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Sep 25, 1555
The Peace of Augsburg
SourceIt was the first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism and Catholicism in Germany isuedby the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. The Diet determined that in the future no ruler in the empire should make war against another on religious grounds and that this peace should remain operative until the churches were peacefully reunited. -
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King Christian IV of Denmark
SourceSon of Frederick II, King of Denmark & Norway, and Sophia of Mecklenburg, Christian IV was born on April 12th, 1577 and became king in 1588 after his father's death. In 1597, he married Anne Catherine of Brandenburg who gave birth to Christian IV's son and heir, Frederick III. Christian IV was very eager to improve his country's economy and he also stabilised his political position by making financial friends with other aristocrats, e.g. Danish nobles whom he gave urgently required capital. -
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Cardinal Richelieu
Source Born on Septembet 9th, 1585, Cardinal Richelieu's life was marked by the Church from his youngest years and due to his intelligence and sharp mind, he quickly accended the nobility ladder, eventually becoming not only a cardinal, but also the chief advisor of France's King, Louis XIII. From 1627 to 1631, the Cardinal defeated the Huguenots, thus solidifying Louis XIII's power over France. He was a very energetic politician and he managed to turn France into a leading power in Europe. -
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King Louis XIII of France
Source Born on September 27th, 1601, as son of Henri IV and Marie de Medici, Louis XIII became king of France when he was just 9 years old, but his mother in fact seized the rule, so she tried to do her best to develop Catholical ties between France and Austria and Spain, something which the Huguenots were very much against. Things changed, however, when Richelieu was appointed Cardinal and helped Louis solidify his reign. -
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King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Source Often referred to as "The Lion from the North," Gustavus Adolphus is considered to be one of the greatest generals in history, a reason for which is his use of mobile artillery and extremely aggressive battle tactics. He also invented the paper bullet cartridges and lightened the mustket. He was an active participant in battles. Apart from being an excellent warrior, Protestants consider him to be a perfect example for a Christian king, because he stopped the northward march of Catholicism. -
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Ferdinand of Styria as king of Bohemia
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Ferdinand was born in Graz, the eldest son of the archduke Charles, the ruler of Inner Austria. Dirung his reign he confiscated the estates of the rebel magnates, reduced the Diet to impotence by a new constituent ordinance, and forcibly catholicized Bohemia. The Protestants of Upper and Lower Austria were subjected to compulsory conversion. -
Defenestration of Prague
<ahref='http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Defenestrations_of_Prague' >Source</a>
In order to resolve a problem for the building of Protestant chapels, some meetings were held between members of the Czech nobility and one the last one enraged crowds made its way up the Bohemia Chancellery.There they tried the two imperial governors for violating the Right of Freedom of Religion and threw them out the windows of the building. -
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Trettioåriga kriget
The Thirty Years' War is a major European war that took part over the whole of the continent. It began due to religious, political, and dynastical reasons, and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Source: -
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The Bohemian Period
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In 1608, the Protestants created the Evangelical Union and in 1609 the Catholics created the Holy League. What started the revolt was when the Archbishop of Prague ordered a protestant church to be destroyed but the majority of people appealed to Emperor Matthias, who ignored their protests.The protestants started to revolt which was marked by the Defenestration of Prague. -
Battle of White Mountain
Source This battle was fought close to Prague, Bohemia, between the Catholic Hapsburgs and the united Protestant German states, marking the first big victory for the Catholics, which allowed the Hapsburgs to enforce authoritarian rule over Bohemia and its neighboring states until the end of WWI. -
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Philip IV of Spain
SourceSourceHe became king of Spain and ruled it until his death, passing the crowt to his son. Philip IV came to power as war between Spain and the rebellious Dutch recommenced after the expiration of a truce. He is remembered for his failed struggle to revive Spain's prominence during the Thirty Years War and for his patronage of the arts. -
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Maximilian I of Bavaria
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Maximilian received a strict Catholic training from private tutors and later studied law, history, and mathematics at the University of Ingolstadt. He became elector (1623–51)and duke (1597–1651)of Bavaria. To oppose the Protestant Union, he formed the Catholic Leage and then conquered a big part of Protestant Europe. -
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The Danish Period
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The starts of the Danish period is marked by thr fall of Bohemia. The Danish king whi was protestant was aided by several other countries to oppose forces at Saxony. The Danish king was defeated over and over again by Ferdinand and his army so he eventually withdrew from Saxony. -
Treaty of Lubeck
SourceIn the Treaty of Lubeck, Denmark was allowed to keep her possessions including the valuable state of Holstein. Christian had to give up his claims on the north German bishoprics and his leadership of the Lower Saxon Circle. He also had to formally withdraw from the war. -
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The Swedish Period
Source Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, became the leader of all Protestants against the Catholics when the Swedish advanced into Germany in 1630 and the Swedish-French alliance was created later in the year. Although the Swedes won some very decisive battles at first, they were ultimately defeated by the Holy Roman Emperor and his army, so they were forced to retreat back into Sweden. -
Battle of Lützen
Source A combat in which the Swedes were allied with the North Germans against Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, this battle ended the life of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus, helped by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, decided to give open battle to Gottfried Heinrich, about whom he had received information that he had left on a mission with a part of his army. Foggy weather made the battle disastrous for both sides: the Swedes lost their king and the Germans their whole artillery. -
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The French Period
Source Despite the Treaty of Prague, France joined the war when Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII's first advisor, decided to attack and take control of the Alsace province over from the Holy Roman Empire, thus weakening the Hapsburgs. Cardinal Richelieu was also conspiring against the Spanish monarchy, because its king, Philip IV, was a member of the Hapsburg dynasty. France quickly defeated Spain and was then able to join the Swedish and German Protestants' side against the Catholics in Germany. -
Peace of Prague
Source This peace ensured several things, amongst which:- Lutherans would be given all their possessions from November 12th, 1627;
- there would be an amnesty for all who had fought against Ferdinand, but there would be no amnesty for Bohemians;
- the Palatinate was still Bavarian owned;
- alliances between different parts of the Holy Roman Empire were outlawed;
- if there were to be any armed forces in the empire, they should be part of the Imperial army.
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Treaty of Westphalia
Source The whole war was put to an end with this treaty. A conference was opened in December 1644 in Münster and Osnabrück with the aim to finally end the slaughter. At least 194 states were involved, meaning that thousands of diplomats and people of other ranks were present for almost 4 years. The conference was governed by the Papal Nuncio, Fabio Chigi (to be Pope Alexander VII later on), and the Venetian ambassador. The Swiss and the Dutch gained independence respectively from Austria and Spain. -
Treaty of the Pyrenees
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After centuries of settlements the present border between France and Spain was settled in 1659 by the treaty (signed at Pheasant Islandon on the Bidasoa River) which brought the Roussillon and thirty-three villages of the Cerdagne under the French crown.
