THE REFORMATION,
COUNTER REFORMATION
AND RELIGIOUS WARS
NAISBITT/FREILER
THE BIBLE AND THE
REFORMATION
Gutenberg
Bible
• In the early 16th century,
Europeans developed a
consuming passion for the
Bible
• Scriptures rolled off
printing presses in all
languages and forms from
the large Gutenberg Bibles
to small pocket Bibles for
soldiers
• When Martin Luther created
a German translation, his
Bible became an immediate
best seller
Luther Bible
A REFORM IMPULSE
• A renewed spiritually and desire to change many of the
traditional practices of the Roman Catholic Church was
sweeping through Europe
• The demand for reform came from within the Church and
from outside the Church
• The inspiration for reform was based on the Word of God –
vernacular Bibles allowed commoners to read the Bible in
their own languages
THE BIG
PICTURE
• In the early 16th century
Europeans experienced
one of the greatest of all
religious rebirths: the
Protestant Reformation
• The Reformation was a
movement to purify the
Catholic Church that
resulted in the creation of
new denominations
collectively known as
Protestants from their
“protest” against the
Church
THE INTELLECTUAL
REFORMATION
• If new ideas about religion
were to supplant old ones,
they had to communicated
• That was made possible
with the invention of the
printing press which
appeared in the late 15th
century in Germany and
spread across Europe
rapidly
• The development of printing
did not cause religious
reform, but reform would
have been difficult to
achieve without it
THE PRINTING REVOLUTION
• The printing revolution represents one of the true
technological revolutions in Western history – it was rated
the #1 event of the last millennium in a Life Magazine
special in 2000
• Printing was not invented per se, but rather was achieved
through progress in related industries such as
papermaking and goldsmithing
PAPER
PLAYS
KEY ROLE
• Sheepskin and calfskin
were used for manuscripts
and book reproduction
• This process was slow and
expensive
• In the early 15th century
paper made from linen rags
were substituted and made
for better impressions and a
smoother surface
An early paper mill
PRINTING SPREADS
RAPIDLY
• Once it began, printing
spread quickly
• By 1480, more than 110
towns had established
presses, most in Italy
and Germany
• By 1500, Venice and
Paris were the centers
of the industry
• Most of the subject
matter was religious or
classical
PRINTING BECOMES PART OF
CULTURE
• In the first 40 years after the presses
began, as many as 20,000,000 books
were produced
• Printing changed the habits of
teachers and students, and altered
the way governments did business
• It affected legal training and
proceedings
• Printing standardized languages and
furthered science
• It created an international intellectual
community and increased the value
of ideas and thinking
Printing allowed
commoners to read
the Bible in their own
language
CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
• By the
beginning
of the 16th
century, the force of
humanism was felt strongly
in northern and western
Europe
• As Italian humanism moved
northward it merged with
traditional theological
teaching
• The combination became a
powerful intellectual
movement known as
Christian humanism
ITALIAN HUMANISM VS.
CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
• Italian intellectual
interests were largely
secular subjects,
especially classical
languages and texts
• Christian, or Northern
humanists, applied the
techniques to the study
and translation of
Christian texts
• Furthermore, Christian
humanism was a
program of reform rather
than philosophy
REFORM THROUGH
EDUCATION
• Christian humanism aimed to
make better Christians
through better education
• Humanists founded schools
for girls and advocated that
they be trained in the same
subjects as boys
• Schools now trained many
who were not destined for
careers in the Church
ERASMUS: THE CHRISTIAN
HUMANIST
• The man most closely
associated with Christian
Humanism was Desiderius
Erasmus of Rotterdam
• Educated by the Brethren of
Common Life, Erasmus had a
quick wit and an enormous
intellect
• He sought to bring the gospel
to all: “The doctrine of Christ
casts aside no age, no sex, no
fortune or position in life. It
keeps no one at a distance.”
Erasmus
1466-1536
IN PRAISE OF FOLLY
• Erasmus’s satire, Praise of
Folly (1509), was one of the
first best sellers in
publishing history
• The book focused on the
abuses in the Catholic
Church through his
dialogue with his friend
Thomas More
• Erasmus was especially
critical of the clergy saying,
“. . . they are a style of man
who show themselves
exceeding supercilious and
irritable . . .”
ERASMUS TRANSLATES BIBLE
• Erasmus was called
“the father of biblical
criticism” for his
attacks upon the
Scholastics,
superstition, and the
pretensions of the
Church
• Erasmus’s Greek
translation of the New
Testament appeared in
1516
Durer
Erasmus's text served as the
foundation for critical editions of the
Greek New Testament into the
modern era
THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION
• By the early 16th
century, abuses in
the Catholic Church
were causing many
to call out for reform
• Charges against the
clergy included
simony (the selling
of church offices),
pluralism (holding
more than one
church office), and
absenteeism
INDULGENCES
• Indulgences came to
viewed as pardons to the
individual who bought
them
• Therefore, one could
theoretically buy their way
out of purgatory
• Indulgences were bought
by the living to cleanse the
sins of the dead, and some
people even bought
indulgences in anticipation
of sins they had not yet
committed
WHAT WERE INDULGENCES?
• Indulgences were a means to
spend less time in purgatory
• At this time the worry was not
going to hell, but spending a
long time in purgatory. By
purchasing an indulgence, you
could get out of purgatory
sooner
• Indulgences also were
extraordinarily important for the
papacy as a major source of
income
• Indulgences were used to
finance major building projects
INDULGENCES BECOME BIG
BUSINESS
Relics
• Indulgences were one of the first items printed on Gutenberg’s
press
• Popes used special occasions to offer indulgences for papal
projects (fundraisers)
• Other indulgences were licensed locally, usually at shrines of
saints or at churches that contained relics
RELICS BECOME
INCREASINGLY POPULAR
• Frederick III, “the Wise”
(1463-1525), ruler of
Saxony, was one of the
largest collectors of relics
• He had 17,000 items,
including a branch of
Moses’ burning bush,
straw from Christ’s
manger, and 35 fragments
of the true cross
• Taken as a whole, his
relics carried remission for
sins that would have
otherwise taken equal to
250,000 years in purgatory
TETZEL SELLS INDULGENCES
• In 1517, the Pope was
offering a special
indulgence to finance the
rebuilding of the St. Peter’s
Basilica
• A Dominican friar, Johann
Tetzel was hired to
promote the latest
indulgence
• By October, Tetzel was
nearing Wittenberg Castle
and a professor at the local
college chose that night to
post his famous 95 theses
on castle church door
Tetzel
The
Showdown
LUTHER CHALLENGES
INDULGENCES
Luther’s 95 Theses
• By the fall of
1517, the frenzy to buy
indulgences had prompted
some priests and monks to
criticize the practice
• Among his 95 Theses was
a scathing indictment of
the practice of selling
indulgences
• His theses were
immediately translated into
German and spread
throughout the HRE
ON LUTHER
• A gifted student,
Luther experienced a
scare early in life
when he was almost
struck by lightning
• He then entered a
monastery and was
ordained in 1507
• He continued his
education and
received a doctorate
and was appointed to
the theology faculty at
Wittenberg in 1512
LUTHER IN TURMOIL
• Despite being a successful
preacher and teacher,
Luther was tortured by his
own sense of sinfulness
• Luther: “I was one who
terribly feared the last
judgment and who
nevertheless with all my
heart wished to be saved.”
• No amount of good works
could overcome Luther’s
feelings of guilt for his own
sins
Luther was tormented about
his own salvation
“THOU SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”
• Luther’s reading of
Saint Paul’s words,
“Thou shall live by
faith,” provided the
answer to his torment
• Luther believed that
through God’s grace,
salvation was not a
burden but a gift from
a merciful God
• Salvation could not be
earned, but was given
freely; Sola Fida
Sola fida (by faith alone) was
one of Luther’s key tenets
LUTHER’S KEY
TENETS
Baptism
Luther
believed in
only two of
the seven
sacraments
Communion
• The second major tenet of
Luther’s was Sola
Scriptura (by word alone)
• Faith in God’s mercy came
only from the knowledge
and contemplation of the
word of God (Bible)
• All that was needed to
understand God’s mercy
was contained in the Bible
SOLA GRATIA
• Sola gratia is a Luther doctrine
which teaches that God extends
love and favor to sinners on the
basis of the atonement
accomplished through the death
and resurrection of Jesus and
the merit of Christ's
righteousness
• Man, being sinful, does not earn
or deserve the love and favor of
God; rather, God chooses to give
that which man does not merit
• It is God's grace (Sola gartia)
that saves us through faith
PRIESTHOOD OF ALL
BELIEVERS
• Luther thought that all
who believed in God’s
righteousness were
equal in God’s eyes
• Neither pope nor priest,
neither monk or nun,
could achieve a higher
level of spirituality than
the ordinary citizen
• Ministers and preachers
were valuable, but could
not confer faith
LUTHER UNDERMINES
AUTHORITY OF RCC
• The doctrine of
justification by faith alone
meant the RCC’s
emphasis on good works
and sacraments were
called into question
• Luther’s doctrine of faith
through individual biblical
study weakened the
authority of the clergy
• Finally, his doctrine of
equality of all believers
struck at the heart of the
long-established hierarchy
of the RCC
Which man do you think history
credits for “laying the egg that Luther
hatched”?
THE DIET OF
WORMS
Pope Leo X, center,
excommunicated Luther in 1521
for his radical views
• Excommunicated by Pope Leo X in
1521, Luther was then ordered by
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to
appear before the Diet assembled
in Worms, Germany
• Charles ordered Luther to recant
his teachings
• Luther replied, “I cannot and I will
not retract anything, since it is
neither safe nor right to go against
conscience. I cannot do
otherwise”
• Charles V declares Luther an
enemy of the empire – in both
Church and state he was now an
outlaw
Emperor Charles V looks on as Luther, gesturing skyward,
defends his beliefs at the Diet of Worms in 1521
LUTHER CONTINUES TO DEFY
AUTHORITIES AND GAIN SUPPORT
• Luther wrote many controversial
books and essays after posting his
theses
• His Address to the Christian
Nobility of the German Nation
(1520), called upon princes to take
the reform of religion into their own
hands
• Some powerful supporters emerged
such as Prince Frederick III of
Saxony
• Additionally, political issues such
as Charles’ desire to maintain the
support of German princes played
into Luther’s hand
Luther took advantage of new
printing technology to author
30 works between 1517-1520
LUTHER HAS PRINCES’ SUPPORT
German princes were not above using
the new theology for their own gain
• There were two key
reasons German princes
turned to Luther’s
theology
• First, sincere religious
conviction
• Second, economic
considerations such as
increased personal
revenue (Luther’s call for
civic leaders to lead their
own churches meant
they could keep their own
revenues)
CITIES EMBRACE
LUTHER
• The Reformation spread especially well in
the German cities
• Once Protestant princes adopted the
ideas, entire towns followed
• Urban dwellers had long resented the
benefits bestowed on the RCC (land)
and the clergy (exempt tax status)
• Once Protestant, city governments
secured their own autonomy over the
Church by taking over many of the
religious houses and encouraging monks
and nuns to enter civilian life
Luther Bible
LUTHER APPEALS TO PROMINENT
WOMEN
• Noblewomen were among the
most important defenders of
Protestant reformers
• Marguerite of Navarre (14921549), sister of Francis I, created
her own court in the south of
France and stocked it with
humanists and Protestants
• Bona, wife of Sigismund I of
Poland, was especially
important in the eastern reform
movement
• An Italian by birth, Bona was a
central figure in spreading both
Renaissance and art and
humanism learning in Poland
LUTHER APPEALS
TO COMMON
WOMEN, TOO
• The doctrine of equality of
all believers put men and
women on equal spiritual
footing, even if it did not
allow for women ministers
• Furthermore, Luther
realized the enormous
value of family life and
holy matrimony
• Finally, by promoting the
education of both genders,
Luther further gained the
support of women
Despite his radical views on gender
equality spiritually, Luther had
traditional, conservative views about
women’s role in society and the
household
THE SPREAD OF LUTHERANISM
In Denmark, Christian III seized RC
Church lands and created a reform
religion under Luther’s direct control
• By the end of the 1520s,
the HRE was divided
between cities and
states that accepted
reformed religion and
those that adhered to
the RCC
• Included in the
Lutheran movement
were parts of Germany,
Poland-Lithuania,
Prussia, Scandinavia
and Switzerland
ZWINGLI BRINGS REFORM
RELIGION TO SWITZERLAND
• Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531)
brought reformed religion to
the town of Zurich
• Zwingli was a preacher among
the Swiss mercenary troops
that fought for the HRE
• He was stricken by the plague
in 1519 and came to a
personal realization of the
power of God’s mercy
Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531)
ZWINGLI’S BELIEFS
Zwingli viewed communion as a
memorial, thus symbolic and not the
actual blood and body of Christ
• Zwingli believed the Church
had to rediscover its earlier
purity
• He stressed the equality of all
believers, justification by
faith alone, and the gospel as
the chief authority
• He attacked indulgences,
penance, clerical celibacy,
prayers to the Virgin, and
statues and images in
churches
• Furthermore, he preferred to
view mass as a
commemorative event rather
than one that involved the
real presence of Christ
(Lord’s Supper)
ZWINGLI’S IDEAS SPREAD
• The principles Zwingli
preached spread quickly to
neighboring Swiss states;
including Bern and Basel
• Zwingli’s reform were
carried out by civil
governments which he
allied himself
• In Zwingli states there was
an important integration of
church and state
• It was fitting that Zwingli
died on the battlefield
defending the state
Zwingli felt church and state could
not be separated
THE PROTESTANT
REFORMATION
• By the mid 1530s, Protestant reform had entered a new stage
• Luther never intended to form a new religion; most of his energy was
expended in attack on Rome and the RCC
• The second generation of reformers were builders whose challenge
was to create enduring structures for reformed churches
GENEVA AND CALVIN
• The town of
Geneva,
Switzerland
was saved
from a war with Savoy when it
allied with powerful Swiss
neighbor, Bern
• In 1536, the adult males of
Geneva voted to become
Protestant
• All they lacked was a powerful
reformer; that’s when a
French-born priest and lawyer
emerged to lead Geneva’s
reform movement
CALVIN’S FLEES FRANCE
• At age 20, Calvin converted
to Lutheranism and
predictably was run out of
France by Francis I
• In 1535, he arrived in
Basel, where he wrote his
Institutes of the Christian
Religion
• The book was a defense of
French Protestants against
persecution
• For the next 25 years,
Calvin organized his reform
church in Geneva
CALVIN’S BELIEFS
• Like Luther and
Zwingli, Calvin believed in
justification by faith alone,
the biblical foundation of
religious authority, and that
salvation came from God’s
grace
• But more strongly than his
predecessors he believed
that the gift of faith was
granted only to some and
that each individual’s
salvation or damnation was
predestined (predetermined)
before birth
CALVIN AND PREDESTINATION
• The doctrine of
predestination was not new,
but Calvin emphasized it and
brought it to the center of the
faith
• Those who were predestined
to salvation, the “elect” were
obliged to govern; those who
were predestined to
damnation were obliged to be
governed
• For Calvin, therefore,
discipline and structure were
critical
Or
CALVIN’S CHURCH
STRUCTURE
Strict moral codes meant rock n’ roll
was prohibited in Calvin’s Geneva
• Calvin’s greatest contribution
to religious reform came in
church structure and
discipline
• He structured his church in
four parts:
• 1) Pastors
Very few who preached the
word of God
• 2) Doctors (Theological)
Studied and wrote
• 3) Deacons
Laymen who ran hospitals and
schools
• 4) Elders
Governors of moral issues
CALVIN’S DISCIPLINE
• The most controversial
part of Calvin’s Geneva
was the strict moral code
that extended into all
aspects of private life
• The 12 elders met each
week in a body known
as the Consistory to
examine violations
• Offenses ranged from
blasphemy to adultery
to prostitution
CALVINISM
SPREADS
• Waves of Calvinisteducated pastors returned
to France in the mid-16th
century and established
churches along Calvinist
lines
• Calvinism spread north to
Scotland and the Low
Countries and east to
Poland where it flourished
in Lithuania and Hungary
• Perhaps it greatest impact
was in Britain, where the
Reformation took place
not once but twice
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
• It all started when Henry VIII wanted
a divorce from his wife Catherine of
Aragon because she had not
produced a male heir
• Despite 6 births and several
miscarriages, Catherine and Henry
VIII had one daughter that survived,
Mary Tudor
• Henry VIII believed it was God’s
punishment for his marriage to his
late brother’s former wife
• It took a papal dispensation for his
marriage and wanted a papal
dispensation for a divorce
• Not so fast said the pope . . .
DIVORCE
COMPLICATIONS
• For three years Henry’s case
was mired in the papal
courts
• Complicating his desire for
divorce was the fact that
Catherine was the aunt of
the Emperor Charles V who
took her side
• With imperial power strong
in Italy, the pope was in no
hurry to help Henry VIII
HENRY VIII MOVES FORWARD
• By 1533, Henry VIII could
no longer wait – he had
impregnated one of the
ladies-in-waiting, Anne
Boleyn
• He decided to bypass the
papal courts and had his
marriage annulled by
Thomas Cranmer,
archbishop of the highest
ecclesiastical court in
England
• That was the first step in a
complete break from Rome
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of
Canterbury, annulled Henry VIII marriage
THOMAS CROMWELL LEADS SPLIT
Cromwell was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
later served as Henry's Vice-Regent of Spirituals
• Under the guidance of Thomas
Cromwell, the English
Parliament passed several
statutes ultimately making
Henry VIII head of the church in
England and owner of all its
wealth
• Culminating with the Act of
Supremacy passed in 1534,
which declared the king as
Supreme Head of the Church of
England
• Monasteries were dissolved and
a Lutheran service was
introduced
• England’s first reformation came
as a result of the “King’s Great
Matter”
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• Henry VIII had actually
suppressed the growth of
reformed religion prior to
his desire for a divorce and
staunchly supported
Catholicism
• He even earned the title of,
“Defender of the Faith”
from the pope after he
authored an attack on
Luther’s ideas in 1521
• However, Henry VIII’s
divorce unleashed a
groundswell of support for
religious change in
England
Medal of Henry VIII as
Defender of the Faith
issued in 1545
CATHOLICS SUPPRESSED
IN ENGLAND
• In the 1530s, the English
Parliament took control of
religion in England as the
valuable church estates were
sold to the gentry
• Those citizens who did not
swear to new oaths of
allegiance or recognize the
legality of Henry VIII’s marriage
suffered (Thomas More and 40
others were executed)
• Catholics continued to exist
(even thrive) in England,
surviving underground during
the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward
VI and reemerging under Mary I
(1553-1558)
THE SUCCESSORS OF HENRY VIII
• It was in the reign of Edward VI (15471553), Henry’s son by his third wife,
Jane Seymour, that the central
devotional changes were made
• Though Protestant in tenor, there
remained compromises and
ambiguities:
* Church service in English
* Two English Prayer books created
* Mass reinterpreted along Zwingli
lines (Lord’s Supper)
* Priest became ministers
* Imposed the First Book of Common
Prayer on English worshippers
(Act of Uniformity)
* Clerical reform was instituted
Crowned king at the age of 9, Edward VI
is regarded by many as the architect of
the Reformation in England
MARY TUDOR’S REIGN
Queen Mary 1553-1558
• The first women to rule
England, Mary Tudor
was as Catholic as her
mom, Catherine of
Aragon
• She vowed to bring the
nation back to the
Catholic Church
• When Edward VI died,
the ruling elite opted
for political legitimacy
(Mary) rather than a
Protestant pretender
QUEEN MARY’S CHANGES
• Mary reestablished papal
sovereignty, abolished
Protestant worship, and
introduced educational
programs to train new
priests
• She ordered the burning
of Cranmer and three
other bishops along with
270 others
• Many English Protestants
fled to friendlier nations
• She failed to restore old
church lands, however
Illustration of Cranmer
going to the stake
ELIZABETH I RETURNS
ENGLAND TO PROTESTANTISM
Under Elizabeth I (1558-1603),
England adopted a kind of
Calvinist-lite Protestantism
• When Mary died in 1558, her
half-sister Elizabeth I came to
the throne
• Elizabeth I ushered in the
second English Reformation
and like Mary she used
execution as a means to her
religious goals
• The English Church adopted
the Calvinist doctrine of
predestination and the
simplification of the church
• The Thirty-nine Articles (1563)
continued the English tradition
of compromising points of
disputed doctrine
THE RADICAL REFORMERS
• While Luther attacked the
Catholic Church and was
considered quite
controversial theologically,
he never intended and did
not desire subverting civil
authority
• “Let every person be subject
to the governing authorities
with fear and reverence,”
Luther often quoted from the
Bible
• Other Protestant groups
were not so inclined
• They represent a radical
group of second generation
Protestant reformers who
sought greater social
reforms
Luther’s, “On the Jews and Their
Lies,” (above), illustrate his social
and political conservative
leanings
THE ANABAPTIST CHALLENGE
• Often called the “left-wing
of the Reformation,”
Anabaptist (meaning to
baptize again) described
the outcasts from the
Protestant fold
• Anabaptists first appeared
in German and Swiss
towns in the 1520s
• Anabaptists believed only
adults could make the
decision to be baptized
• This belief put them at
odds with mainstream
Christians who viewed
infant baptism as a core
doctrine
ANABAPTIST TENETS
• Aside from the radical
baptism stance, Anabaptist
believed more in the
mystical side of religion
and gave testimony to
revelations they
experienced
• Furthermore, and perhaps
most objectionable to the
mainstream was their
belief in separation of
church and state
• They wanted nothing to do
with civil authority and did
not pay taxes, perform
military obligations or take
oaths
Anabaptist are considered
among the first pacifists
ANABAPTISTS PERSECUTED
• Wherever they settled, the small
bands of believers were
persecuted to the full extent of
the laws of heresy
• Catholics and Protestants
tortured and executed scores of
Anabaptists
• One stubborn group that
persevered were the Moravian
Anabaptists in Bohemia, Poland
and Hungary
• Another enduring sect was
founded by Dutch Anabaptist
Menno Simons (1496-1561)
whose followers became known
as Mennonites
Modern Amish have their roots in the Mennonite community
CATHOLIC COUNTER
REFORMATION
• Despite the Protestant Reformation,
Catholicism remained strong
especially in southern Germany,
Italy, Poland-Lithuania, Spain,
France, and Ireland
• While they felt the same impulse for
reform that Protestants did,
Catholics reformed their church from
within
• The RCC placed a new emphasis on
personal piety, founding new
religious and missionary orders, and
preaching education
• The Protestant Reformation actually
served to revitalize the RCC, and
Catholicism was stronger at the end
of the era than it had been before
THE SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
Early in the 15th century,
Catholics were experiencing
a spiritual revival
• Thomas a’ Kempis’ influential
book, The Imitation of Christ
(1427), was the central text in
a Catholic movement known
as the “New Piety”
• The book instructed the
reader to lead a simple
Christian life with personal
devotion at its core
• This New Piety was a central
influence on Christian
Humanists (Erasmus) whose
goals included reform of the
RCC through education and
simple devotion, but always
within the confines of the
Church
SPAIN AVOIDS PROTESTANT
REFORMATION
• Spanish Archbishop Jimenez
de Jimenez de Cisneros, who
also served as InquisitorGeneral of the Spanish
Inquisition, undertook a
wide-ranging reorganization
of Spanish religious life in
the late 15th century
• Cisneros’s program took the
bite out of Protestant attacks
on clerical abuse, and there
was never a serious
Protestant movement in
Spain
Jimenez de Cisneros
(1436-1517)
ITALY AVOIDS PROTESTANT
REFORMATION
Gian Matteo Giberti
(1495-1543)
• Perhaps the most
influential reforming bishop
was Italian Gian Matteo Giberti
• Giberti lived a simple, frugal
life, visited his parishes
regularly, and enforced vows
and residency requirements of
all his clergy
• Additionally, Giberti founded
almshouses to aid the poor and
orphanages to house the
homeless
NEW ORDERS FORMED
•
The most important
indication of a renewed
spirit of reform within the
Catholic Church was the
foundation of new religious
orders in the early 16th century
• The Capuchins in Italy sought
to follow the teachings of Saint
Francis of Assisi and were
devoted to penance and
good works
• A particularly arduous order
of sect of Franciscans, the
group still flourishes today
SAINT TERESA OF AVILA
• In Spain, Saint
Teresa of Avila
(15151582) led
the
reform of
the
Carmelites
• She believed that women
had to withdrew totally
from the world around them
to achieve true devotion
• She founded a convent and
began writing devotional
tracts such as The Way of
Perfection
• She went on to supervise
the organization of 16
religious houses for women
THE URSULINES
• In
1535, Saint Angela
Merici (1474-1540) established
another female order – The
Ursulines
• A unique foundation, the
Ursulines were composed of
young unmarried women who
remained with their families but
lived chaste lives devoted to the
instruction of other women
• The Ursulines began in northern
Italy, spread into France and
helped provide women with
education and moral role models
LOYOLA’S PILGRIMAGE
Stained glass depiction of an
injured Loyola on the battlefield
• Saint Ignatius
Loyola (14911556) led one
of the most important
movements for religious
reform in the 16th century
• Trained for military service
in Spain, a cannonball
shattered his leg in 1521
• As he recovered, he read
extensively on the life of
Jesus and the saints
• He decided to give his life
over to spirituality
LOYOLA “EXERCISES” HIS
DEMONS
• Like Luther, Loyola was tormented
by his inability to achieve grace
through penance
• Unlike Luther, he remained a
dedicated Catholic
• He wrote a book of devotion called
The Spiritual Exercises
• In 1540, Loyola won the approval of
Pope Paul III to establish a new
holy order, the Society of Jesus
• Loyola volunteered his followers
(Jesuits) to serve all over the world
Ignatius Loyola formed the Jesuits in
1540. The order remains an important
feature of modern Catholicism.
JESUITS TRAVEL THE WORLD TO
SPREAD THE WORD
Loyola founded schools to train recruits
for his order. The training was rigorous.
Soon teaching lay people became the
Jesuits’ most important function as they
established over 100 colleges worldwide.
• One Loyola discipline,
Francis Xavier, made
converts to Catholicism in
India and Japan
• The New World was the
destination of other
Jesuits missionaries
hoping to convert the
native populations
• The Jesuits embraced a
kind of militant
Catholicism; they called
themselves “soldiers of
God” who served “beneath
the banner of the cross”
THE CATHOLIC COUNTERREFORMATION
• The traditional Catholic
Church was determined
to meet the challenge of
Protestantism head-on
• The Counter-Reformation
saw the revival of the
Inquisition, a list of
prohibited books
published, new religious
orders thriving, and a
general meeting to
(re) establish church
doctrine
THE
COUNCIL
OF TRENT
The Council met in Trent, Italy
from 1545-1563
• The most important aspect of the
Catholic Reformation was the Council
of Trent which met intermittently
during the mid-16th century and
 corrected a number of abuses (most
noteworthy was the ending of the sale
of indulgences)
 formulated rules for the regulation of
priests
 said the Church’s interpretation of the
Bible was final
 emphasized the function of the clergy
and celibacy
 prepared a new modern and
uniformed Catholic service
 updated the Index of Prohibited books
 Reiterated Catholic doctrine
reaffirming the 7 sacraments,
justification by faith and works, and
the miracle of the Eucharist
(transubstantiation)
CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS
CONFLICT
• Beginning in the 1530s,
Western European
Christianity (especially
Germany) took to the
battlefield to settle their
differences and assert their
power
• On one side were the
Catholics, headed by Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V
• On the other side were the
Protestants, led by the
northern German towns and
Zwingli’s Swiss contingency
PEACE OF AUGSBURG
• After decades of fighting,
a broken and dying
Charles V signed the
Peace of Augsburg in
1555
• The treaty granted the
princes of Germany the
right to establish the
religion of their people
• Thus, Protestant princes
would govern Protestants
states and Catholic
princes would govern
Catholic states
• The Peace of Augsburg
ended 40 years of
religious struggle in
Germany
WAR LOOMS ON HORIZON
• Despite the Peace of
Augsburg, religious
differences in western
European Christendom
were far from over
• For the next century,
Europe would engage in
numerous religious
wars
• Luther had forever split
Christianity and
unleashed a deadly
battle for power that
would not end until the
middle of the 17th
century
Luther’s ideas not only split
Christianity, but ultimately led to a
century of religious warfare
EUROPE AT
WAR: 15551648
• The wars that dominated Europe from the Treaty of Augsburg (1555)
to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) were fought on a larger scale, were
more brutal and more expensive, and claimed more victims than
previous conflicts
• Religious differences were exacerbated by dynastic claims and
international rivalries
• The future of Europe was shaped by this century of slaughter
WHY NO
TOLERATION?
• Toleration seemed so logical
that it is difficult to understand
why European nations failed to
embrace it
• The problem was that society
had had been organized under
one king, one faith for
centuries
• Those that advocated even
limited forms of toleration were
universally despised
• Only Poland-Lithuania,
Hungary, and a few German
states experimented with
religious toleration in the 16th
century
THE FRENCH WARS OF
RELIGION
• Protestantism came late to
France
• It was not until after Calvin
reformed the church in
Geneva that French
society divided along
religious lines
• By 1560, 10% of France
was Protestant
• Protestantism was
especially popular among
French merchants, traders,
artisans and aristocratic
women
POWER VACUUM IN
FRANCE
d
i
e
s
h
e
i
r
heir’s
wife
Guise family
• After Valois King
Henry II (1547-1559)
died in a jousting
contest, his oldest
son, Francis II (15591560), under the
influence of his wife,
Mary, Queen of Scots,
allowed the Guise
family to dominate the
state
GUISE FAMILY FLEX MUSCLES,
COMPETE WITH BOURBONS
• The Guises controlled
Valois Monarchy and the
two other most powerful
institutions of the state,
the army and the Catholic
Church
• Their enemies were the
Bourbons, a family with a
direct line to the throne
and many powerful
Protestants
• The Guise family was
determined to rid the
country of Protestants
FRANCIS II DIES, CHARLES IX
TAKES OVER
• After Francis II
died, Guise power
evaporated
• His ten-year-old
brother, Charles IX
took the throne
under the control
of his mother,
Catherine de
Medicis, who
declared herself
regent of France
Dies
10
Regent
•
FRANCE’S CIVIL
WAR
In 1562 French Catholics
and Protestants went to war
• The Catholics wanted Henry
Guise (the head of the ultra
Catholic faction) to ascend
to the throne and reclaim
France for Catholicism and
they courted the support of
Catholic Spain
• The Protestants, or
Huguenots, wanted the right
to practice their faith freely
and they imported Swiss
and German mercenaries
THE ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY
MASSACRE
An eyewitness account of the Saint
Bartholomew's Day Massacre by
François Dubois
• By 1570 Catherine de Medicis
was ready to reconcile by
marrying her daughter
Margaret to Henry of Navarre
in August of 1572
• The ceremony presented the
Guises with an opportunity to
turn the tide of the war by
assassinating leading
Protestants in attendance
• And they did . . .On August
24, 1572, the streets of Paris
ran red with Huguenot blood
• In the weeks that followed, the
violence spread to the
countryside as thousands
more Protestants were killed
• The St. Bartholomew’s
Day Massacre
prolonged the French
Civil War
• Huguenots now had an
emotional attachment
to the continuation of
the conflict
• Even some Catholics
joined the outrage over
the savage slaughter
• Those sympathetic
Catholics became
known as “politiques,”
from their desire for a
practical settlement of
the wars
CONSEQUENCES
OF THE
MASSACRE
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FIGHTS
PROTESTANTS, CATHOLIC POLITIQUES
• The Catholic league was formed and took up where the
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre left off
• By 1585, when the final civil war began – called the “War
of the Three Henrys,” named for King Henry III, Henry
Guise, and Henry of Navarre – the crown was teetering on
the edge
WAR OF THE THREE HENRYS
III
Navarre
Moderate Catholic
Guise
Ultra Catholic
P
r
o
t
e
s
t
a
n
t
• In December 1588, Henry
III summoned Henry
Guise and Guise’s
brother to a meeting in
the royal bedchamber
• There they were
murdered by the king’s
order
• The politiques were
blamed for the murders
• Henry III fled Paris under
pressure from the
Catholic League and
made a deal with Henry
Navarre
ROYALISTS SEIZE PARIS
• Henry III and Henry
Navarre team up to save
Paris from control of the
Ultra Catholics
• Other developments
happened quickly as
Catherine de Medicis died
(1589) and that same year
a fanatic priest gained
revenge for the murder of
Guise by assassinating
Henry III
HENRY OF NAVARRE BECOMES
HENRY IV
• If Henry of Navarre was to ever
become King of France he
would have to be a Catholic
king
• Reportedly saying, “Paris is
worth a mass,” Henry of
Navarre converted to
Catholicism
• He finally was crowned Henry
IV in 1594
• Resistance to his rule
continued for years, but he
was a strong and capable ruler
• The league collapsed, and
moderate Catholics rallied
around him
EDICT OF NANTES
• In 1598, Henry IV proclaimed
the Edict of Nantes, which
granted limited toleration to the
Huguenots
• It was a compromise that
satisfied no one, but it was a
compromise that everyone
could accept
• One king, two faiths was as apt
a description of Henry IV as it
was of the settlement
• Yet, sporadic fighting
continued and Henry IV
survived 18 attempts on his life
before he was finally
assassinated in 1610
The Edict of Nantes marked the end of
religious wars between French Roman
Catholics and Protestants for 87 years
THE WORLD OF PHILIP II
• By the mid-16th century, Spain
was the greatest power of
Europe
• The dominions of Philip II
(1556-1598) of Spain
stretched from the Atlantic to
the Pacific; his continental
territories included the
Netherlands and Milan and
Naples
• In 1580, he became King of
Portugal, uniting the Iberian
peninsula
• Spain’s maritime power was
unsurpassed as was their
cultural and intellectual
prowess
ON PHILIP’S REIGN
• Few monarchs took
their tasks more
seriously than Philip II
• Philip II earned his
reputation as the
“King of Paper” by
maintaining a grueling
work schedule
• Philip poured through
the mountain of paper
his empire created
• No detail was too
small to escape his
attention
PHILIP II VS.
OTTOMANS
Fresco of the Lepanto battle
plan by Antonio Danti in the
Vatican Museums
• In the Mediterranean, Spain
stood alone against the
expansion of Ottoman
power
• Philip took up the challenge
of defending European
Christianity
• In 1571, both sides prepared
for a decisive battle
• A combined Spanish and
Italian force of more than
80,000 men met an even
larger Ottoman force off the
coast of Greece
• The Spanish naval victory at
Lepanto was considered
one of the great events of
the 16th century and marked
the end of the Ottoman
advances
European artists, story-tellers, and songwriters celebrated Philip II’s victory against
the Ottomans at Lepanto for centuries after
the 1571 battle
Battle of Lepanto
by Paolo Veronese
1572
PHILIP II AND THE ENGLISH
• Philip was equally aggressive
against the English Protestants
• Ironically, for a brief time Philip
II was King of England through
his marriage to Mary I (15531558)
• He encouraged Mary’s efforts at
restoring Catholicism in
England
• When Mary died and Elizabeth I
(1558-1601) rejected his
marriage proposal, his limited
rule in England ended
• From then on, Spain and
England entered a long period
of hostility
Mary I
Liz I
Phil II
PHILIP II VS. THE ENGLISH
The Spanish Armada had over 130
ships and were bigger and stronger
than the English
• English pirates
raided Spanish
treasure ships
returning to Europe
• Elizabeth I secretly
aided both French
and Dutch
Protestants
• Finally, in 1588,
Philip II decided
upon an invasion of
Britain using his
powerful Armada
THE SPANISH ARMADA GOES
DOWN IN DEFEAT
1588
• The Spanish Armada was the most powerful navy in the world, but the
English ships were faster and more maneuverable
• Furthermore, the English ships had re-loadable guns while the Spanish
could take only a single shot before hand-to-hand combat began
• The English were able to defeat the Spanish Armada and dealt Spain
and Philip II a military and psychological blow
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS
• The biggest crisis of Philip’s
reign was the revolt of the
Netherlands (an important
Spanish possession)
• The Netherlands was one of
the richest and most populous
regions of Europe
• The region was the
international leader in
manufacturing, banking, and
commerce
• Charles V attempted to unify
the diverse areas of the
Netherlands by removing them
from the HRE and establishing
a regent under his eldest son,
Philip II
PHILIP II LOSES CONTROL OF
LOW COUNTRIES
Margaret of
Parma
• Once firmly in Madrid,
Philip II named his halfsister, Margaret of Parma,
as regent of the
Netherlands
• Traditional resentments
built up – hostility to
foreign rule, distrust of
royal advisers, and
contempt of royal policies
– and culminated in
Philip’s religious policy
THE NETHERLANDS RESISTS PHILIP’S
CATHOLIC DOGMA
• Protestantism, especially
Calvinism, was popular
among the large urban
population of the
Netherlands (Amsterdam,
Antwerp)
• As Philip attempted to
strengthen and enforce
Catholicism in the Low
Countries, Protestant
resistance intensified
• Leading Protestants,
including William of Orange,
made ultimatums to Madrid
regarding tolerance
REBELLION AND WAR
Catholic symbols were destroyed
by rioting Calvinists
• Soon Calvinists rioted
against governmental
intolerance by occupying
Catholic Churches and
destroying stained glass
windows, statues of the
Virgin and saints
• Philip was determined to
punish the rebels and
enforce the heresy laws
• A large military force under
the command of the Duke
of Alba was sent to occupy
the Netherlands
COUNCIL OF BLOOD
• The Duke of Alba was brutal
in his suppression of the
rebellion in the Netherlands
• He executed leading
Protestants via a military
court called the Council of
Blood, which convicted
9,000 and murdered 1,000
• He allowed his soldiers to
rape and pillage towns
before slaughtering entire
populations and razing
them to the ground
THE PROTESTANT
REBELS
• Alba’s brutal
policies drove
the Protestants to further
rebellion
• Spain was forced to raise
taxes to maintain a large
army in the Netherlands
• The tax increase led to
further Protestant assaults
– some succeeded in
surprising Alba and the
Spanish forces
• Protestant generals
established a permanent
base in the province of
Holland and Zeeland
SPAIN STRUGGLES
• As William of Orange led the two renegade provinces (Holland,
Zeeland), Spain’s government was collapsing all over the
Netherlands
• Margaret of Parma resigned over Alba’s tactics – soon after Alba was
relieved of his duties
• With no one in control of the Spanish army, they roamed the
southern Provinces looking for plunder
• The wayward army attacked Antwerp for 4 days in 1576 and turned
one of the world’s important banking centers into ruins
PROVINCES BREAK FROM
SPAIN
• The “Spanish fury” in
Antwerp effectively
ended Philip’s rule over
the Netherlands
• The Protestants had
established a permanent
home in the north and
the States-General had
established rule in the
south
• Terms were all that was
left to decide
PACIFICATION OF GHENT
• The settlement, The
Pacification of Ghent
((1576), saw the Spanish
government concede local
autonomy in taxation, the
central role of the StatesGeneral, and the
withdrawal of Spanish
troops
• Five southern provinces
remained loyal to
Catholicism and the regent
(though that was not
permanent)
• By 1609, Holland was a
major rival of Spain and
Portugal in building
empires
THE STRUGGLES OF
EASTERN EUROPE
• Until the end of
the 16th century,
Poland-Lithuania
was the
dominant power
in Eastern
Europe
• During the 16th
century, Poland
lost lands to
Muscovy in the
east, but the
union with
Lithuania in 1569
and the
absorption of
the Baltic region
of Livonia more
than
compensated for
the loses
THE POLISH DIET
• War, peace, taxes, religious policy and reform were all
placed under the strict supervision of the Polish
parliamentary body known as the “Polish Diet”
• Roman Catholicism was the principal religion in Poland,
but the state tolerated numerous Protestant and Eastern
creeds
SIGISMUND III
• After the Jagiellon
Monarchy of Poland failed
to produce an heir,
Sigismund III (1587-1632)
was elected to the throne
• Sigismund III, also the heir
to the Swedish throne,
accepted the idea of
tolerance while actively
promoting Catholicism in
Poland through Jesuit
schools and the expansion
of monastic orders
Sigismund III attempted to regain the
Swedish throne but could not despite
spending Polish money and manpower
on the effort
MUSCOVY’S TIME OF TROUBLES
• Following the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584, the
Muscovite state began to disintegrate
• Ivan’s conflicts with the boyars (nobility) had created an
aristocracy unwilling to aid his successors
• By 1601, the crown was plunged into a crisis of legitimacy
known as the Time of Troubles
WHO TO
RULE?
• After Ivan the Terrible killed the
heir to the throne, his half-witted
son was left to inherit the crown
• Groups of boyars and military
officials backed their own
claimants to the throne
• Poland tried to take advantage of
the Time of Troubles as
Sigismund III abandoned his war
with Sweden to intervene in the
struggle for the Russian crown
• Polish forces poured into
Muscovy and in 1610, they took
Moscow and Sigismund III
proclaimed himself tsar,
intending to unite the two
massive states
BOYARS UNITE AGAINST
FOREIGN INVASION
• The Russian boyars
rose up against the
Polish enemy
• The Polish garrison in
Moscow was starved
into submission, and a
native Russian, Michael
Romanov (1613-1645)
was chosen tsar by an
assembly of
landholders, the
Zemsky Sobor
Michael Romanov initiated a 300-year
family dynasty as tsars of Russia
THE RISE OF
SWEDEN
• Sweden’s rise to power
culminated in the 17th
century
• In 1523, Gustav I Vasa led
the uprising of the
Swedish aristocracy that
ended Danish domination
in the Baltic region
• Nobles had a powerful
voice in Swedish affairs
through the Rad, the
council of state
SIGISMUND III BOOTED,
CHARLES IX IN
• Protestant Swedes did not
appreciate Sigismund III’s close
alliance with Polish Jesuits, so
despite his claim to the throne,
they replaced him with Charles IX
(1604-1611)
• War with Poland resulted from
Sigismund III’s efforts to regain the
Swedish crown
• Sweden had the edge at sea, while
the Poles were better on land
• Early Polish victories were not
followed up as Sigismund decided
to intervene in Russia affairs
THE DANES TAKE ADVANTAGE
Danish King Christian IV
reasserted control over
Sweden
• The Danes continued to claim
sovereignty over Sweden and
took the opportunity of the
Polish-Swedish conflict to
reassert it
• In 1611, under the leadership
of the Danish King Christian
IV (1588-1648), Denmark
invaded Sweden from all
directions
• Finally, Sweden accepted
humiliating terms in 1613,
renouncing all claims to the
northern coasts and
recognizing Danish control of
the Arctic trading route
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS SUCCEEDS
CHARLES IX IN SWEDEN
• Protestant prince Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632) was
raised to be king of Sweden
• His greatest skills were military as he introduced new
weapons like a light mobile gun and reshaped his army
into standard- size squadrons and regiments
• He re-captured Riga and firmly established Sweden as a
coequal Baltic power
ADOLPHUS CREATES
PROMINENT STATE
• By mid-17th century, Gusatavus
Adolphus enhanced Sweden’s
prestige and increased her
commercial prosperity
• His marriage into the family of
the Protestant rulers of Prussia
gave Sweden a presence in
Germany as well
• Adolphus now took his place
among leading Protestant
Princes of Europe, and Sweden
among the leading Protestant
powers
THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
1618-1648
• Finally the isolated
European conflicts merged
into a major war
The Origins:
• The Spanish had reluctantly
accepted Dutch
independence and hoped to
regain the territory
• The Twelve Years’ Truce
between the Dutch and
Spanish (1609-1621)
allowed the Spanish to
prepare for a
final assault
BOHEMIA REVOLTS
• By the beginning of the 17th
century, Catholicism and
Protestantism had achieved
equal numbers within the
German State
• In 1617, Mathias, the childless
Holy Roman Emperor, began
making plans for his Catholic
cousin, Ferdinand Habsburg,
to succeed him
• Complicating matters was the
necessity of Ferdinand being
elected King of Bohemia to
ensure control of the electors
• The Protestant princes of
Bohemia could not prevent
Ferdinand’s election, but they
could cause trouble
Where is Bohemia?
BOHEMIA
Historically,
Bohemia is a region
in central Europe,
occupying the
western and middle
thirds of the Czech
Republic. With an
area of 52,750 sq.
km. and 6.25 million
of the country's
10.3 million
inhabitants,
Bohemia is
bounded by
Germany to the
north-west, west
and south-west,
Poland to the northeast, the Czech
province of Moravia
to the east and
Austria to the
south.
DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE
• Ferdinand’s
Protestant opponents
in Bohemia objected
to his limitation of
Protestant liberties by
throwing two of his
chief advisors out of
a upper story window
of Prague castle
• The officials survived
the “defenestration”
by landed in a pile of
manure
May, 1618
The Encyclopedia describes
defenestration as “the act of
throwing someone or something out
of a window” and “the traditional
Czechoslovakian method of
assassinating prime ministers"
DEFENESTRATION BEGINS 30
YEARS’ WAR
Ferdinand II
HRE
Frederick V
King of
Bohemia
• The Defenestration
initiated further Protestant
offensives throughout
Habsburg land
• Despite the protests,
Ferdinand succeeded
Mathias as HRE and
became Ferdinand II
(1619-1637)
• Meanwhile, Frederick V,
one of the Protestant
electors, accepted the
Bohemian crown
• Frederick was the leader
of the Protestant Union
and the "Winter King of
Bohemia"
FREDERICK V - THE WINTER KING
Battle of White Mountain
• A sincere but weak Calvinist, Frederick V had famous relatives
• His mother was a daughter of William of Orange and his wife,
Elizabeth, was a daughter of James I of England
• Once Frederick V accepted the Bohemia crown he faced war on three
fronts
• His immediate opponent, Ferdinand II had plenty of Catholic support,
while Frederick V had little help from Protestant nations
• At the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Ferdinand II annihilated
Frederick V’s army forcing Frederick and Elizabeth to flee north
BOHEMIA FALLS
TO HRE
• Bohemia became part of
the hereditary Habsburg
lands and subject to
imperial law
• Protestants were
repressed and rooted out,
forever consolidating the
Catholic character of
Bohemia
• The Battle of White
Mountain was a turning
point in the history of
central Europe
THE WAR WIDENS
The Danes led this potentially
powerful alliance against the
Spanish and the HRE
• The Habsburgs were
now more dangerous
than ever
• Ferdinand’s aggressive
Catholicism now
threatened Protestant
princes of Germany
• A grand Protestant
alliance – supported
secretly by the French –
brought together
England, Holland,
several German states
and Denmark
KING CHRISTIAN IV LEADS
CHARGE . . .UNSUCCESSFULLY
• In 1626, a large Danish
army under the command
of King Christian IV
engaged imperial forces
on German soil
• By the Danes could not
match the superior forces
of the Catholic
mercenaries under the
brilliant Count Albrecht
von Wallenstein
• In 1629, the Danes
withdrew and sued for
peace
King Christian IV
Wallenstein
PROTESTANTS THREATENED
Emperor Ferdinand II
threatened the very survival
of Protestant nations with
his aggressive Catholicism
• Ferdinand II was
determined to return all
previous Catholic land
(prior to 1555) back to the
Catholics
• Furthermore, he
proclaimed that the Peace
of Augsburg made no
provision for the toleration
of Calvinists
• Ferdinand II’s bullying had
succeeded in pushing the
Lutherans and Calvinists
into an alliance against
him
SACK OF MAGDEBURG PROVIDES
RALLYING POINT FOR PROTESTANTS
• Meanwhile, the Imperial
forces sacked the Protestant
German town of Magdeburg
– setting new standards in
cruelty and brutality
• Protestants rallied around
the sack of Magdeburg as it
gave the Protestant
community a unifying
symbol
• In 1630, King Gustavus
Adolphus of Sweden decided
to enter the German conflict
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS GAINS
PROTESTANT SUPPORT, VICTORIES
Gustavus Adolphus shown at the
Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631 – the
first important Protestant victory
in the war
• King Adolphus was joined by
the German states of
Brandenburg and Saxony
• He had 140,000 men under his
command and he soon won
decisive victories against the
Imperial forces
• His victory at Breitenfeld
marked the first Protestant
gains since the onset of the
war
• King Adolphus would now
take the war to the Catholics
ADOLPHUS PRESSES
HIS ADVANTAGE
• After his victory at
Breitenfeld, Adolphus
pressed his
advantage as the
Swedes marched
west to the Rhine,
easily taking Catholic
cities and the lower
Palatinate
• Next, Adolphus
captured the Upper
Palatinate from
Bavarian ruler
Maxiliian
There are two
areas of Germany
described as
"Palatinates": the
Upper and the
Lower. The Upper
is in eastern
Bavaria and the
Lower is on
Germany's western
border...they are
not connected.
THE SHOWDOWN: ADOLPHUS VS.
WALLENSTEIN
• In the winter of 1632 the armies of Protestant King
Adolphus and Catholic general Wallenstein met at the
battle of Lutzen
• The Swedes won the battle, but lost their leader
• Adolphus left his legacy as Protestant forces now
controlled most of central and northern Europe
FRANCE AND SPAIN RESUME
STRUGGLE
King
Louis
XIII
Cardinal
RIchelieu
France
declared war
on Spain in
1635
• The final stage of the war
involved the resumption
of the century-old
struggle between France
and Spain
• After the Spanish
declared war on the Dutch
in 1621 and the Habsburg
success in central
Europe, French King
Louis XIII and his chief
minister Cardinal
Richelieu finally decided
it was time to intervene in
European politics
FRANCE AND SPAIN POUND
ON EACH OTHER
• France took the
offensive first,
invading the Spanish
Netherlands
• In 1636, Spain struck
back, pushing to
within 25 miles of
Paris before being
repelled
• The war resembled
two punch-drunk
fighters pounding
each other
FRANCE OUTLASTS SPAIN
• In the end, Spain’s poor economy and Imperial loses in
central Europe, proved too much to overcome
• At the battle of Rocroi, exhausted French troops held out
and the Spanish invasion failed
• The desire for peace was universal as the war took its toll
on the combatants
PEACE OF WESTPHALIA
The Peace of Westphalia, also known as the
treaties of Münster and Osnabrück respectively,
refers to the series of treaties that ended the Thirty
Years' War, and "officially" recognized the United
Provinces. The treaty was signed October 24, 1648,
and meant an end to the long conflict between
Catholic and Protestant forces.
• A series of
agreements,
collectively known
as the Peace of
Westphalia,
established the
outlines of the
political geography
of Europe for the
next century
• The focus was on
the HRE, and
reflected
Protestant success
in the final two
decades of the war
DETAILS OF SETTLEMENT
The Holy Roman Empire clearly
lost prestige, land, and power
• Sweden gained further Baltic
territories
• France gained territory and
prestige
• The Dutch gained statehood
through official recognition by
Spain
• Habsburgs regained control of
both Bohemia and Hungary
• Rights of Calvinists and the
independence of the Swiss
cantons were officially
recognized
• The Emperor’s political control
over the German states was
weakened
• German rulers were given
independent authority
COST OF THE
WAR
• The costs of the
conflict were horrific
• The population of
Germany fell from 15
million in 1600 to 11
million in 1650
• Plague and famine
were resurrected
• The war played
havoc with the
economies of the
combatants
THE BOTTOM
LINE
• Luther’s questioning of
his own faith led later to
a series of religious and
political conflicts of enormous proportions
• In the end, the northwest of Europe – England, Holland,
Scandinavia, and the north German states –was
Protestant, while the south was Catholic
• The HRE was dead, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire
was just beginning
• Holland and Sweden became international powers; Spain
and Denmark faded
• Muscovy began a long period of isolation