The European wars of religion

The European wars of religion were a sequence of conflicts which occurred in Europe in the 16^th,17^th and the early 18^th century. The war began in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation (1517) in Germany leading to the various European states allying itself with the Catholic and Protestant countries of Europe. The conflicts eventually led to the Thirty Years War in Europe in which Catholic France was supported by Protestant forces against the Catholic Habsburg monarchy. The wars finally came to an end with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia (1648).

The causes of the conflict were the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany by Martin Luther in 1517. In response to this, the Catholic church initiated the Counter Reformation in 1545. In 1524-25 the German peasants rose in revolt in the southern and western parts of Germany against Martin Luther’s Protestantism. However, the revolt was crushed by Luther and it ended with the killing of peasants by Lutheran and Catholic armies. After the peasants’ war, the Anabaptists led a large-scale revolt in Muntzer in Germany in 1534-35 in which the Protestants deposed the ruling bishop and went on to establish their own kingdom led by Jan of Leiden proclaiming Protestantism in Germany and condemned the Catholic church. However, he was later killed along with his followers for defying the Roman Catholic church.

In Germany Martin Luther continued to propagate Lutheranism and established a defensive alliance called the League of Schmalkalden against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The League represented the interests of the Lutherans and due to disagreements over religious lines in  1546 war broke out between the emperor and the Schmalkalden League. The Schmalkaldic war lasted until 1547 in which Charles V won a victory at the Battle of Muhlberg which led to the signing of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. The peace agreed on a principle that stated that the religion of each territory in the Holy Roman Empire would be determined by its ruler. It is famously summed up in Latin as’ cuius regio, eius religio’ (Whose reign, that religion). The prince would pick his confession, Protestant or Catholic, and that would be the official religion for his people.

In France, The French wars of religion occurred due to the disputes about the position of the Reformed minority (Huguenots) and between Catholic France which led to mass killings of Huguenots by Catholic mobs in France. About 5000 Huguenots perished in the war and finally, at the end of the conflict the Protestant king Henry issued the Edict of Nantes which granted the Huguenots substantial rights and freedoms.

The European wars of religion eventually led to the Thirty Years war (1618-1648) which marked the culmination of the conflict between the Protestants and Catholics. The major part of the war took place in Germany and many European countries sided with the Protestants against the Catholic Holy Roman Empire. It was also fought over territory as Protestant France fearful of the Catholic Habsburg domination of Spain in Europe fought against Spain leading to war between France and Spain. External powers such as Denmark and Sweden also fought on the Protestant side. The war changed the political and religious map of Europe and it came to an end by the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.