Wars of Religion

Spain's Religious Wars

• religious enemies: protestants (Dutch Calvinists)

• international enemies: England

• Battle of Lepanto: Turks were Muslim, not Catholic, so Philip II fought against them + crushed them, the Turks ships used to ramming enemy ships VS the high hulled Spanish ships with cannons, Philip failed to launch a campaign against Christian antipathy after this because he was distracted by Dutch

• Catholic Spanish King Philip II ruled over the Netherlands and began to exert more control over the provinces: restructuring the Catholic Church to weaken local aristocracy, billeting troops locally, and levying new taxes → Dutch offended and wanted independence

• start: Dutch rioted in 1566: destroyed RCC property, smashed images of saints, and desecrated the host → Philip II enraged, vowed silence, and sent largest land army ever

• 1572: organized revolt and official war in the Netherlands

• "Council of Blood": 40 year contest where "Iron Duke of Alba" slaughtered 1000s of Protestants → Dutch towns opened dikes to flood themselves rather than give into Philip's army

• 1580: Dutch found a rebel leader in William of Orange (Silent) but was assassinated 4 years later and his murderer was publicly tortured

• Philip tried to "save" England from Protestantism Henry VIII imposed → married Catholic Mary → proposed to Elizabeth after Mary died → Elizabeth refused and supported Netherlands → Philip sent a fleet (with international crew + nobles in charge) across English Channel in 1588 + was wiped out by well-armed English ships and Protestant Wind (violent storms)

• conflict continued until deaths of Elizabeth I and Philip II

• 1609: two sides drew an agreement that virtually gave the northern provinces of Netherlands independence (actual recognition came with the Treaty of Westphalia)

• Netherlands split: Prot north + Catholic south

Philip II

• King of Spain, ruled over the Netherlands as well
• began to exert more control over the Netherlands by reconstructing the Catholic Church to weaken local aristocracy, billeting troops locally, and levying new taxes → offending the Dutch + making them riot
• enraged by the Dutch riots, he vowed silence to the rebels and sent the largest land army ever to them
• Dutch defiance cost this man soldiers, huge amounts of gold, and attention away from his victory at Lepanto and dealing with the wave of Christian antipathy there
• proposed to Elizabeth I after her half-sister, Mary (his wife) died, but was rejected and Elizabeth even supported the Netherlands
• tried to "save" England from Protestantism Henry VIII imposed → married Catholic Mary → proposed to Elizabeth after Mary died → Elizabeth refused and supported Netherlands → sent a fleet (with international crew + nobles in charge) across English Channel in 1588 + was wiped out by well-armed English ships and Protestant Wind (violent storms)

Philip II's Battle of Lepanto (1571)

• Turks were Muslim, not Catholic, so Philip II fought against them
• the Turks ships used to ramming enemy ships, were crushed by the high hulled Spanish ships with cannons
• Philip failed to launch a campaign against Turks with the wave of Christian antipathy towards them because he was distracted by Dutch
• a contrast between old and new sea warfare

Gustavus Adolphus (the only leader from the Thirty Years' War to make it onto the recent AP Euro Exams)

• King of Sweden
• justified going into the Holy Roman Empire through religious propaganda and saying they were "protecting the Lutherans"; in reality they were protecting their land near the Baltic Sea
• used cannons on the battlefield → first effective field artillery
• thought modern warfare would be dominated by gunpowder
• trained his soldiers to line up in squares: front line fires then go backwards to reload and are replaced by line behind them → created sustained firing

The defeat of Philip II in the Netherlands

• Philip never succeeded in suppressing the Netherlands
• Philip did face an embarrassing defeat against England when he sent a fleet across the English Channel (with an international crew → hard to communicate, and nobles in charge → didn't know what they were doing) → crushed by the well-armed English ships (set their own ship on fire and threw it at the Spanish) and Protestant Wind (violent storms)
• the "defeat" (end of conflict) came when both Elizabeth I and Philip II died
• in 1609, both sides came to an agreement that left the northern Netherlands virtually independent → Protestants moved north to the Dutch Republic and the southern French-speaking Spanish Netherlands stayed Catholic

French Wars of Religion

• religious enemies: Protestants (Huguenots = French Calvinists)
• international enemies: Holy Roman Empire
• Calvinism was strong among peasants, although remained a minority (3%), they were well organized (had representatives in assemblies and recruited from nobility)
• nobles wanted power and religious rights (Guises led Catholics and Bourbon led Huguenots)
• Catholic Henry II died → wife, Catherine de Medici, ruled as regent and tried to preserve royal power but was stopped by the Guises and Bourbons who wanted the throne
• religious compromise with marriage of Catherine's daughter and Bourbon leader of Huguenots, Henry of Navarre
• Guises convinced young King Charles that Huguenot gathering for the wedding was a plot against the crown → king ordered his guard to kill all Protestant leadership → St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre lasted around 6 days
• civil war! Henry III assassinated, leaving Henry of Navarre next in line for throne
• Edict of Nantes (1548): issued by Henry IV, ended all religious wars and introduced religious tolerance

Huguenots

• French Calvinists
• a small minority (3%) but well organized
• representatives entered district assemblies that coordinated efforts with national assemblies → got troops from local churches and even recruited from nobility
• 40% of nobles in France became this

Henry IV

• formerly Henry of Navarre, Bourbon leader of Huguenots
• was to wed Catherine's daughter as a religious compromise until the Guises convinced the young King Charles that the Huguenots gathering for the wedding was a plot against the crown → St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre ensued
• survived St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
• became next in line for throne after Henry III was assasisnated
• converted to Catholicism because he knew the Catholic majority would not accept a Protestant king → "Paris is worth a mass"
• issued the Edict of Nantes (1598) which ended all religious wars and established religious tolerance in France

Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre

• August 24, 1572
• religious compromise: marriage between Catherine's daughter and the Bourbon leader of the Huguenots, Henry of Navarre
• the Guise family persuaded the young King Charles that the Huguenots gathering for the wedding was a plot against the crown and the young king ordered his guard to kill all Protestant leadership
• morning of this day king's soldiers unleashed a massacre against protestants
• Henry of Navarre escaped assassination but thousands were murdered
• massacre raged for 6 days
• women and infants were not spared
• corpses were mutilated
• religious fervor turned into a bloodbath

𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴

People that put politics above religion

Edict of Nantes

• passed by Henry IV in 1598
• ended all religious wars in France
• introduced religious toleration in France
• revoked by Louis XIV

The Thirty Years' War: Phases and international players

• 1618-1621/1624: Revolt of Bohemia (Czechs); Catholic/Ferdinand victor; Battle of the White Mountain (Holy Roman Empire crushed Protestant rebels → dissolving Protestant union), Bohemia was occupied by Holy Roman Empire → RCC and German imposed
• 1615-1629: Intervention by Danish; Catholic victor; Danes used Christianity to justify their land grab (and propaganda to go into Holy Roman Empire)
• 1630-1635: Intervention by Sweden (Gustavus); Catholic victor; Gustavus said they were joining to protect the Lutherans but in reality was to protect Sweden and their land near Baltic, used religious propaganda to justify going into the Holy Roman Empire, Gustavus' battle against Wallenstein at Lutzen (1532) → Gustavus' armies won but Gustavus died, and Ferdinand turned on Wallenstein (assassinated him)
• 1636-1648: Intervention by France; Protestant victory!
• every time Protestants lost, the Edict of Restitution came in place (all Protestant territories had to turn Catholic) → Protestant princes who previously supported emperor were enraged

The Peace of Westphalia

• ended the Thirty Years' War
• German princes could choose their own religion, but still no individual
• Calvinism included as a tolerated faith
• redrew the map of Europe with "balance of power"
• Protestants won! They got to keep/take back their land
• basically renewed the Peace of Augsburg and more

Impact of the Thirty Years' War on Europe and especially Germany

• a new political geography was set for a century (Peace of Westphalia)
• diplomacy would shape and resolve political problems (diplomacy over war, Peace of Westphalia)
• France and Sweden got land from tired German states
• "balance of power" established, making all European powers equal to their neighbors (Peace of Westphalia)
• Edict of Restitution was revoked
• northwest (England, Holland, Scandinavia, and north German States) were Protestant
• south stayed Catholic
• Germany's population fell by 30%, a third of Germany was destroyed (agriculture destroyed → preventing colonies)
• Spain went bankrupt
• New Nations: Netherlands (UPN, Dutch Republic), Portugal, Switzerland

Witchcraft

• peaked between 1580-1650
• trials over this often occur in times of religious war
• people accused of this were mostly women
• used spectral evidence (dreams considered reality, used in court) to convict
• older women were targeted even more because they owned property and had no male heir, when accused of being a witch, others could take her property

What was the royal family of the Kingdom of France during the Wars of Religion?

Guises VS Bourbons

What was the official state religion of the Kingdom of France during the Wars of Religion?

Catholicism (Roman Catholic Church)

Who were the religious enemies of the Kingdom of France during the Wars of Religion?

Protestants, specifically Huguenots (French Calvinists)

Who were the international enemies of the Kingdom of France during the Wars of Religion?

Holy Roman Empire

What were the background factors for the French Religious/Civil War?

• nobles wanted power and religious rights
• Calvinism grew strong in peasants
• Huguenots recruited from nobility
• French kings took notice that French Protestantism was a force to be reckoned with mid 16th century

What was the catalyst for the French War of Religion?

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 24, 1572)

Who was the "winner" of the French Religious/Civil War?

the Huguenots

What were the French War of Religion's Peace/Settlement and Provisions?

• Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism → "Paris is worth a mass"
• Edict of Nantes (1598): end of religious wars and religious toleration (religious freedom for Protestant towns NOT in Paris)

What were some Notables/Additional Effects of the French War of Religion?

• Cardinal Richelieu (head of state) attacked Protestant towns because they were fortified

What was the royal family of the Kingdom of Spain during the Wars of Religion?

Spanish Hapsburgs

What was the official state religion of the Kingdom of Spain during the Wars of Religion?

Catholicism

Who were the religious enemies of the Kingdom of Spain during the Wars of Religion?

Protestants (Dutch Calvinists)

Who were the international enemies of the Kingdom of Spain during the Wars of Religion?

England

What were the background factors for the Spanish Religious/Civil War?

• Philip II restructured the Catholic Church to weaken local aristocracy
• Philip II billeted troops locally
• Philip II levied new taxes
• Elizabeth I rejected Philip II's proposal and supported the Netherlands
• Battle of Lepanto (1571): Turks were Muslim, not Catholic, so Philip II fought against them and crushed their older ships with his high hulled ones with cannons, but failed to launch a campaign against Turks with the wave of Christian antipathy towards them because he was distracted by Dutch
• Dutch wanted independence and Dutch burghers wanted power

What was the catalyst for the Spanish War of Religion?

• Dutch riots of 1566: destroyed RCC property, smashed image of saints, desecrated the host
• William the Silent (of Orange) and Dutch rebelled against Spain

Who was the "winner" of the Spanish Religious/Civil War?

the Netherlands

What were the Spanish War of Religion's Peace/Settlement and Provisions?

• Spain attempted to crush Protestant Dutch and invade Protestant England but the Protestant Wind (violent storms that stopped ships) took care of it
• England VS 130 big Spanish ships with an international crew (hard to communicate) and nobles in charge (didn't know what they were doing → English set their own ship on fire at them and said "God made it happen"
• Philip II was defeated by the English
• the end of conflict)came when both Elizabeth I and Philip II died
• in 1609, both sides came to an agreement that left the northern Netherlands virtually independent → Protestants moved north to the Dutch Republic and the southern French-speaking Spanish Netherlands stayed Catholic

What were some Notables/Additional Effects of the Spanish War of Religion?

• Siglo de Oro (1550-1650): a Baroque "golden age" in Spain heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church

What was the royal family of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

Hapsburgs

What was the official state religion of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

Catholicism

Who were the religious enemies of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

• Protestants (Lutherans in Germany, Calvinists in Bohemia)
• Anabaptists

Who were the international enemies of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

• France
• England
• Turks
• Schmalkaldic League

What were the background factors to the religious/civil war of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

• Lutheran German Princes allied with France and Turks to form Schmalkaldic League (France wanted Germany religiously divided)
• German Peasant's War/Revolt in 1524-1525, Luther was heavily against it and outwardly regarded the peasants using his ideas with disgust
• German Noble Revolt (with the Schmalkaldic League), Luther had nothing bad to say about it

What were the catalysts for the religious/civil war of the Holy Roman Empire prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

• peasants revolts: poverty and Luther
• Schmalkaldic League: wealth and Luther

Who was the "winner" of the Holy Roman Empire's religious/civil war prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

Lutherans

What was the peace/settlement and provisions to the Holy Roman Empire's religious/civil war prior to the 17th century and 30 Years' War?

The Peace of Augsburg (1555) gave princes in the Holy Roman Empire to choose the religion of their region (Catholic or Lutheran only), still no individual religious freedom.

Prior to the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire faced TWO internal German revolts. What were they?

• The German Peasants Revolt: caused by spread of Lutheranism (poverty and Luther), resulted in Luther saying kill the "filthy swine" to the German princes regarding the peasants revolting
• War of the Schmalkaldic League; caused by spread of Lutheranism (wealth and Luther), resulted in the Peace of Augsburg (1555) giving German princes right to choose their religion, either Catholic or Lutheran

What was the Thirty Years' War?

A culmination of 100 years of religious discord, European rivalries (France VS Holy Roman Empire), and constitutional struggle between German princes (Lutheran) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Catholic).

In what way was the Thirty Years' War a civil conflict?

It was between Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire at first.

In what way was the Thirty Years' War a religious conflict?

It became Protestants vs Catholics.

In what way was the Thirty Years' War a international conflict?

The Danish, Sweden and France joined to either gain land, protect their land, or weaken the Hapsburgs.

What was the specific catalyst for the Thirty Years' War?

In 1618, a Catholic Bohemian Prince was elected and vowed to get rid of the Protestant (Calvinist) minority. To do so, the prince sent representatives to the houses of the Bohemian Protestant nobles. They did not like what Ferdinand (HRE)'s representatives were saying and threw them out a window in Prague (defenestration of Prague, common practice). The representatives ended up in manure, unhurt, but the Catholic explanation for their survival was that their fall was broken by angels. It was Calvinists throwing out Catholics (Holy Roman Imperial ambassador), which was wild because Calvinism was not a tolerated faith (Peace of Augsburg only tolerated Catholicism or Lutheran). Additionally, the Holy Roman Emperor feared if Bohemia fell to a Protestant prince, the balance of power would shift away from the Hapsburgs, and went to war to reclaim Bohemia for Catholicism. But it quickly turned into a civil war, debating the issue of if the Holy Roman Emperor had authority over German princes, and international: Protestant VS Catholics.

PHASE 1: The Revolt of Bohemia

• 1618 to 1621/1624
• Battle of White Mountain: Holy Roman Empire crushed the Protestant rebels, dissolving the Protestant union
• Bohemia was occupied by the Holy Roman Empire, Catholicism and German imposed
• Victor: Ferdinand II (Catholic)

PHASE 2: Intervention by Danish

• 1625 to 1629
• international
• used Christianity to justify a land grab (propaganda)
• Victor: Ferdinand II (Catholic)

PHASE 3: Intervention by Sweden (Gustavus)

• 1630 to 1635
• used religious propaganda to justify going into the Holy Roman Empire
• claimed they were protecting the Lutherans, when in reality they wanted to protect their land around the Baltic Sea
• Gustavus' battle against Wallenstein at Lutzen (1532): Gustavus' armies won by Gustavus died, Wallenstein was also betrayed by the Holy Roman Emperor after this defeat
• Victor: Ferdinand II (Catholic)

PHASE 4: Intervention by France

• 1636 to 1648
• Victor: Protestants! (kinda, Peace of Westphalia)

How did Wallenstein change the nature of warfare during the Thirty Years' War?

• invented war tax
• war tax: a tax placed on princes and cities who supported the Holy Roman Emperor
• with his invention, wars were now funded by potential winners and loser (rather than just the losers as before)
• used mercenaries too much → German princes compelled Ferdinand II to get rid of him

How did Adolphus change the nature of warfare during the Thirty Years' War?

• used cannons on the battlefield → first effective field artillery
• thought modern warfare would be dominated by gunpowder
• trained his soldiers to line up in squares: front line fires then go backwards to reload and are replaced by line behind them → created sustained firing

The Thirty Years' was settled religiously in 1635 by the Peace of Prague. Why did it keep on going for 13 more years?

The Peace of Prague settled the internal religious conflict between Protestant princes and the Holy Roman Empire. However, France (Cardinal Richelieu) kept the war going to destroy the Holy Roman Empire (never seen before: Catholics vs Catholics!).

Political and Military Impacts of the Thirty Years' War

• a new political geography was set for a century (Peace of Westphalia)
• diplomacy would shape and resolve political problems (diplomacy over war, Peace of Westphalia)
• France and Sweden got land from tired German states
• "balance of power" established, making all European powers equal to their neighbors (Peace of Westphalia)
• Edict of Restitution was revoked

Social, Cultural, and Religious Impacts of the Thirty Years' War

• northwest (England, Holland, Scandinavia, and north German States) were Protestant
• south stayed Catholic
• Germany's population fell by 30%, a third of Germany was destroyed (agriculture destroyed → preventing colonies)

Economic Impacts of the Thirty Years' War

• Spain went bankrupt
• Germany was unable to create colonies because their agriculture was destroyed

New Nations emerging after the Thirty Years' War

• the Netherlands (UPN, Dutch Republic)
• Portugal
• Switzerland