Factors Leading to the
Wars of Religion
 1. Protestant Reformation
 2. Catholic Reformation
 3. Prevailing medieval mental linking religion with
political issues
 The Wars of Religion will start in GERMANY
Round 1: Germany (15211555)
 HRE Charles V had troubles:
 Little control over the HRE (Germany)  patchwork of
over 300 principalities (resisting his authority)
 Size of the HRE  border issues from France and the
Ottoman Turks
 Plagued with money problems  can’t fund his armies
 This keeps Charles V from dealing with the Lutherans
for over 20 years!
Round 1: Germany (15211555)
 1546  Charles V attacked and defeated an alliance of
Lutheran princes (Schmalkaldic League) but he was
never able to impose firm control
 1555  Charles V agrees to the Peace of Augsburg
 Compromise giving each German prince the right to
choose the realm's religion as long as it was Catholic or
Lutheran
Round 1: Germany (15211555)
 Peace of Augsburg outlawed Calvinists, Anabaptists,
other non-Lutheran Protestants
 This causes problems:
 1. Calvinism keeps spreading across Germany
 2. Charles V gives up his throne after 30 years
 3. Thousands of refugees flee to the Spanish
Netherlands, France, and England  spreads Calvinist
and Anabaptist beliefs
Round 1: Germany (15211555)
 Charles V’s abdication leads to more problems:
 1. Lands in Austria and the Imperial title goes to his
brother Ferdinand
 2. Charles V’s son Philip II (a staunch Catholic) inherits
Spain, the Netherlands, most of Italy
 This spreads the religious violence to other countries!
The Spanish Netherlands
(1566-1648)
 Philip II abused the Spanish Netherlands
 Taxed them heavily to pay for his Spanish wars
 Tried to impose his Catholic beliefs on them
 Brought in the Inquisition to get rid of Calvinists and
Anabaptists
 Started a cycle of revolts/protests and Spanish
repression until 1648
 1648  Spain recognized Dutch independence
The French (1562-1598)
 Catholic majority against the Huguenot (French
Calvinists) minority
 Conflict last for over 30 years b/c:
 Huguenots had a number of leaders who were nobles
 Concentrated in largely fortified cities
 Enthusiastic and well organized into local congregations
 This bred a cycle of chaos/destruction where anarchy
would steadily weaken the French gov’t power
The French (1562-1598)
 A series of assassination after 1588 (defeat of the
Spanish Armada) led to a Huguenot duke inheriting
the throne  Henry IV
 He “converts” to Catholicism to give his enemies no
reason to kill him
 Grants the Huguenots religious freedom with the Edict
of Nantes in 1598 – does not grant freedom for all!
 The French were will to submit to a stronger rule in
order to stop the warfare  this would set the stage for
Louis XIV
Elizabethan England and
the Spanish Armada
 Extremely tolerant, excellent leader to her people  a
“golden age” for England (1558-1603)
 Philip II wants to re-establish Catholicism in England
 Tries to put Mary Queen of Scots (Catholic) on the
throne in the 1570’s  Elizabeth imprisons then
executes her
 Elizabeth help the Dutch against Spain, raids Spanish
shipping
Elizabethan England and
the Spanish Armada
 Philip’s Plan: Armada and Spanish Army in Flanders
would meet up  crush the English  crush the
Dutch rebels  crush the Huguenots
 Spain looked like the superior power but England
developed new tactics and ship designs that
revolutionized naval warfare
 Sleeker ships powered by sails
 Relied on cannons (new design)
Elizabethan England and
the Spanish Armada
 The English attacked when the Spanish stopped in
Calais to get supplies and contact the Army of
Flanders
 Forced the Spanish out into the open  used superior
ship speed and power to defeat the Spanish
 A “protestant wind” (storm) added to the damage
 By the time the Spanish fleet returned home, half of it
had been destroyed
Decline of Spain
 This did not destroy Spain as a power but did signal
the end of Spanish dominance in Europe!
 Spain wreaks itself in the Thirty Years War (16181648)
 France will replace Spain as the main superpower
 Dutch Republic and England become the dominant
naval and economic powers in Europe
Change in European
Mentality
 People are tired of religious wars and disputes
 People take a more secular (worldly) view
 By the late 1600’s these views would develop into the
scientific and cultural movement know as the
Enlightenment
Characteristics of the
Thirty Years War
 Holy Roman Empire is the battleground
 At the beginning  Catholics vs. Protestants
 At the end  Hapsburg power that was threatened
 Resolved with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648
Causes of the Thirty Years War
 Causes: Religious Wars and fear of Hapsburg Spain
and Austria (ruling family dynasty)
 Europe is split into two camps:
 Protestant: German P’s, Denmark, Dutch Republic,
England, Sweden, Catholic Venice, and Catholic France
 Catholic: German C’s, Spain, Austria, Spanish
Netherlands, Naples, Milan, the Papacy, and Poland
 Kings and princes building up armies in preparation
Bohemian Phase: 16181622
 Ferdinand II inherited Bohemia
 Bohemians hate him
 Ferdinand refused to tolerate Protestants
 Defenestration of Prague 
May 1618
 Bohemia named a new king,
Frederick II
Bohemian Phase: 16181622
 Frederick is a mediocre king
 Ferdinand sweeps away Bohemian opposition
 Confiscated large tracts of land
 Exile Protestants
 Reclaimed Bohemia for the Catholic Church
 The rebellion in Bohemia inspired others!
Danish Phase: 1625-1629
 Ferdi tried to end all resistance
 Tried to crush Protestant
northern HRE
 Used Albrecht von Wallenstein
to for the army
 Bohemian military leader and
politician, offered his services
and an army of 30,000 100,000 men
 Wallenstein defeated the
Protestants in the north
Danish Phase: 1625-1629
 Edict of Restitution: 1629
 Restored to Catholics all lands lost since 1552
 Deprived all Protestants, except Lutherans, of their
religious and political rights
 However, German princes feared Ferdinand  he fired
Wallenstein in an effort to calm them
The Swedish Phase: 16301635
 France & Sweden get involved
 Both want to stop the Hapsburg power
 Sweden led the charge, France supported
 Gustavus Adolphus invaded the HRE
 Ferdi II brought back Wallenstein
 Swedish advance stopped
 German princes still fear Ferdi  Wallenstein
assassinated to appease them
The French Phase: 16351648
 France and Sweden switch roles
 All countries in Europe now participated
 This is the most destructive phase!





German towns decimated
Agriculture collapsed  famine resulted
8 million dead  1/3 of population (1618-1648)
Caused massive inflation
Trade crippled throughout Europe
Loss of
German Lives
in the Thirty
Years War
Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 Political and Religious Provisions  But no one was
happy!
 Many Protestants felt betrayed
 Pope denounced it
 Only merit  it ended the fighting in a war that became
intolerable
 For the next few centuries, this war was blamed for
everything that went wrong in Central Europe
Change in European
Mentality
 People are tired of religious wars and disputes
 People take a more secular (worldly) view
 By the late 1600’s these views would develop into the
scientific and cultural movement know as the
Enlightenment