REF - Wars of Religion (Lesson)

Wars of Religion

My religion is better than your religion: French Wars of Religion.

The Wars of Religion in France were just as much religious wars as they were political.  In many ways, it was a form of political rebellion by powerful nobles and groups, such as guilds, who were eager to assert rights within the state. Though France had a history of cohesion under royal authority, France and the Holy Roman Empire did have some things in common.

 

Comparison of France and the Holy Roman Empire

France

HRE

Hundreds of provinces

Over 300 states

Powerful provinces included: Burgundy, Provence, and Brittany

Powerful states included: Saxony and Bavaria

Provinces had their own identity, court systems, laws, and taxes

States were ruled by individual princes and had their own identities, court systems, laws, and taxes

Much of the nobility was Calvinist

Much of the nobility was Lutheran

Catholicism in the state was not as attached to Rome

HRE is still the defender of Rome

 

Please watch the videos below. You can download a list of notes associated with these videos here. Links to an external site. (it is not an exact transcript, but does include the major information covered within the presentation.) This video is 23 minutes long, if you are unable to watch it in one sitting, a breakdown of the slides and their duration are below so that you may pick up where you left off. Please note, videos may take a moment to load.

 

  • Slide 1 - title (2 seconds)
  • Slide 2 - Intro to French Wars of Religion   (duration - 2 minutes 12 seconds)
  • Slide 3 - The Valois family   (starts at 2:14, duration - 2 minutes 23 seconds)
  • Slide 4 - Image of Catherine de Medici (starts at 5:37, duration - 2 seconds)
  • Slide 5 - French Civil War (starts at 5:40, duration - 7 minutes 22 seconds)
  • Slide 6 - Painting of St Barts day Massacre (duration - 1 second)

 

  • Video 2, Slide 1 - War heats up (duration - 3 minutes 37 seconds)
  • Video 2, Slide 2 - Painting of Henry IV (duration 7 seconds)
  • Video 2, Slide 3 - Henry IV (starts at 4:44, duration 3 minutes 23 seconds)
  • Video 2, Slide 4 - Edict of Nantes (starts at 7:16, duration 3 minutes 30 seconds)

 

Learn more - Access Steven Kreis' Historyguide.org - Europe in the Age of Religious Wars, 1560-1715 Links to an external site.

 

My jaw is large and I have political and religious challenges: Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, ruled much of Europe in the 16th century. His large jaw, a Habsburg feature, was probably brought about by centuries of in-breeding, which was common in royal families of the time. However, it did not keep him from serving as the King of Spain, the Archduke of Austria, and the Lord of the Netherlands as well. During his reign, he faced challenges on at least two fronts.

Portrait of Charles VMap of the Habsburg Empire

Ottoman Empire

During the 16th century, Charles V went to war numerous times with the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent. After a series of battles, the Ottomans defeated the Habsburgs to the point that the Ottomans took control of the Mediterranean Sea. This meant that they could negatively impact the trade of all Mediterranean counties. This led to a loss of Habsburg's power and prestige. Despite efforts to ally himself with England to defeat the Ottomans, and their new ally, France, Charles was forced to sign a treaty that gave his country no benefits. He did this because he was losing so much money fighting the war. These confrontations with the Ottoman Empire continued until the end of the 17th century.

Protestant Reformation

Charles V, a staunch Catholic, took a tolerant approach to the spreading Protestantism of the Holy Roman Empire. He offered Martin Luther safe passage to the Diet of Worms and stood by his word to keep him safe. After the peasant uprisings of the 16th century, Charles was tolerant and tried to reconcile with the Lutherans, however, the conflicts with the Ottomans made it so that he was frequently distracted away from the religious issues of his realm. Once the Catholic Reformation began and the Schmalkaldic League, a confederation of German princes, refused to leave Catholic territory, Charles opened hostility against the league. He drove them out of southern Germany but the princes fought back with a war. Eventually, the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555 which led to the division of German princedoms into Catholic or Protestant, depending upon the wish of the prince.

 

We can always blame it on religion.

While many religious changes were happening around Europe as a result of the Protestant Reformation, other events occurred which were “blamed” on the Reformation but were really, attempts to increase political power and economic gains.

Catholic Spain and Protestant England

In 1588, King Philip II of Spain sent a fleet of 130 ships to guard an army that was intended to invade Elizabeth I’s England. England was a Protestant country and the reason given for the invasion was to restore England to its Catholic roots. Philip II had been married to Elizabeth I’s older half-sister and queen, Mary I. Mary was a staunch Catholic and, along with her Catholic husband, was moving England back towards Catholicism. However, Mary died and Elizabeth, a Protestant, took the throne which ended the chance that England would be Catholic once again so Philip decided to intervene. Philip tried to use Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth’s cousin and a Protestant to take Elizabeth’s place on the throne but Elizabeth had her cousin imprisoned and then executed. This attempt by Philip to interfere with her reign angered Elizabeth who put her support behind the Dutch Revolt against Spain. Philip also wanted to keep England and the Dutch from interfering with the ships that were bringing back riches from the New World. In reality, Philip’s efforts were more economic than religious. However, it did not work out for him. England defeated the Spanish Armada which began a Golden Age for England as a naval powerhouse and saw the decline of the Spanish as a world power.

Portraits of Philip, Mary & Elizabeth

Painting - Spanish Armada off the English Coast by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen

 

France, Sweden, and Denmark in the Thirty Years’ War

Please watch the video below. You can download a list of notes associated with this video here Links to an external site. (it is not an exact transcript, but does include the major information covered within the presentation.) This video is 21 minutes long, if you are unable to watch it in one sitting, a breakdown of the slides and their duration are below so that you may pick up where you left off. Video may take a few moments to load.

 

  • Slide 1 - title (2 seconds)
  • Slide 2 - Intro to 30 Years War   duration - 24 seconds)
  • Slide 3 - Characteristics of the Thirty Years War   (starts at 0:25, duration - 1 minute)
  • Slide 4 - The Bohemian Phase (start at 1:24, duration - 3 minutes 5 seconds)
  • Slide 5 - Bohemian Phase Map (starts at 4:29, duration -   45 seconds)
  • Slide 6 - The Danish Phase (starts at 5:14, duration - 1 minute, 42 seconds)
  • Slide 7 - Danish Phase Map (starts at 6:56, duration - 21 seconds)
  • Slide 8 - Painting of Albrecht von Wallenstein (starts at 7:17, duration - 28 seconds)
  • Slide 9 - The Swedish Phase (starts at 7:45, duration - 3 minutes 23 seconds)
  • Slide 10 - Swedish Phase Map (starts at 10:44, duration   -14 seconds)
  • Slide 11 - Portrait of Gustavus Adolphus (duration   -2 seconds)
  • Slide 12 - The French Phase (starts at 11:02, duration - 2 minutes, 22 seconds)
  • Slide 13 - French Phase Map (starts at 13:24, duration 8 seconds)
  • Slide 14 - Peace of Westphalia (starts at 13:32, duration   - 3 minutes, 37 seconds)
  • Slide 15 - Peace of Westphalia 2 (starts at 17:09, duration   -   1 minute, 21 seconds)
  • Slide 16 - Painting, Treaty of Westphalia (duration 2 seconds)
  • Slide 17 - Europe Map (starts at 18:34, duration - 21 seconds)
  • Slide 18 - End Result (starts at 18:55, duration - 2 minutes)

 

 

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Not all European countries spent time and energy trying to stem the spread of Protestantism in the 16th and 17th centuries. Some countries allowed religious pluralism, or the existence of more than one religion, in order to maintain domestic peace. Religious pluralism allowed for the freedom of conscience or the idea that religion and beliefs cannot be forced on a person.

France

In 1598, King Henry IV of France allowed French Huguenots or Calvinists to have rights within the kingdom when he signed the Edict of Nantes. This was significant because France was almost completely Catholic. This reinstated Civil Rights for the French Calvinists that had been previously denied them such as the right to have their grievances addressed or the right to work. This ended the French Wars of Religion but the Edict lasted less than 100 years.

Poland

In the 15th century, Poland, which was a Catholic country began to experience challenges from the spreading Protestant Reformation. The Protestant movement grew quickly and, although the country remained Catholic, measures were taken to assure religious toleration. The Warsaw Confederation of 1573 guaranteed that tolerance, however, Jesuits arrived soon after and began efforts to return Poland to Catholic influence. There were tensions between the Catholics and Protestants which culminated in the Tumult of Torun in 1724 where Lutheran leaders were put to death for desecrating a Catholic church and beating several Jesuits. This effectively ended the appearance of religious toleration.

 

 

Question Mark Icon

 

In your notes, respond to the following questions.

Create a quick chart of the Wars of Religion. Include years fought, country/countries involved, why it started, aims, how it ended, and significant treaties.

 

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION

IMAGE OF CHARLES V COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE FRIEDSAM COLLECTION, BEQUEST OF MICHAEL FRIEDSAM, 1931