Table of Contents

Germany During the Reformation

The Empire after Charles V

Ferdinand I

Ferdinand was elected king in Germany in 1531, ending the Regiment that had been created in 1522, while his father Charles was preoccupied with matters elsewhere. He was elevated to Emperor when Charles retired in 1556, getting as his family inheritance Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia, Carniolaaudio gif, Styria, the Tyrol, and a variety of lesser estates. By marriage he at least had a claim on the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. This event put the seal on what was already known anyway: that Spain and related possessions would not become part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was to remain essentially German.

On 27 January 1531, the Protestants formed the League of Schmalkaldenaudio gif. War loomed, but the Turks loomed larger. Charles granted a second religious truce in 1532 in exchange for support for war against the Turks. It was granted, however, only to the Lutherans. Other confessions were specifically outlawed. This led directly to the business at Münsteraudio gif. No imperial diet was again called until 1541. The Swabian League, riddled now with dissent, dissolved in 1534.

The course of reform became more violent. Reform was introduced at Württemberg in 1534, for example, when the city was captured by Philip of Hess. He turned the city over to the exiled Duke Ulrich, who at once introduced Lutheranism. It appeared that if a territory were conquered in war, its people would be forced into the relgion of the conqueror.

In response, Charles formed the Catholic League in 1538, though it was hampered by the rivalry between the Habsburgs in Austria and the Wittelsbachsaudio gif in Bavaria. He returned in person to Germany in 1543. He finally moved militarily in 1546 and soundly defeated the Schmalkaldic League. When Charles pressed too hard upon the princes, though, they rebelled and a second war was fought in 1552. This time, Charles could not gain so decisive an upper hand. The result was the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. A political arrangement was arrived at three years earlier, in the Treaty of Passau, 1552.

By the religious peace, the security of a prince was not to be jeopardized for religion. Subjects who didn't want to conform had the right to emigrate. A Catholic ecclesiastic who turned Protestant was to forfeit his estates: no more aggrandizement at the expense of the Catholics. Religious minorities in Imperial cities were to be protected and most cities worked out a formula for representation at the City Council. Once again, the Calvinists, the Anabaptists, and the Swiss Reformed were excluded from the arrangements. Because the imperial family was firmly Catholic, the Religious Peace confirmed for religion what was true in politics: that the princes and the emperor would rule conjointly in Germany.

Ferdinand was formally elected emperor in 1558. Because he had been king in Germany for years, he was a known entity to the Electors, even though they knew he was Catholic.

Ferdinand and the Turks

While Ferdinand laid claim to the Kingdom of Hungary, there wasn't much of the kingdom left by the time he became emperor, for the Turks had overrun most of it. A peace was signed in 1562, but everyone knew it was only temporary. Suleiman I invaded again in 1566, bringing an enormous army. Europe was in a panic. But the sultan died on the march, the army dissipated, and the threat was removed for a generation.

Ferdinand and Religion

Ferdinand was every bit as serious as his father about preserving the Catholic faith, but he was a bit more pragmatic about how this might be accomplished. By 1556 it was obvious that the Protestants could not be overcome by force, but the combination of the reforms at Trent and the activities of the Jesuits opened the possibility that Protestant lands might be recovered by other means.

Ferdinand exerted influence at the Council of Trent, pushing for communion in both kinds and to allow priests to marry. In this, he was reflecting the orientation and opinions of many in the Habsburg lands. There, the ideas of the reformers had taken deep root. Many were unwilling to go so far as to call themselves Lutherans (still fewer Calvinists, and almost no one was by this time willing to be identified as Anabaptist), but they agreed with the reformers on many individual points. Ferdinand's representations to the Council of Trent are a reflection of that, even though the Council decided otherwise.

Ferdinand died in 1564. He had three sons. Maximilian got the imperial title, along with Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. Ferdinand the younger got the Tyrol and Voralberg, while Charles got Styria, Carinthia and Carniola.

Maximilian II (1564-1576)

Maximilian was a reasonably good emperor, both from the imperial and from the princely point of view. From the imperial side, Maximilian managed the rising tide of Calvinism with moderation even as he fostered a Catholic revival in Austria and Bavaria and elsewhere. He also reached an accomodation with the reformers in Bohemia, and promoted Catholic efforts in Hungary and Poland. On the princely side, he was liked because he mainly restricted his efforts to Habsburg lands, while allowing Protestant princes elsewhere in the Empire to go their own way.

Maximilian and Religion

Maximilian was even more tolerant than was Ferdinand. He had Lutherans at his court and allowed the publication of a Lutheran liturgy in 1571. Calvinism was tolerated, though other sects were not.

It's characteristic of both Maximilian and of Bohemia that a separate arrangement was made in 1575 for that kingdom. A Bohemian Confession was issued that was subscribed to by Lutherans, Calvinists, Utraquists, and the Bohemian Brethren. Here, too, the Anabaptists were excluded, but no place else in Europe managed such a wide-ranging agreement among Protestant sects.

Maximilian had six sons, but he chose to give all his inheritance (Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary) to the eldest, Rudolf. The other sons were bought off in various ways with money and other titles. This set the pattern now for Habsburg inheritance: the Empire and the core Habsburg lands of Austria and Hungary (Bohemia was lost after the Thirty Years War) would be kept together.

Rudolf II (1576-1612)

Rudolf was not at all a good emperor. Even at his best, he was a flake who was preoccupied with matters other than practical politics. Worse, he slowly became unstable, if not outright insane, and so withdrew from the management of the Empire. He did not attend a Reichstag after 1594. After 1600 he saw almost no one except his servants, through whom all communications had to pass.

Rudolf and the Turks

Rudolf's final appearance at the Reichstag was occasioned by a revival of the Turkish threat. He did not, however, direct efforts but left that to others, which was probably just as well. A fierce border war ensued, which lasted until 1606. At the end of the conflict, a peace was signed that lasted for fifty years. This was of crucial importance for the course of the Thirty Years War.

The peace treaty did not mean the Turkish border was peaceful. On the contrary, neither Vienna nor Constantinople exerted much influence there, and skirmishes and banditry were endemic.

Rudolf and Religion

The long-standing tolerant practices of his father and grandfather were reversed by Rudolf. He was not only a sincere Catholic, he was a fanatical one, and he welcomed hardliners at court. By the 1590s, Protestantism was in the process of being driven out of the Habsburg lands.

In 1580 Lutherna princes signed the Formula of Concord, specifically to stand united against Calvinist inroads and against Catholic preachers. Battle lines were being drawn. Nobody was mobilizing yet, but the lines could not be undrawn.