Europe in the Age of the Reformation

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Germany During the Reformation

The German States

Germany was not a country during our period, but it was a kingdom.

Eh?

It's complicated. The central political reality of Germany was than it was an agglomeration of states (discussed below). "German" was more a description of a language that of a people. Ever since the successors of Charlemagne, this area—some of it or all of it, at various times—was part of something called the Roman Empire (even though it wasn't Roman), which by our period was starting to be called the Holy Roman Empire (it wasn't very holy, either).

In theory, the emperor was the superior to the kings, dukes, counts, princes, cities, archbishops, bishops, and abbots within the Empire. In practice, the emperor had to exert himself to exercise this theoretical authority and even then he found himself limited by a bewildering array of commissions, councils, customs, leagues and privileges. If you want a parallel, think of the United States congress. In theory, lines of authority are clearly delineated. In practice, it's a morass of committees and seniority that's constantly shifting with the interplay of circumstance and personalities.

Here follows, by way of introduction, a brief description of the seven Imperial Circles (Reichskreise that comprised the Empire. Each Circle was the domain of one of the seven Electors, the seven men who alone had the right to choose the next emperor (though by this time the election was increasingly becoming a mere formality). The Imperial Circles do not comprised all of Germany, but they comprised most of it and are as good a place to begin as any.

Saxony

This was a very large duchy that had in the 15th century broken into two unequal parts known as the Albertine and the Ernestine, named after two branches of the family. The Albertine duchy was the one that produced an Elector. Both were duchies, but the Albertine became known as the "Electorate of Saxony", while the "Duchy of Saxony" was the Ernestine. This second one was repeatedly subdivided over generations and steadily lost influence. The electorates were, by the Golden Bull, not to be broken up, so Electoral Saxony was the important one.

Saxony was ruled at the beginning of our course by Frederick, nicknamed the Wise. He's the one who protected Luther after the latter's excommunication. Frederick died in 1525 and was succeeded by John, who was solidly Lutheran and was the one who introduced Lutheranism into Saxony formally. His son, John Frederick, was one of the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League. Saxony was, therefore, at the very heart of Lutheran Germany. But Ducal Saxony was a loser in the wars of the 1540s and the duchy was carved up a bit and it was Electoral Saxony that moved thereafter to the forefront. Ironically, Electoral Saxony had been solidly Catholic, which is one reason why the Emperor favored it after 1547, but almost at once Saxony was ruled by Maurice, who emerged as one of the great champions of the Reformation, so Charles' plans were undone. Maurice died young in 1553, but the Electorate was firmly Protestant by that time.

Augustus II ruled Electoral Saxony from 1553 to 1586. He was solidly Lutheran, and in later life he persecuted the Calvinists. Augustus was succeeded by his son Christian I (1586-1591), who was even more dogmatic a Lutheran than was his father. He was the author of the Torgau Alliance of Lutheran princes, formed to defend Germany from Spanish troops, though it was immediately suspected of being aimed at German Catholics as well. Christian died soon after it formed in 1591, though, so nothing much happened.

Although forms of Calvinism crept into Saxony once or twice, the Electorate stayed firmly Lutheran. It tried to stay neutral in the Thirty Years War but was eventually swept into the fray (on the Protestant side, of course). It suffered heavily.

The leading cities of the Electorate were Leipzig and Dresden.

The Palatinate

This was also divided, between a Lower and an Upper, both ruled by the same man at times, by different members of the same family at other times. The leading city of the Rhenish Palatinate was Heidelberg, which went Lutheran in the 1530s and Calvinist in the 1550s. As you can see from the map, the territories of this county were scattered, but the heart of it was along the middle Rhine River.

Frederick III (1559-1576) was a Calvinist convert (1562). Calvinism was not legally recognized in the Empire, so this was a significant step. That one of the seven Electors was a Calvinist was of major significance. The emperor and the pope condemned him, but the rest of Germany was unwilling to return to religious war, so his conversion stood.

Ludwig (1576-1583) was Lutheran, but his son Frederick IV was Calvinist. This was the fellow who accepted the throne of Bohemia in 1618, touching off the Thirty Years War. The Palatinate suffered severely from that war. At the end of it, though, the Electorate stood and was still Protestant, but it was by terms of the treaty permanently treated as an elector of secondary importance.

Bavaria

Bavaria had once been a large and powerful duchy, in the earlier Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages it had been divided and re-divided, but in the early 16thc through accidents of marriages and deaths much of it came together again. The duchy was ruled by the Wittelsbach family, a family that had once supplied emperors and was a natural opponent of the Habsburgs. That enmity came to an end in 1534 when Duke William IV made an alliance with Ferdinand, king of Hungary and Bohemia and the son of Emperor Charles V. That alliance grew and strengthened over the years. Bavaria was a chief ally in the war against the League of Schmalkald and benefitted thereby. Wittelsbach family members received various titles around the Empire.

Bavaria became a Catholic bulwark in Germany (indeed, it is still the strongest Catholic state in Germany). Duke William's son actually married one of King Ferdinand's daughters. That son, Albert (1550-1579) brought Jesuits and Tridentine reforms into Bavaria, and sent his son to a Jesuit school. He also drove the Protestants out, after 1563, and in so doing broke the power of the nobility (who had been heavily Protestant).

William V (1579-1597) continued this pattern, as did his son Maximilian I (1597-1651). It was Maximilian that hired Tilly to lead Bavarian troops in the Thirty Years War. He also savagely put down a peasant rebellion.

Ecclesiastical Principalities

Archbishopric of Cologne

Cologne was a wealthy city on the lower Rhine River. Its archbishop had for centuries been a major player in German politics, so it's no surprise to find it playing an important role in the Reformation as well. Despite a couple of near things, Cologne remained steadfastly Catholic in a region that became strongly Protestant.

It's worth telling the story of how Cologne almost went Protestant. The story illustrates how complex was the tangle of religion and politics in the late 16th century, as well as shows something of how archbishops were made (and unmade). The events themselves are little more than a historical footnote, but sometimes looking at specific incidents can throw light on larger developments.

Background

The background can extend all the way back to the Investiture Struggle, but we shan't go back quite that far. Take it as given that lay lords traditionally had much influence on who got nominated as archbishop, not just in Cologne but all over Germany. In theory, the archbishop was elected by the canons of the cathedral, a handful of twenty or thirty men, something akin to the College of Cardinals electing the pope. Who they considered, though, came from a list of names and that's where the lay influence was manifested. Also, since the canons were frequently themselves from great noble families in the region, they knew their choice might have repercussions among the lay lords. All very complicated, all very political.

The Protestant Reformation threw an interesting spanner into these works, for by the middle of the 16th century many of the lords in the territories controlled by or bordering upon Cologne had become Protestant lords. But they retained their traditional prerogatives of nominating names for the next archbishop.

They learned to put forward a Protestant candidate, who of course would not be confirmed by the pope. Where supported by the clergy (for reasons of their own), the candidate would simply continue to administer the estates, leaving clerical duties to a vicar. This technique was used in many places, not just in the Archbishopric of Cologne. Eventually, the territory would be annexed outright and would be lost to the Catholics. This is how the bishopric of Magdeburg went Protestant in 1561 and the bishopric of Halberstadt in 1564.

Losing those places was bad enough, but the stakes were far higher in the three archbishoprics that were among the seven Electors. Protestant influence was signfiicant in all three of the ecclesiastical electorates. If even one of these converted, the next step might have been the election of a Protestant Emperor. Catastrophic!

The worst crisis concerned Cologne. The city itself was an Imperial Free City, but the archbishop also controlled large and important lands athwart the lower Rhine River, one of the most important trade routes in Europe. Cologne was, in short, a prize of enormous worth to everyone—Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist.

The archbishop himself was elected by twenty-four canons of the great cathedral, and in 1562 they elected Friedrich von Wied, a local count. He was a moderate in religion, normally a virtue but in the charged atmosphere of the 1560, his moderation soon got him in trouble with hard-liners. He resigned in 1567.

The canons next elected a young man, Count Salentin von Isenberg, who was a fervent Catholic, but who drank heavily and earned a reputation for brutality. He also refused to be ordained, so he could continue to live in a worldly manner, and ruled as archbishop-elect. This sort of thing had long and ample precedent in Germany, but the Catholic Church was in full Tridentine swing now and was less forgiving of such behavior. Still, Cologne was too important to risk losing over so trivial a matter as a worldly cleric.

Then, young Salentin fell in love. This was a great break for the Protestants, who advised him (as they had advised others) that he should go ahead and marry and still keep his archbishopric anyway. Dissolute, but still a good Catholic, Salentin ignored the advice. He resigned in 1577 so that he could marry, and Cologne was again up for grabs.

The Duke of Bavaria, ever eager for ecclesiastical holdings, put forward his son, Ernest, as a candidate, but the canons elected instead Gebhardt Truchsess von Waldburg. They chose him because they were afraid Ernest represented the possibility of serious reform, Bavaria being an enthusiastic supporter of Tridentine reform, and they were afraid of losing their privileges and incomes.

Then, in 1580, Archbishop Gebhardt likewise fell in love, with a nun. Again he was advised by Protestants (some of whom were canons in the cathedral chapter) that he should marry and refuse to resign. This time their entreaties got through. Gebhardt pursued the idea.

A key player in all this was the Elector of Saxony, but he refused to approve the plan. This meant that if things got ugly, a major source of support would not be available. Still, there were other strong Protestant neighbors, especially in the Low Countries, so in 1583 Gebhardt openly married according to the Lutheran rite. As archbishop he granted toleration to Protestants. He knew this would stir up a storm, so he at once withdrew to Westphalia, where he had estates and where the Lutherans were strong. The pope deposed him in March and ordered the chapter to elect a new archbishop.

This was the crucial point. The canons might declare Gebhardt to be the rightful archbishop, or they might ignore the papal deposition and instructions, and Cologne would be half-lost to heresy. Instead, they went along and got along. They elected Ernest of Bavaria, after being generously bribed. Ernest occupied the see and at once launched a war against Gebhardt.

The pope hired mercenaries from Spain and Italy to support the Bavarians. It was a war typical of the age. Neither side could pay its troops over the long haul, so the armies lived by plunder. The key battle was at the town of Godesburg in 1583, a two-month siege that ended with the slaughter of most of the town's inhabitants. The conflict dragged on for six more years,until 1589. Eventually Gebhardt resigned and Cologne was saved for Catholicism, and the Wittelsbach family gained almost hereditary control over the archbishopric.

This somewhat sad story is only one of many. When you read the phrase "turned Protestant" or "remained Catholic" the simple phrase often hides a story of fierce struggle and ambiguous decisions. No choice was without consequences, including choosing to do nothing. Nor could the players see the end game; they had to make their choices without knowing all the consequences and ramifications. Now, this is true of the human endeavor at all times, but during the Reformation the stakes were often life and death, fortune or ruin, fame or ignominy.

The other point this story illuminates is that in a general narrative, it appears that Germany was relatively peaceful up until the conflagration of the Thirty Years War. The great struggles of the French Wars of Religion, and of England versus Spain, take up the bulk of the narrative. As this story, and numerous others, demonstrates, tensions still existed. The religious kindling was piling up, until it needed only one more spark to ignite the fire.

Archbishops of Trier and Mainz

Mainz traditionally presided over the election procedures, but otherwise these two archbishops played a decidedly second fiddle to the other electors. Both archbishoprics are located on the Rhine River and both stayed resolutely Catholic during the reformation despite outside pressures.