Western Civilization I

Chapter Twelve

“Wars of the Reformation”

The Wars of Religion

n The period from approximately 1560 to 1648 witnessed continuing warfare, primarily between Protestants and Catholics.

n Though religion was not the only reason for the wars – occasionally Catholics and Protestants were allies – religion was the dominant cause of the bloodshed.

n In the latter half of the 16^th century,, the fighting was along the Atlantic seaboard between Calvinists and Catholics; after 1600, the warfare spread to Germany where Calvinists, Lutherans, and Catholics fought.

Warfare and the Effects of Gunpowder

n Cannons became effective; therefore, elaborate and expensive fortifications of cities were required.

n Long sieges became necessary to capture a city.

n The infantry, organized in squares of three thousand men and armed with pikes and muskets, made the cavalry charge obsolete.

n Great discipline and control of armies were required to sustain a siege or train the infantry.

n An army once trained would not be disbanded, due to the expense of retraining the infantry.

n The order of command and modern ranks appeared, as did uniforms.

n The better discipline permitted commanders to attempt more actions on the battlefield, so more soldiers were necessary.

n Armies grew from the 40,000 of the Spanish army of 1600, to 400,000 in the French army at the end of the 17^th century.

War and Destruction

n Devastation of the enemy’s lands became the rule.

n Armies, mostly made up of mercenaries lived by pillage when not paid and often were not effectively under the control of the ruler employing them.

n Peasants, after such devastation and torture to reveal their valuables, left farming and turned to banditry.

Civil War in France

n Francis I (1515-47) obtained control of the French Church when he signed the Concordat of Bologna with the pope, and therefore had no incentive to encourage Protestantism.

n With the signing of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559, the struggles of the Hapsburgs and Valois ended, leaving the French with no fear of outside invasion for a while.

Vying for Power

n Three noble families, - Bourbon, Chatillon, and Guise – sought more power and attempted to dominate the monarchs after 1559.

n Partly due to politics, the Bourbons and Chatillons became Calvinists.

n Henry II, a devote Catholic ruled France from 1547 – 59.

n When Henry died as a result of injuries sustained in a tournament, he was succeeded, in succession by his three sons (Francis II, 1559-60, Charles IX 1560-74, & Henry III 1571-89).

Calvinism in France

n John Calvin was a Frenchman and Geneva was near France, so Calvinist ideas spread in France, especially among the nobility.

n French Calvinists were sometimes called Huguenots.

n The rising French middle class also began to support the ideas of Calvinism.

The Edict of Nantes

n In 1589, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes which permitted Huguenots to worship publicly, to have access to the universities and to public office, and to maintain fortified towns in France to protect themselves.

n The Edict was not a recognition of the advantages of religious tolerance so much as it was a truce in the religious wars.

Catherine de Medici

n Each of the three young kings were influenced by their mother Catherine de Medici (1519 – 89), and often controlled by one of the noble families.

n Though the monarch was always Catholic until 1589, each king was willing to work with Calvinists or Catholics if it would give him more power and independence.

The Wars

n A total of nine wars occurred from 1562 to 1589.

n The wars became more brutal as killing civilians supplanted military action.

n The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre on August 24, 1572, was planned by Catherine de Medici and resulted in the deaths of 20,000 Huguenots.

n The pope had a medal struck commemorating the event and the king of Spain, Philip II, laughed when told of the massacre.

n As a result of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and other killings, Protestants throughout Europe feared for their future.

Assassination and Intervention

n Several important figures were assassinated by their religious opponents, including two kings (Henry III and Henry IV).

n The two leading members of the Guise family were killed at the instigation of the king, Henry III, in1588.

n Spain intervened with troops to support the Catholics in 1590.

War of the Three Henrys

n During the reign of Henry III, and after the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre civil war broke out in France.

n Three opposing sides tried to gain control of France.

n Henry III (Catholic)

n Henry Guise (Catholic)

n Henry of Navarre (Huguenot)

n Early in the war, the Holy League united the Catholic forces.

n Henry Guise defeated French protestants at Vimory and Auneau. Henry was later assassinated by Henry III.

n With the Catholics split, followed by the assassination of Henry III, Henry of Navarre was crowned Henry IV, in 1589.

Henry IV

n A Calvinist and member of the Bourbon family, Henry of Navarre became king in 1589.

n Personally popular, Henry began to unit France but was unable to conquer or control Paris, center of the Catholic strength.

n In 1593, he converted to Catholicism saying “Paris is worth a mass.”

n In this respect, he was a politique, more interested in political unity than religious uniformity.

The Revolt of the Netherlands

The Revolt of the Netherlands

n The Netherlands was a group of seventeen provinces clustered around the mouth of the Rhine and ruled by the king of Spain.

n Each province had a tradition of some independence and each elected a stadholder, a man who provided military leadership when necessary.

n The stadholder often was an important noble and often became the most important politician in the province.

n Since the Middle Ages, the Netherlands had included many cities dominated by wealthy merchants.

n By 1560, the cities housed many Calvinists, including some who had fled France.

Conflict with Spain

n Philip II, king of Spain, sought to impose on Netherland inhabitants a more centralized government, as well as a stronger Catholic Church closely following the decree of the Council of Trent.

n Philip’s efforts provoked resistance by some nobles, led by William of Orange (1533-84), called “the Silent” because he discussed his political plans with very few people.

n An agreement and pledge to resist, called the Compromise of 1564 and signed by people throughout the provinces, led to rebellion.

The Duke of Alva

n Philip sent the Duke of Alva (1508-1583) with 20,000 soldiers to suppress the rebellion.

n Alva established the Council of Troubles (called the Council of Blood by its opponents) which executed several thousand Calvinists as heretics.

n Alva also imposed new taxes, including a sales tax of 10%.

n Most significantly, the Inquisition was established.

Resistance to Alva

n The resistance to Alva included groups of sailors, called Sea Beggars, and the opening of the dykes to frustrate the marches of the Spanish armies.

n In 1576, the unpaid Spanish sacked Antwerp, an event called the Spanish Fury, which destroyed Antwerp’s commercial supremacy in the Netherlands.

The Pacification of Ghent

n The Calvinist northern provinces and the Catholic southern provinces united in 1576 in the Pacification of Ghent, but were unable to cooperate.

n They broke apart into two religious groups; the Calvinist Union of Utrecht (approximately modern day Netherlands) and the Catholic Union of Arras (approximately modern day Belgium).

n International attention was attracted when a son of Catherine de Medici attempted to become the leader of the revolt and when the English sent troops and money to support the rebels in 1585.

Treaty of Utrecht

n The Spanish were driven out of the northern Netherlands in the 1590’s and the war ended in 1609, though official independence was not recognized by Spain until 1648 with the Treaty of Utrecht.

n Thereafter, the independent northern provinces dominated by the provinces of Holland, were called the United Provinces and the southern provinces, ruled by the king of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands.

The Spanish Armada

Mary (1553-58)

n The daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Mary sought to make England Catholic.

n She executed many Protestants, earning her the name “Bloody Mary” from her opponents.

n To escape persecution, many of the English went into exile on the continent, where, settling in Frankfurt, Geneva, and elsewhere, they learned more radical Protestant ideas.

n Cardinal Pole (1500-58) was one of Mary’s advisers and symbolized the subordination of England to the pope.

n Mary married Philip II of Spain and organized her foreign policy around Spanish interests.

n They had not children.

Elizabeth

n A Protestant, though one of unknown beliefs, Elizabeth achieved a religious settlement between 1559 and 1563, which left England with a church governed by bishops and practicing Catholic rituals, but maintaining a Calvinist doctrine.

n This was seen as a via media – a middle way between extremes – by its supporters, or an impossible compromise of Protestantism and Catholicism by its opponents.

n Puritans sought to purify the English Church of the remnants of its medieval heritage and, though suppressed by Elizabeth’s government, were not condemned to death.

Conflict Between Spain and England

n Catholics who sought to return England to Catholicism.

n Participated in several revolts.

n Wanted to place, Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne.

n Had fled Scotland after alienating the nobles there.

n Was seen by Catholics as the legitimate ruler of England.

n Several plots and rebellions to put Mary on the throne led to her execution in 1587.

n Elizabeth had been formally excommunicated in 1570.

n In 1588, as part of his crusade and to stop England from supporting the rebels in the Netherlands, Philip II sent the Armada, a fleet of 125 ships, to convey troops from the Netherlands to England as part of a plan to make England Catholic again.

The Spanish Armada

n In 1588, as part of his crusade and to stop England from supporting the rebels in the Netherlands, Philip II sent the Armada, a fleet of over 125 ships, to convey the troops of the Duke of Parma from the Netherlands to England as part of a plan to make England Catholic again.

n The Armada was defeated by a combination of superior English naval tactics and a wind which made it impossible for the Spanish to accomplish their goals.

n Peace between Spain and England was signed in 1604.

n England remained Protestant and an opponent of Spain as long as Spain remained a world power.

The Thirty Years War

End of the Peace of Augsburg

n The Peace of Augsburg had no provisions for Calvinists.

n Lutherans were gaining lands through conversions of princes.

n A violation of the Peace of Augsburg.

n A Protestant alliance under the leadership of the Calvinist ruler of the Palatinate opposed a Catholic League led by the ruler of Bavaria.

n The Peace of Augsburg came to an end and the Thirty Years’ War began.

The Thirty Years War

n The Thirty Years War between Protestants and Catholics went through four stages:

n The Bohemian Period (1618-25)

n The Bohemians placed a Protestant on their throne, dismissing Catholic officials.

n A Catholic army led by Albrecht von Wallenstein defeated the Protestants.

n The Danish Period (1625-29)

n Catholic armies invaded northern Germany.

n Christian IV, king of Denmark, led an army into Germany in defense of the Protestants but was easily defeated.

n The Swedish period (1629-35)

n Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, invaded Germany to defend Protestantism.

n Defeated the Catholics at the battle of Breitenfeld but Adolphus was killed later at the battle of Lutzen.

n The French Period (1635-48)

n France, guided by Cardinal Richelieu, supplied troops to the Protestants defeating the Catholic forces.

The Treaty of Westphalia

n With the defeat of the Catholics in Germany, the principles of the Peace of Augsburg were reasserted, but with Calvinists included.

n The pope rejected the treaty but this was ignored.

n The Netherlands gained their independence from the Spanish.

n The Swiss Confederation was recognized.

n Over three hundred German states were to become independent from the Holy Roman Emperor.

n Overall, the defeat of the Catholics was due to the Calvinists in France.

Miscellaneous Information

n Not all issues were ones of Protestants versus Catholics.

n The Lutheran rulers of Saxony joined the Catholics in the attack on Frederick, at White Mountain, and the leading general for the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand, was Albrecht of Wallenstein a Protestant.

n The war brought great destruction to Germany, leading to a decline in population of perhaps one-third, or more, in some areas.

n Germany remained divided and without a strong government until the 19^th century.

Results of the Wars of the Reformation

n After 1648, warfare, thought often containing religious elements, wouldn't be executed primarily for religious goals.

n The Catholic crusade to reunite Europe failed, largely due to the efforts of the Calvinists.

n The religious distribution of Europe has not changed significantly since 1648.

n Nobles, resisting the increasing power of the state, usually dominated the struggle.

n France, then Germany, fell apart due to the wars,

n France was reunited in the 17^th century, Germany was not.

Rise of Nation States

n In most political entities, politiques, such as Elizabeth I of England and Henry IV of France, who sought more to keep the state united than to insure that a single religion dominated, came to control politics.

n The branches of the Hapsburg family, the Austrians and the Spanish, continued to cooperate in international affairs.

n Spain, though a formidable military power in 1648, began a decline which ended its role as a great power of Europe.