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 that 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—were 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, and privileges. If you want an 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.

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. 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 and steadily lost influence. The electorates were, by the Golden Bull, not to be broken up, so Electoral Saxony was the important one.

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 much 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. He was succeeded by Christian II, still a child.

The Palatinate

This was also divided, between a Lower and an Upper, both ruled by the same man at times.

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.

Bavaria

Primogeniture was accepted here in 1578, and the duchy remained united and grew in influence.

Albrecht V (1550-1579)

Wilhelm V (1579-1597)

Both men were staunch Catholics. Wilhelm actually retired to a monastery. Albrecht drove the Protestants out of Bavaria after 1563. In doing so he also broke the power of the nobility, making the Duke of Bavaria a major force in German politics.

Beginning with Duke Albrecht V, Bavaria also consciously went after ecclesiastical offices all across Germany, which extended Bavarian influence even further.

Ecclesiastical Principalities

(2007: er, this is rather a stray bit of writing, but I'm leaving it here for want of a better place to put it.)

A Protestant tactic used was this. The lay lords often had a historical influence in a particular abbey or see. They would put forward a Protestant candidate, who of course would not be confirmed by the pope. Where supported by the clergy, the man would simply continue to administer the estates, leaving clerical duties to a vicar. 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.

Protestant influence was signfiicant in all three of the ecclesiastical electorates. If even one of these converted, the next in theory could have been the election of a Protestant Emperor.

The worst crisis concerned Cologne. The city itself was a "city free of the empire", but the archbishop controlled large and important lands athwart the lower Rhine River. He was wealthy, powerful, one of the seven Electors, and the see had a long tradition of playing politics at the imperial level.

The archbisohp himself was elected by twenty-four canons of the great cathedral, and in 1562 they elected Freidrich von Wied, a local count. His moderate religious views soon got him in trouble with hard-liners and 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 refused to be ordained, so he could continue to live in a worldly manner, and ruled as archbisohp-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.

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.

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, 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 supporter, the Elector of Saxony, refused to support 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, 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. It was a war typical of the age. Neither side could pay its troops, so the armies lived by plunder. The conflict dragged on until 1589. Eventually Gebhardt resigned and Cologne was saved for Catholicism.

Another example of the difficulties of the times can be found in Strassburg. In 1592 the archbishop died and there was a double election, for the city itself was strongly Protestant. After extensive negotiations, the Protestant archbishop agreed to be bought off. The agreed-upon successor was the bishop of Lorraine. This is historically significant because this introduced French influence directly into the city. During the Thirty Years War, Strassburg would be acquired by the French.

A third example is Jülich-Cleves, a territory with an incredibly tangled patchwork of territories in northwest Germany. Duke William was Catholic, though Protestant influences in the duchy were strong. His only son was insane and unfit to rule. William died in 1592. The regency for the mad John William was given to his wife, a Bavarian and a solid Catholic. She was murdered in 1597, but the estates gave him a new wife, from Lorraine and also a Catholic.

John William died in 1609. Now two of his sisters, both of whom had married Protestant princes, stepped forward. But by then, the Counter-Reformation had made good progress. The estates struck a compromise that turned the Peace of Augsburg upside-down: they agreed that a prince and his subjects need not share the same religion. The Count of Jülich-Cleves might be Protestant, but his subjects would remain Catholic.

These examples illustrate how complex religious and political life could be in the 16th century. If it was complicated to turn Protestant, it might be even more complicated to remain Catholic. With Church and State so thoroughly entangled, every action, whether political or religious, was fraught with implications and ramifications, seen and unseen. The later 16th century in Germany was relatively free of open religious war, but the tensions were there underneath, the religious kindling kept piling up, and sooner or later someone would strike a match.