Hello, and welcome to Western civ Episode three hundred and twenty nine. The religions of the Empire the Thirty Years War is grouped into a series of complex called the wars of religion that begin in the mid sixteenth century in Europe and persist really until the very end of the seventeenth We've seen such wars already in France and the Holy Roman Empire, going back to Martin Luther and
the peasant Rebellion. Certainly, religious tensions are going to be a major contribution to the outbreak of war in sixteen eighteen, but the link is far from direct. As we will see, these wars are complicated and cannot be defined as simply Protestant versus Catholic. In fact, the sixteenth century had seen far less religious conflict in Central Europe than the Middle Ages.
But to understand the religious nature of the conflict, and certainly there was one, then we need to understand the distinct identities of the three major sects in the Empire, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. Catholicism stressed the primacy of organization, with the Catholic Church as the only competent authority to interpret the
Word of God for all Christians. Lutherans stressed the primacy of doctrine, claiming to free the Word of God from being misinterpreted by a church that had lost its way. Calvinism stood for the primacy practice, calling for Lutheran's reformation of doctrine to be followed by a second reformation of life to bring behavior in line with faith. Other than the Reformation itself. Nothing to find Catholicism more in the late sixteenth century than the Council of Trent, which lasted
from fifteen fifty four to fifteen sixty three. Trent was intended to heal the rifts caused by the Reformation and restore one unified Catholic Church.
It didn't.
Instead, Trent symbolized a hardening of the Catholic position, a recommitment to Catholic life, and a determination to root out heresy by any means necessary. The primary secular agents behind this transformation were the Habsburg monarchs, both of Spain and of the Empire. In fifteen fifty nine, Spain's final military victory over France in northern Italy gave it control over the territories on either side of the papal states This put tremendous pressure on the pope to tow the Habsburg line.
I doubt that any pontiff forgot that had been the Emperor's Catholic soldiers, not Protestant hordes that had sacked Rome in fifteen twenty seven. Popes throughout the late sixteenth century looked to France and other European powers to counter Habsburg influence, with varying degrees of success. Protestant propaganda presented the Thirty Years War as a papal crusade, with the Jesuits as
the storm troopers of the Catholic faith. Officially called the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order had established itself by papal decree in fifteen forty, following, of course, the initiative by Ignatius Loyola. The Jesuits had a clear mission to eliminate Protestantism, which their founder had called quote an epidemic
of the soul end quote. They would first remove the causes of this infection by displacing Protestants and those Catholics who would not cooperate from positions of influence, and then they would restore the health of Europe by promoting Catholic life and doctrine. These tactics were overtly political and set
the Jesuits apart from other Catholic orders. The Jesuits started at the very top of the political hierarchy, believing that if they won over a territory's ruler and its elite, gradually the rest of society would follow.
Acting on Loyola's.
Orders, a Jesuit accepted the post of confessor to the King of Portugal in fifteen fifty two, commencing a policy of actively seeking these high positions. Protestants saw this as a papal conspiracy, quickly fitting the confessors into role of evil advisor. But even among the Catholics, order of the Jesuits aroused some hostility. The more traditional orders resented the Jesuits, who acquired churches, schools, and other assets through these political connections.
Many were alarmed by their apparent radicalism. A deranged former Jesuit tried to assassinate Henry the Fourth in France in fifteen ninety four, while another member defended turanicide in a book published five years later, and it was easy to believe that there were others behind these conspiracies, such as
the English Gunpowder Plot of sixteen oh five. However, Jesuits had to reconcile their counter reformation mission with their hierarchical worldview and evolve a distinct approach to their role as confessors. They believed that the devil tempted princes to grant concessions to the heretics. If this occurred, they would reassure the prince that God would forgive him, provided such concessions had been only politically necess and that they could be revoked
at the absolute first opportunity. Such arguments opened the door to pragmatism or compromise, might cloud otherwise militancy. It fitted the very personalities of the different confessors, who were after all, engaged in a very personal relationship with the princes that they served. Now, the number of Jesuits in the Empire itself had dramatically increased over the years. In fifteen fifty six, the year of Loyola's death, there were only one thousand.
That number was up to sixteen hundred and sixteen fifteen, which might not seem like a lot, but it's actually out of a number of thirteen thousand worldwide. There were twenty two Jesuit colleges in the Rhineland in sixteen eighteen. These colleges were the key to Jesuit success. They provided the means through which the children I eat sons might better themselves of the bourgeoisie. So they were quite popular in many regions, and rulers encouraged the expansion of these institutions.
Yet I should point out that the Protestant Reformation had largely curtailed Catholic expansion within the Empire. The habsburg Lands were Catholic, as were Bavaria and Laurent, but that was about it.
Now.
The second faith to consider is Lutheranism. Obviously, the Empire had been the focal point of the early Reformation all the way through the Peace of Augsburg in sixteen fifty five. To be clear, though Luther had wanted to reform the church, not create a new one, It only refused papal authority when the pope refused to consider his interpretation of doctrine. It was the centrality of doctrine, rather than hierarchical authority,
that set Luther's Church apart from the Catholics. The concept that the Word of God came directly from the Bible lessened the role of the priest as the intermediary. It also prompted Luther to reduce the number of sacraments down to two Baptism and Eucharist. Lutheranism spread easily in the Empire, especially in the regions that were more autonomous, where rulers were free to choose their own faiths. In these regions, rulers took over the role formerly held by bishops, thus
consolidating their own authority. This political leadership was essential to the survival of Lutheranism, especially after Charles the Fifth declared Lutheran outlaw in fifteen twenty one. Charles's effort to legislate the faith of his subjects failed, as we know, and the spread of Lutheranism shattered the unity of law and religion within the Empire. It entrenched the growing schism within.
But if Lutheranism was a sort of known quantity, by sixteen eighteen, Calvinism was still a new kid on the block. Forssam Luther's Reformation hadn't.
Gone far enough.
Those seeking this quote unquote Second Reformation became associated with the theology of the French reformer Jean Calvin, whose ideas spread into Germany after the religious piece of Augsburg. The conversion of the Elector Palatine around fifteen sixty gave the new movement a boost and helped to ensure that, unlike Calvinism elsewhere in Europe, Calvinism in the Holy Roman Empire would be led by the princes more than those at
the bottom of the social pyramid. Around twenty counts and minor princes followed the Elector's example by sixteen eighteen, but the Landgrave of Hessen sixteen oh three and the Elector of Brandenburg sixteen thirteen were the only important rulers to openly embrace this new faith. They called themselves the Reformed, since the term Calvinist had connotations of being an elie
legal group. Their aim was to complete Luther's Reformation by erraticicating any remnants of papal superstition in both ritual and doctrine. The high altar and clerical vestments were banished from Calvinist churches, while paintings and sculptures were smashed to demonstrate that these cultic objects had no power. Ministers adopted sober academic dress,
appearing as professionals qualified to preach and teach. Long standing elements of doctrine were simply rejected, such as exorcism at infant baptism and the concept of the real presence during the mass. Calvinists hated the notion that Christ was physically present, since, of course, this entailed that his body was being turned into excrement as the wine and wafers passed through the
digestive systems of the congregation. Communion instead was now transformed into a commemorative ceremony, while the parishioners shared a man around a table and many East Frisians drank beer instead of wine. Calvinism also emphasized predestination to an extent far
beyond any previous Christian group. The concept of predestination had been created by Saint Augustine in the fifth century of the Common Era, but Calvinism rejected the Catholic interpretation, which held only that God might choose some people as elect i e. The Saints, but that God did not condemn common people to hell. Calvin argued that God was all powerful, and not only could God designate the elect and the retrobrate,
but God definitely did so. Calvin told his followers not too dwell on this, but to trust in God and to live according to the Ten Commandments. Calvinism spread rapidly throughout the latter sixteenth century, but nowhere throughout the entire Empire was Calvinism the majority, giving the faith a very international flare. There was no geographic center, at least no obvious geographic center for Calvinism. It could flourish in one
principality and be totally rejected next door. The emergence of all these new faiths by the later sixteenth century certainly suggests that society had become religiously divided. Many aspects of life were becoming separated by these invisible lines, even within one small community. Nowhere could these differences be more obvious
than in the keeping of time. Pope Gregory the thirteenth decreed that the date should be set back ten days on the fifteenth of October fifteen eighty two, and henceforth the new year was to start on the first of January, not March twenty fifth, in order to bring the calendar in line with new scientific calculate relations. The Habsburgs and German Catholics adopted the new Gregorian calendar by fifteen eighty four,
but while Protestant scientists like Johannes Kepler favored reform. The clergy rejected anything from Rome at all, and the credulous believed that the papists were actually just trying to steal ten days of their lives. The discrepancy became obvious in the Empire, where Lutherans and Catholics lived together officially since the Peace of Augsburg. Nine tenths of the Augsburg population were Lutherans, but the peace had made the city formerly
bi confessional. After extremely protracted negotiations, the magistrates of Augusburg imposed the new calendar, but not until fifteen eighty six, two years after the Catholics had adopted it. The Protestants also continued to observe quote unquote their Sunday, because remember, we moved it ten days and went to services in churches across the frontier. Still, I think there's a limit
to these divisions. There were plenty of religiously mixed marriages, Protestants and Catholics drank at the same tavern without coming to blows. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that society was more religiously divided in the early eighteenth century than it was in the seventeenth To unpack how religion was supposed to work in the Empire. We need to first return to the piece of Augsburg in fifteen fifty five.
What you might find interesting is that the section in that peace treaty concerning religion is actually one of the smallest sections. Religious reform was just lumped into a larger section on imperial tax, quota's, currency regulation, and the operation of the courts. Yet the article on religion, Article twenty nine did require the emperor to accept the religious provisions of treaty, and Ferdinand confirmed it when he became emperor in fifteen fifty eight. Now there was no statement on
any specific doctrine at all. The state was still envisioned as broadly Christian, but now not of any one faith. Instead, lawmakers intentionally blurred religious distinctions in order to maintain the fictional idea of a single Christendom, an idea that had long ceased to function in reality. The peace was intended to bring Lutherans and Catholics under the same legal framework,
not the same doctrinal one. In theory, the public peace called on the emperor to forswear violence and become a mediator.
Spoiler alert, that's not going to happen.
Contrary to popular imagination, the peace of Augsburg never included that famous provision about the princes being totally free to choose their own faiths. The phrase quote he who rules decides the religion end quote only surfaced in the debates about the treaty circa fifteen eighty six, but thirty three years after the treaty was passed. The other key article to remember because it's relevant to the Thirty Years War
is Article nineteen. Article nineteen fixed the year of fifteen fifty two as the year when Lutherans could retain any Catholic assets seized up to that point. They could not if the asset had been taken after fifteen fifty two. The other part of the treaty that undercut the whole he who rules decides the religion thing was the inclusion of the right for the peasantry to move if they
did not agree with their ruler's religious preferences. Rulers could not find people who left or seize the property, and this nifficantly curtailed the ability of secular rulers to push the Reformation and to push new faiths. The piece was clearly ambiguous and often contradictory, but it would be wrong to conclude with other historians that it merely quote put a temporary end to open confessional warfare in Germany end quote.
No major war continued for sixty three years after the peace, and even where Central Europeans did come to blows after fifteen eighty three, these disputes were totally localized and were largely free of the brutality that was accompanying prolonged violence
in both France and in the Netherlands. Of course, there was the fear of the Ottomans, which was one reason for preserving the peace, though the Turkish menace spilled over in a major war only after fifteen ninety three, which we'll get into at a time when confessed tensions were growing rather than actually receding. The primary factor behind the Peace of Augsburg's longevity was its comparatively satisfactory settlement of
the religious and political difficulties. Its strength can be seen by the fact that it is going to provide the basis for the internal settlement at the Peace of Westphalia, which is going to finally end the Thirty Years War. In terms of how religious conflict drove the Thirty Years War, the problem concerns what contemporary forces call the three dubia, which sounds like dubious, and it should because it means uncertain terms.
In the treaty.
The biggest of these dubia or uncertain terms was the fate of ecclesiastical lands. Now, these estates, the territories of the archbishops, bishops and prelates, had largely escaped incorporation into Lutheran territorial churches. Prior to fifteen fifty two, the electors of Brandenburg and Saxony were on their way to incorporating three bishoprics a piece, but this stemmed from long term territorial ambitions pre dating the reformations. The more immediate threat
actually came from the Catholics. Charles the Fifth himself annexed Utrech and asserted protectorates over other bishoprics close to his existing territory.
France seized Metz, Toul and Verdun. Overall losses were relatively.
Small, considering that the Imperial Church still had three electorates and around forty prince archbishops and bishops, as well as eighty abbeys and convents. The Catholic character of these lands was protected by ecclesiastical reservation, but Ferdinand's separate declaration permitted
nobles in these territories to practice Lutheranism anyway. Protestant penetration of cathedral chapters continued, especially since Lutheran princes and nobles were not about to abandon the social and critically political advantages that could be gained by service in the Imperial Church. The fact that Luther had been prepared to accept the idea of Protestant bishops by the fifteen forties provided theological underpinnings for all of these princely and what were actually
secular ambitions to just take over church lands. Luther argued that the ecclesiastical reservation was never part of the peace since they had objected to it, and it did not preclude a Catholic chapter from electing a Protestant as their bishop. The Emperor dodged this issue by recognizing Protestants as administers rather than acknowledging them as bishops. Basically, we're talking about
a name game here. The territories remain parts of the Imperial Church, and their rulers just exercised any rights over them as princes rather than clerics. This prevented complete secularization and preserve the possibility that maybe in the next election, the territory would return to Catholicism. It also suited the Protestants who didn't want to actually annex these lands outright, because that could extinguish their distinct representation in imperial institutions.
If you annexed a bishop brick that formerly had an elector, then it wouldn't have an elector anymore, because that district wouldn't exist, And that was the problem. Matters are going to become pressing in this field only after fifteen eighty two, because the number of ecclesiastical territories that fell under Protestant administration started to threaten the Catholic majority in the reichs
Dog and in other administrative units. The secondary of uncertainty were all those ecclesiastical properties that were within the territory of a Lutheran prince but had not been incorporated into territorial church property by fifteen fifty two. Princes were always trying to take advantage of these lands and properties in some way. Now generally I'm talking about monastic land here, just so you know now. And the third issue was
the subject's religious freedoms themselves. There were more Catholic territories with Lutheran minorities than vice versa. Thus, and not surprisingly, Catholics believed that Article nineteen meant that rulers could expel the centers whenever they wanted, whereas Lutherans interpreted Article nineteen as the individual having the right to leave and or.
Worship as they wanted.
These questions grew worse in the fifteen seventies as Catholic rulers actively worked to stem the growth of Lutheranism within their territories. The fundamental problem here with the Peace Treaty the Peace Treaty of Augsburg is that it gave Utheran's legal equality but left Catholics the political majority. The Emperor was seen as a mediator, not an adjudicator, and no Lutheran was ever going to appeal to the Pope to settle their dispute, so how Lutherans were supposed to deal
with legal persecution remained a bit of an unknown. The Catholic position on the three Dubia was set out in fifteen sixty six by Pope Pious the Fifth, who interpreted the piece as a tactical, momentary concession the lesser evil of toleration to avoid the greater evil of civil war at a time when the Ottomans were right outside Christendom's eastern flank. This perspective was repeated by Catholic commentators, including Pope Pious the Twelfth on the anniversary of the Piece
all the Way in nineteen fifty five. However, this position was open to both moderate and militant interpretations. Some saw the piece as a fixed concession that left the Lutheransas dissenting minority within a common legal framework. They were to be tolerated for the greater good, but they weren't fully equal, so they could never be given.
Additional political rights.
Many moderates went further, asserting that fifteen fifty five simply set limits to Lutheranism, while allowing those who saw the they would say, error of their ways to return to the full faith. Change was possible in this model, but only in the Catholic direction. More militants drew on the Jesuit interpretation of the doctrine of lesser equal to argue that fifteen fifty five had merely suspended the original ban on Luther and his followers, which was pronounced in fifteen
twenty one. They derived some support for this interpretation from Article twenty five that stated that the piece was supposed to last only as long until the Theologians could resolve their differences to Catholics. These matters had been settled by the tried indeed decree of fifteen sixty four. Thus, both moderns and militants found support and could see what they wanted in the Imperial Law for the claims that they were simply following the letter of the law of the
Piece of Augsburg. Protestants also based their position on the Piece, and likewise clung to the hope that Christendom would be preserved and that the schism was only temporary. However, to them, fifteen fifty five represented the start, not the limit, of the project to convince all Christians to embrace Luther's reform. Calvinists believed they should be included too, since their faith
had sprung from the very Confession of Augsburg. Certainly, the idea of resistance was present in Catholic thought, but given its position as a minority, that impulse was very much stronger in the Protestant ideology. Yet, generally speaking, early modern European thinkers never supported the idea of armed resistance. The shedding of blood was per se against the Ten Commandments. Theologians supported the idea that obedience was important and that
doing so in a tyrannical situation was a test of faith. Lutherans, for example, rejected the argument that Saint Bartholomewsday's massacre in France had been an attack on all Protestants. To them, it looked more like a French domestic political issue. Now next week we turn specifically to Austria, which, as the home base for the Habsburgs, plays a decisive role in the conflict to come. As always, if you've enjoyed the show, there are two key ways that you can support everything
that we're doing here. One is to click the link in the show notes to Western CIV two point zero and get a free seven day trial to check out what we're doing over there. And the other is, of course, to simply leave a rating or review. It increases the chance that other people will be able to find the program, and I truly appreciate it.