THE EUROPEAN WARS OF RELIGION c. 1560-1660

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THE EUROPEAN WARS OF RELIGIONc. 1560-1660
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Philip II (r. 1556 1598)

• Son of Charles V
• Ruled Spanish Portuguese Empires, Netherlands
  and Southern Italy.
• Strongest military power in the world.

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El Escorial

• New royal palace/fortress (and monastery and
  mausoleum) in shape of grill, reflected Philips
  religious and military convictions.

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Catholic Crusade

• Philip II fanatically seeks to reimpose
  Catholicism in Europe.
• Takes on Calvinists in his Netherlands
  territories.
• Fights against Protestant England due to
  Elizabeth Is support of the Dutch
• Takes on Muslim Turks power in the Mediterranean.

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The Dutch Revolt

• Calvinist Netherlands resented foreign rule by
  Spain (both on religious, economic, and political
  grounds).
• Philip II sends the Duke of Alva to suppress
  revolt. 1567-1572 reign of terror killing
  thousands of rebels.

Duke of Alva
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The Dutch Revolt

• 1579, seven northern provinces form Union of
  Utrecht to continue fight.
• William I (William of Orange) (1533-1584), led 7
  provinces against Inquisition and revolt against
  rule of Philip II. He was assassinated in 1584.
• Struggle continued to 1609 12-year truce
  enacted Defacto Dutch independence formally
  recognised in P of W in 1648.

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England v. Spain

• Queen Mary Tudor (Philips wife) reimposes
  Catholicism in England.
• Alliance with England ends with death of Mary in
  1558 and the accession of Elizabeth.
• Queen Elizabeth I reverses Marys edicts
  Elizabeth helps Protestant Netherlands gain
  independence from Spain.
• Philip plots to reimpose Catholicism in England

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Elizabeth I

• Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) championed
  Protestant causes in Europe.
• England was an unlikely foe to Spain (lost
  possessions in Europe, had no overseas
  possessions)
• Elizabeth carefully crafted her image to instill
  the love of her people.
• Elizabeth supported the Dutch Revolt and English
  privateers regularly attacked Spanish colonial
  shipping.

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The Armada, 1588

• Philip II attempts to invade England to end
  Protestant resistance.
• Fleet attempts to pick up Spanish troops in the
  Netherlands for invasion.
• Armada is harassed by smaller, better armed and
  more manuverable English fleet

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The Armada, 1588

• The combination of better English seamanship and
  bad weather (the Protestant Wind) defeated the
  Spanish.
• Forced to return home via northern route, half
  the fleet lost.
• Marked the beginning of the end of Spanish power
  leads to rise of Netherlands, England and France.

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The French Wars of Religion -Catholic and
Huguenots

• Despite the spread of Reformation ideas, France
  remained a largely Catholic nation.
• Of a total of 16 million (in the late 16th
  century) 1.2 million embraced Calvinism.
• A large portion of French nobility were
  Calvinists.
• Conflict between the groups led to three decades
  of civil war on religious and political issues.

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Henry II (r. 1547-1559)

• Henry was a large, powerful man but a
  weak-willed king.
• He persecuted Huguenots.
• Henry II severely punished them, burning them
  alive or cutting out their tongues for speaking
  their Protestant beliefs. Even those suspected of
  being Huguenots could be imprisoned for life.
• He was killed in a jousting tournament.

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Catherine de Medici

• After Henry IIs death in a jousting match,
  Catherine used her position as Regent to
  influence her three sons who would serve as king.
• Francis II (r. 1559-1560), Charles IX (r.
  1560-1574) and Henry III (r. 1574-1589) ruled
  under the influence of Catherine, but could not
  stop the spreading Huguenot influence.

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St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre

• Open warfare began between the Catholics lead by
  the Guise family and the Huguenots lead by the
  Bourbon family in 1562.
• First eight years of fighting ended in 1570.
• Catherine still feared Huguenot power and ordered
  their massacre on Aug. 24 1572.

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War of the Three Henrys (1585-89)

• Following the massacre, Henry of Navarre (a
  Bourbon) emerged as Huguenots leader.
• His opponents were the Catholic Guise family and
  Henry III, the 3rd son of Henry II
• Both Henry Guise and Henry III were assassinated
• Henry of Navarre was the only one left with a
  legitimate claim to the throne. He became Henry
  IV in 1589.

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Henry IV (r. 1589-1610)

• First Bourbon king of France.
• Was a Huguenot, but converts to Catholicism.
• Brings peace to the warring factions.
• Issues the Edict of Nantes in 1589, granting
  limited toleration to the Huguenots.

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The Thirty Years War -Origins of the Conflict

• Peace of Augsburg of 1555 brought truce to
  warring religious factions in the Holy Roman
  Empire.
• The agreement only recognized Catholics and
  Lutherans (leaving out Calvinists).
• Calvinists began to make gains in a number of
  states and began demanding rights.
• Direct cause of the fighting was a conflict in
  Bohemia.

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Bohemian Phase, 1618-1625

• In 1619, Ferdinand II (Hapsburg) became Holy
  Roman Emperor.
• His election alarmed Calvinists in Bohemia since
  Ferdinand was a strong supporter of the Catholic
  cause.
• Roman Catholic officials ordered the end of
  construction of some Protestant chapels on land
  which the Catholic clergy claimed belonged to
  them.
• Protestants protested and said this was a
  violation of the right of freedom of religious
  expression (Letter of Majesty) that had been
  granted in 1609 by Emperor Rudolf II.

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The Defenestration of Prague

• On May 23, 1618, an assembly of Protestants tried
  two Imperial governors for violating the Letter
  of Majesty.
• They were found guilty, and thrown out of the
  high windows of the Bohemian Chancellery.

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The Defenestration of Prague

• They fell some 50 ft, and they landed on a large
  pile of manure. They all survived.
• Roman Catholic Imperial officials claimed that
  they survived due to the mercy of the benevolent
  angels assisting the righteousness of the
  Catholic cause.
• Protestant pamphleteers asserted that their
  survival had more to do with the horse excrement
  in which they landed than the benevolent acts of
  the angels.

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Bohemian Phase, 1618-1625

• Taking control of Prague, the Calvinists deposed
  Ferdinand and elected a new king.
• Emperor Ferdinand II attacked and defeated the
  Protestants.
• If the fighting had ended here, perhaps the Holy
  Roman Empire could have begun centralizing as
  other European powers were. But it was not to
  be. . . . .

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Danish Phase, 1625-1629

• King Christian IV of Denmark intervened on the
  side of the Protestants against Ferdinand II.
• But again Ferdinand II and the Catholics
  triumphed.
• But the fighting is not yet done. . . .

Albrecht von Wallenstein
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Swedish Phase, 1630-1635

• Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus became the new
  defender of the Protestant cause.
• In 1630, the Swedes invaded Germany.
• Later that year, Catholic France signed a
  alliance with Protestant Sweden, entering the war
  against the Hapsburgs.
• What had begun as a religious war now took
  political overtones.

Gustavus Adolphus
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Swedish Phase, 1630-1635

• During the early stages the Swedes won several
  victories, but Gustavus Adolphus was killed in
  1632.
• Each side in the conflict was exhausted from
  years of fighting.
• In 1635, the Treaty of Prague brought an end to
  the Swedish phase of the war and strengthened the
  position of the emperor compared to that of the
  princes.

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French Phase, 1635-1648

• Settlement reached in the Treaty of Prague was
  wrecked by the French decision to directly
  intervene.
• Cardinal Richelieu, Chief Minister of Louis XIII
  wanted to weaken Hapsburg power and gain
  territory.

Cardinal Richelieu
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French Phase, 1635-1648

• The French relied on the German princes and
  Swedes to lead the fight in Germany, while France
  moved against the Hapsburg Philip IV of Spain.
• The war continued to ravage Germany, with no side
  gaining the upper hand until the French defeated
  the Spanish and became more directly involved.
• Ferdinand II died in 1637 and was succeeded by
  his son, Ferdinand III (r. 1637-1657).
• Peace negotiations began in 1641, but made little
  progress until the death of Richelieu in 1642 and
  the French occupation of Bavaria in 1646.

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Peace of Westphalia, 1648

• Treaty of Westphalia ended the 30 yrs. War.
• France, Sweden, and Brandenburg (Prussia) gained
  territory.
• Settlement formally recognized the independence
  of Switzerland and Dutch Republic.
• Granted German states the right to make treaties
  and alliances, further weakening the HRE. 300
  German states became sovereign.
• Religious rights guaranteed in Peace of Augsburg
  expanded to Calvinists.

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Effects of the Conflict

• Germany physically devastated (as much as 1/2 of
  pop. in certain areas perished).
• Religious wars come to an end.
• France becomes the predominant power in Europe.
• New rules of international affairs established
  (modern nation-state becomes supreme).