Wars of Religion

France at 1550

• Fragmented: 18 million people in 300 distinct areas with own legal systems

• Major areas (Brittany, Burgundy, Provence, Languedoc) had autonomy, laws, courts, etc

• Kings already distanced from Pope, so Lutheranism offered them no nationalist appeal

• Protestantism then became more radical than in Germany: Calvinist Huguenots

Final Valois Monarchies

• Catherine de Médici: wife of Henry II, and power behind throne of her sons

• Henry II died in horrible jousting accident

• Sons of Henry II: Francis II (died of earache), Charles IX, Henry III

• Moderately Catholic Catherine tried to balance Huguenots against fervent Catholic Guise family

• More than a third of nobles were Protestant: influenced peasants on their lands

• Weak kings, courtly infighting: even small towns maintained armies for protection from looters

Charles IX

Civil War and Henry IV

• Henry of Navarre married Henry II’s daughter, Margeurite (“Margot”)

• 1572: St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre: during marriage celebration, Catherine ordered massacre of Paris Huguenots: 3,000 killed, then 20,000 throughout France

• After War of 3 Henries, Henry of Navarre became Henry IV in 1589 (Publicly Catholic, privately Huguenot)

• Henry of Navarre: figurehead of Huguenot faith, abjured Protestantism to become Catholic

• Henry IV = “Politique” concerned with pragmatic ruling of state, not extremism

• This era saw rise of the idea of absolute “state” maintained through moderation and compromise

Edict of Nantes: 1598

• Legalized Protestant faith in France, allowing worship in Protestant towns

• Forbade Protestantism from Paris or other Catholic French towns

• Allowed for fortified Protestant towns

• Allowed for equal civil rights for Protestants and Catholics

• King had to enforce Edict: local Catholic populations refused to recognize Protestants

• Unlike Germany, France was not fragmented; instead, compromise between populations

• Repealed by Louis XIV in 1685 to unify country under Catholicism

The Thirty Years War: 1618-1648• German civil war

– Protestantism and Catholicism

– Constitutional issues (emperor vs independent member states)

– Both Protestant and Catholic areas fought against emperor for independence

– First large-scale war fought with gunpowder (and swords)

• International war– France vs Habsburgs

– Spanish vs Dutch

– Involvement by Denmark, Sweden, and Transylvania

Phases 1 & 2 of Thirty Years War

• Bohemian

– Bohemians (Czechs) deposed HRE and elected Calvinist Frederick V of Palatine

– With Spanish Hapsburg assistance, HRE Ferdinand II defeated Bohemia and Catholicized the area

• Danish

– hope to restore Protestantism to HRE and gain land for son’s kingdom

– Danish forces, with Dutch and English, were defeated

Phases 3 & 4 of Thirty Years War• Swedish

– HRE’s Edict of Restitution (1629) returned Catholic church lands to Catholic control

– Sweden, with money from France and Netherlands, swept south in Germany

– HRE annulled Edict of Restitution and war seemed about to end

• Swedish-French

– French invaded to aid Swedes; Spain attacked to repulse French

– International struggle on German soil

Treaty of Westphalia 1648

• HRE, German states, Spain, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Swiss, Portuguese, Venetians, Pope

• Created first sense of international law in Europe

• Renewed terms of Peace of Augsburg, allowing Calvinism as option

• Edict of Restitution lands were returned to Protestant ownership

• France took western HRE provinces (Lorraine and Alsace)

• Switzerland recognized as sovereign and independent

• Virtual end to HRE– Over 300 Independent states

– No central taxes, or central soldiers; all diplomacy required ratification by states

Results of Thirty Years War

• As much as 1/3 of Germany died

• Violence terrified Europe of pan-European warfare

• Germany ceased for a long time to play a significant role in European affairs

• Disintegration of HRE led to rise of Prussia and Austria

• Some argue that the 30YW “ended” the Renaissance:– End of the heroic individual

– Realization of the destructive capacity of man

– Heralded the importance of scientific progress, rather than study of classical texts