The Protestant Reformation
- 16th-century Europeans increasingly began to criticize the Catholic Church after the
Renaissance and the invention of the printing press in 1450. They were angered by the
corruption within the Church, including simony, nepotism, pluralism/absenteeism, and the selling
of indulgences.
- Protestant leaders Martin Luther and John Calvin called for separation from the Catholic
Church, bringing about the Protestant Reformation.
- Martin Luther, the most famous figure of the Protestant Reformation and founder of
Lutheranism and Protestantism, believed that salvation is initiated by God (not the
Church), authority is rested in the Bible alone, and that the Church should not be a
hierarchical clerical institution. Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli had reform ideas very
similar to Luther’s.
- John Calvin was a believer in predestination, the concept that men cannot actively
work to achieve salvation; God already decided who would be saved and who would be
damned.
- The decentralized states of the Holy Roman Empire allowed for reform movements to gain
traction, however, Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had ambitions for an entirely
Catholic empire. After much conflict between Catholics and Protestants and the Augsburg
Confession from the German Protestant princes, Charles V and the princes came to an
agreement called the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.
- Under the Peace of Augsburg, each territory in the Holy Roman Empire would be able to decide
whether it was Catholic or Protestant. These Protestant ideas (specifically Lutheranism and
Calvinism) brought about religious change in central, northern, and eastern Europe. Protestant
ideas were appealing to peasants and city governments alike, and the development of
Protestantism as well as English King Henry VIII’s formation of the Church of England caused
more and more people to depart from Catholicism.
3
The Catholic Reformation
- In an attempt to purify its image and take back supporters, the Catholic Church launched its
Catholic Reformation (also known as the Counter-Reformation). The church drove for internal
reform, removing corrupt policies and establishing new religious orders such as the Jesuits.
- Pope Paul III’s mid-16th century Council of Trent addressed what reforms had to be made in
the Church. The Council laid a solid basis for the spiritual renewal of the Catholic Church and its
faith, organization, and practice.
- The mannerism (twisting proportions) and baroque (dark backgrounds; high contrast) styles of
art were grand, emotional, and visually interesting Catholic propaganda used to reclaim Catholic
support.
- Even after both Reformations, religious violence between Catholics and Protestants continued to
occur, especially in France. In France, a civil disconnect between the monarchy and civilians
allowed for civil violence and war. Yet, despite their disagreements, both Catholics and
Protestants saw pagans as agents of Satan, both ruthlessly trying and executing thousands of
women accused of witchcraft.
The War of the Three Henrys
- The costs of the Habsburg-Valois wars (in which the Spanish Habsburgs won) forced the French
to increase taxes and heavily borrow. So, the Concordat of Bologna had King Francis I agree to
recognize the supremacy of the papacy over a universal council. In return, the French crown
gained the right to appoint all French bishops, which allowed for economic growth for the French
crown.
- Strong religious fervor combined with a weak French monarchy led to civil violence between
Catholic royalist lords and Calvinist anti-monarchical lords, all while ordinary men and women
demonstrated iconoclasm by destroying religious images.
- Henry of Guise plotted to assassinate the current French king Henry III and replace him, but he
was killed himself before being able to act out his plot.
- At the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, thousands of Protestants were killed by
Catholic mobs who thought they were doing God’s and the king’s will. This massacre took place
at the Protestant Henry of Navarre’s wedding. Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot and next in line to
the French throne, realized after being crowned Henry IV in 1589 that the only way to save
France was to sacrifice religious principles for political necessity. He sacrificed his Protestantism
in order to lead effectively, reigning as a politique.
- Other politiques include the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Catholic King Philip
II of Spain. These two clashed in 1588, in which Elizabeth destroyed Spain’s Spanish Armada.
The Thirty Years’ War
Bohemian Phase (1618-1625)
- Started with the defenestration of Prague in 1618, when Calvinist rebels threw Bohemian royal
council members out of a window (though they survived). Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
4
got the support of king Maximilian I of Bavaria to invade Bohemia. Ferdinand and Maximilian’s
forces were led by Baron Tilly. They won against Frederick V, king of Bohemia, at the Battle
of White Mountain.
Danish Phase (1625-1629)
- King Christian IV of Denmark supported the Protestants, but was defeated in 1626 when
Albrecht von Wallenstein joined the fight on the Catholic side. As a result, Holy Roman
Emperor Ferdinand II occupied Holstein. The Treaty of Lubeck in 1629 restored Holstein to
Christian. The Edict of Restitution gave the Holy Roman Empire back all of the German states
that were secularized with the Peace of Augsburg.
Swedish Phase (1630-1635)
- France and Sweden signed an alliance, and France entered the war against the Habsburgs. The
Swedes killed Baron Tilly, the HRE imperial commander, in 1632. At the Battle of Lutzen, the
Swedes defeated Albrecht von Wallenstein, who had replaced Tilly. However, Swedish king
Gustavus Adolphus died in warfare. Wallenstein was assassinated after being caught secretly
working with Sweden and France. The emperor’s army defeated the Swedes at Nördlingen in
southern Germany.
- The Treaty of Prague was enacted in 1635 after the deaths of both Adolphus and Wallenstein. It
strengthened Habsburgs and weakened the German Princes.
French/International Phase (1635-1648)
- Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of child-king Louis XIII, wanted to reclaim Alsace and
weaken the power of Spain and its Habsburg king Philip IV. He sent large forces to Germany
after succeeding against Spain, tipping the balance in the Protestant’s favor.
- Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II died in 1637, and his son Ferdinand III succeeded him.
Peace negotiations began in 1641, but little progress was made until Richelieu’s death in 1642
and the French occupation of Bavaria in 1646.
Peace of Westphalia (1648)
- The Peace of Westphalia was a series of treaties that concluded the Thirty Years’ War.
- France acquired Alsace, and both France and Sweden acquired nearby territory.
- The Dutch Republic and Switzerland were given independence from Spain. The German princes
were given independence from the HRE by the Habsburgs.
- Renounced the Edict of Restitution (which had renounced the Peace of Augsburg) and
expanded the Peace of Augsburg to include Calvinists in addition to Catholics and Lutherans.
Once again the rulers of each state could determine its religion.