

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