AP European History Unit 2
Chapter 15
Religious Wars &
Exploration
WARS OF RELIGION: 1560-1648
I.
Treaty of Cateau-Cambrèsis (1559)
A. Ended Hapsburg-Valois Wars
1. Spain was the victor over France
2. ended an era of dynastic wars
a. initiated a period of political and religious
wars
B. New Era of warfare
1. Large standing armies
2. use of guns and cannon
3. use of propaganda & the pulpit – to support
war
4. dissolved concept of unified Christian Europe
II. Civil War in France
A. Pre Civil War France
1. Francis I (1515-47) – Concordat of Bologna
* Catholic Church in France – king power to
appoint bishops (simony $)
2. Calvinism in France: Huguenots
* Bourgeoisie who opposed centralized state
3. Catherine de’ Medici wife of Henry II
* Queen Regent
B. Religious Civil Wars in France (1559-1598)
1. Three weak sons of Henry II
a.
Francis II (r. 1559-1560)
b.
Charles IX (r. 1560-1574)
c.
Henry III (r. 1574-1598)
2. French nobility used religion as means of opposing
the weak & corrupt monarchy
a. antimonarchical Huguenots vs. royalist
Catholics
3. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, 1572
a. marriage of Henry of Navarre (Huguenot)
b. triggered bloody wars b/w Huguenots & Catholics
 War of the Three Henry’s
4. War of the three Henrys
a. Henry III (last Valois king)
b. Henry of Guise (leader of Catholic nobility)
1) wanted wipe out Huguenots and take the
throne of France (behind plot of St.
Bartholomew’s Day massacre)
a) assassinated 1588 by the king’s agents
5. End of the religious civil wars
a. Assassination of King Henry III (1589)
b. Henry IV (r. 1589-1610) Bourbon
1) Politiques – moderates of both faiths who
supported Henry in ending the wars
2) “Paris is worth a mass” - Henry converts to
Catholicism to unite France
3) Edict of Nantes – granted French Huguenots
freedom of religion and the right to fortify
their cities
III. The Dutch Revolts (1556-1587)
A. Causes
1. Economic: Netherlands as a major financial
center of Habsburg lands (Antwerp)
a. trade / shipping / fishing
b. Bourse (trade center)
2. Religion: Dutch Calvinist
a. Burghers (middle class) – merchant,
intellectuals who opposed Catholic Church
3. Decentralized political system
a. 17 Independent Provinces
Stadtholders (delegates) – States General
Vermeer:
View of Delft
c. 1660
Rembrandt
Masters of the Cloth Guild
The Old Stock Exchange in Amsterdam was a center of
mercantile activity and religious and intellectual interactions
A. Causes Continued..
4. Charles V: abdicated (retired) his throne in 1556
a. divided Habsburg lands between his brother
Ferdinand (German lands) and his son
Phillip II (Spanish, Italian, Dutch, & New World)
5. Phillip II (r. 1556-1598)
a. Spanish Catholic King
b. Opposed the spread of
Protestantism
1) Goal = reunify Western
Europe under Roman
Catholicism
2) wanted Dutch wealth (taxes)
B. Shift in Habsburg focus:
Battle of Lepanto, 1571 - stopped Ottoman
Empire (Turks) incursion into Eastern Europe
C. Civil War in Netherlands: 1568-1578
1. King Philip II tries to impose control
a. Duke of Alva – “Council of Blood”
b. Alexander Farnese – siege of cities
1) capture of Antwerp
2. William of Orange (1533-1584)
a. “the silent” – leader of Dutch forces
3. 17 Protestant provinces vs. Spain.
a. Union of Utrecht: United Provinces of the
Netherlands (7 Northern provinces)
b. Spanish Netherlands (Belgium)
(10 Southern provinces)
D. Elizabeth I – last Tudor monarch (r. 1558-1603)
1. Assisted Protestant Netherlands:
a. wool industry: important to English trade
b. death of William the Silent
c. defeat of Antwerp
d. fear of Spanish invasion of England
1) execution of Mary Queen of Scotts
2. English support:
a. Elizabeth gives money and soldiers to support
Dutch against Spanish invasion
3. Phillip II responds with the Spanish Armada, 1588
a. supported by the papacy
b. massive Spanish fleet sent to invade England
1) Defeated by England
2) Ended Philip’s goal of reunifying Western
Europe under one church.
IV. Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
A. Causes
1. Failure of Peace of Augsburg (1555)
a. terms violated by both sides
1) Jesuits
2. Two armed factions emerge
a. Protestant Union (1608)
b. Catholic League (1609)
Holy Roman
Empire 1618
B. Bohemian Phase (1618-1625)
1. Ferdinand of Styria –Ferdinand II (HRE)
a. Defenstration of Prague (1618)
2. Frederick , the elector of Palatinate - Protestant
a. Battle of White Mountain (Catholic victory)
C. Danish Phase (1625-29)
1. Catholic invasion of North Germany
a. Danish King Christian IV - Protestants
b. Albert of Wallenstein - Catholics
1) Edict of Restitution (1629)
* restored Protestant lands to Catholic
& recognized only Catholic & Lutheran
religions
D. Swedish Phase (1629-35)
1. Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632)
a. subsidized by France: Cardinal Richelieu
b. Battle of Breitenfeld, 1630 – Protestant victory
E. French Phase (1635-1648) “International Phase”
1. French foreign policy - anti-Habsburg
(Habsburg Fence)
a. Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)
F. Peace of Westphalia (1648)
1. Principles of Peace of Augsburg reasserted
(with Calvinism now included).
2. Provisions:
a. Edict of Restitution revoked.
b. Independence of United Provinces confirmed
c. Swiss Confederacy recognized
d. France, Sweden, and Brandenburg (future
Prussia) gained territory and international stature.
e. Pope denied participation in German religious
affairs.
f. Established over 300 independent German states
Europe in 1648
G. Results and aftermath
1. Germany devastated – massive depopulation &
migration, economic destruction
2. End of religious wars
a. Catholic crusade failed
3. beginning of modern age
of sovereign states.
a. Balance of power politics.
4. Two Habsburg branches
weakened.
a. Spanish decline
b. Austrian Habsburgs lost
influence over Germany.