This study centers on how Leonhard von Harrach had to go to a provincial diet in Vienna in 1579 to deal with the Protestant nobles demanding Lutheran church services in the assembly hall or Landhaus in Vienna. That is the Ohnmacht in the title: Harrach is uncertain about how to proceed because he is caught between his role as courtier and Landsmann.

This event is the point of departure for looking at the role of the nobles in the Habsburg territories. Michael Haberer takes us on a journey that begins with Harrach's early years and his career at the Habsburg court. Harrach was the second most important Habsburg official behind Johann Trautson, who dominated Rudolf II's Privy Council. Harrach's mission to deal with the provincial diet in 1579 leads Haberer to contemplate the relationship between country and court. A noble strove to be successful in both worlds. Harrach had the advantage of being Catholic, which, increasingly, was a prerequisite for high office. In fact, the Chance of the title is Harrach's opportunity for advancement by allying himself with the rising Catholic interests in the Habsburg monarchy and at least tacitly supporting the increasingly strict Catholic religious policies. He gave up the lay chalice at communion not because of any conviction, but at the end of the sixteenth century communion in both kinds represented Protestantism. He travelled with Rudolf's strict Catholic mother on her way to Spain, and he provided a young Melchior Klesl with cautious support for his Counter Reformation policies.

But Haberer makes clear that Harrach had to tread lightly. Harrach used his influence to help defuse religious demands from the Lutheran nobility. Beginning in the early 1580s, Klesl sought improvements in the clergy and worked toward the catholicization of the Austrian populace. His reform policies negotiated a middle way between the new confrontational Catholicism of the Jesuits and Spain, the court's interest in moderate reforms, and an Austrian church establishment that wanted to maintain the status quo. Harrach also had to negotiate between these different competing Catholic parties. This state of affairs required Harrach to protect Klesl from a smear campaign. Harrach's reward for his successful politicking was to be dubbed a knight of the Golden Fleece in 1585. Maintaining a balance between both roles as courtier and Landsmann was necessary for a noble family to be successful. Harrach's actions allowed him to be seen as an ally of the Catholics and also maintain his standing with his fellow nobles. This careful behavior paved the way for future generations of Harrachs culminating in the spectacular success of Ferdinand Bonaventura at the end of the seventeenth century.

Haberer is long-winded in discussing incorrect interpretations of Rudolf II and his reign without providing a clear view of the emperor himself. Haberer's Rudolf remains as enigmatic as ever, but he does shed some light on his ruling practices. Haberer constantly uses the terms Netzwerk and Konfessionalisierung as if everyone agrees on their meaning. Some reflection on these terms is necessary, especially because they are integral for understanding the social behavior of the Austrian nobility and the religious situation in which they found themselves.

The book revolves around the controversy over Lutheran church services in the assembly hall in Vienna, but Haberer's treatment of this event is opaque. Haberer provides little information about the events leading up to the confrontation. We are not even told about the assembly hall and its importance for Protestantism in the city. He also writes almost nothing about the provincial diet in June 1579 and Harrach's dealings with the leader of the opposition, Helmhard Jörger. The reader will pick up bits and pieces of information along the way that the Protestants failed at the diet to get their way. This is especially unfortunate because Haberer often mentions the errors of other scholars, especially the falsehoods regarding the catholicization of subjects in Austria. A clear narrative would have gone a long way in correcting this picture.

This book should be read for its excellent analysis of the nobility and its attitudes toward religion, not for its narrative of events. Kinship ties between nobles and their elite status made them suitable for service in the Habsburg monarchy and reduced religious conflict. Despite the difficulties of maintaining solidarity among nobles and the complexity of religious matters, Harrach joined the Catholic reform party, but Haberer demonstrates that his actions were not the stuff of an epic confessional struggle.