History of Christianity: European Wars of Religion

The Reformation was a major religious dispute, between Protestantism and the Catholic Church, and quite naturally it turned into a political and armed dispute. It began with peasant uprisings in the 1520s, the Eighty Years War in 1568, the French Wars of Religion in 1562, the Thirty Years War in 1618, and the English Civil Wars in 1639. Although each of these wars were fought for various political or economic purposes, it was driven by a disagreement of religion. This period of Christian Civil War, resulted in a major decline of Catholic influence and a rise of Protestant influence.

Protestant Uprisings

By 1524, nearly 5 years after Martin Luther had been excommunicated from the church, his movement had grown quite passionate throughout Central Europe. This sudden burst of Protestant fervor eventually turned into radicalism. It sparked revolts throughout Germany and Switzerland against the Holy Roman Empire. One of the most notable of these revolts was the German Peasant's Uprising which lasted for over a year, from 1524-1525, and resulted in the death of over 10,000 peasants.

Eighty Years War

After this there were many other notable Protestant revolts, throughout central Europe, however the first successful one occurred in the Low Countries of Europe. Calvinism had grown especially popular in the Netherlands, and would eventually initiate a Dutch Revolt against King Philip II's Spanish Empire. In 1568, the Eighty Years War began as a major peasant rebellion that eventually won the support of Dutch nobles such as William of Orange. The Dutch nobles and peasants united for an on-and-off battle against the Spanish armies. While this was mostly a war of independence, it was also a religious war with religious allies. Catholic Spain was aided by the Holy Roman Empire, while the Dutch Protestants were aided by the German and French Protestants. It eventually combined into a much larger conflict, however by 1648, the Dutch had finally won their independence from Spain.

French Wars of Religion

During this time, another civil conflict emerged within France, with a similar issue of religion. The growth of Calvinism, spread throughout France, and gave way to a new group against the Catholic Church, known as the Huguenots. In 1562, several Huguenot followers were murdered, at the Massacre of Vassy, which sparked the French Wars of Religion. The main dispute was between noble aristocrats and their difference in religious ideology. The Huguenots gained support from other Protestant factions as well as England. On the other hand, the French Monarchy won support of Spain and the Vatican. This period of religious civil war, lasted for over 30 years, with numerous battles and massacres. The civil war had a third party, known as the Politiques, who used compromise and negotiation to bring about the Edict of Nantes in 1598. This treaty applied the use of tolerance and secularism to recognize both the Huguenots and Catholics within France.

Thirty Years War

By the 17th Century, these Christian civil wars and rebellions eventually merged into one great war throughout Europe, known as the Thirty Years War. It began in 1618, with the Bohemian Revolt against the Holy Roman Empire. The Bohemians found early success under the leadership of Frederick V, as well as support from the Protestant Union and the Ottoman Empire. They were however later defeated in 1620, by Ferdinand II and the Holy Roman Empire at the decisive Battle of the White Mountain. This resulted in a brief period of retreat and standstill for the Protestants, however only the beginning of the war.

The French Huguenots were still not pleased with the Edict of Nantes, and continued their uprisings throughout the 1620s. Once again, this consisted of a series of battles and rebellions against the Catholic Monarchy. It finally came to an end during the Siege of La Rochelle, led by King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. The French Monarchy would later revoke the Edict of Nantes, as well as persecute and expel the Huguenots from France.

In 1625, the low countries of Europe began to unite and intervene against the Holy Roman Empire. Christian VI, the Lutheran king of Denmark-Norway, saw this war as a pivotal turn for the Reformation and feared a Catholic success. He thus led a massive army of over 20,000 marching through Germany, and laying siege on various Imperial towns. The Danish army was however defeated by the Catholic General Albrecht von Wallenstein, at the Battle of Wolgast. Christian VI and his Danish army were forced to retreat, while the Catholics continued to repel the Protestant armies.

However in 1630, the Swedish Empire picked up where the Danish left off, and successfully invaded Germany, under the leadership of King Gustavus II Adolphus. This Swedish campaign finally marked a turning point for the Protestant war against the Catholic Empire. In 1631, Gustavus II Adolphus found victory against the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Breitenfeld, however lost his life afterwards in the decisive Battle of Lutzen. While this marked an extremely important victory for the Protestants, they now lacked leadership and direction.

The war then took a sudden political direction, when the Catholic Monarchy decided to aid the Protestant armies of Sweden. This curious motive, was launched by the political Cardinal Richelieu, who saw an opportune moment to turn France into the ultimate power in Europe. He did this by declaring war on Spain in the west, (who was preoccupied with the Dutch) while allying with Sweden in the east against the weakened Holy Roman Empire. This action gave the Swedish a new boost to reignite their campaign against the Holy Roman Empire. By 1648 the Protestant armies had swept through Germany, winning many decisive battles against the Holy Roman Empire. The Battle of Prague, marked the end of the Thirty Years War.

Peace of Westphalia

In 1648, the religious wars finally came to an end with the Peace of Westphalia. This treaty was an end-all to the multiple conflicts throughout Europe; coordinated by the French, Swedish, Spanish, Dutch, the Holy Roman Empire, as well as other liberated Protestant states. The Dutch were granted their independence from Spain, in the Peace of Munster, which brought an end to the Eighty Years War.

Meanwhile Protestants were given freedom and liberty to rule their states as they wish on an equal playing field as Catholics. This treaty thus brought an end to the Thirty Years War, and completely changed the scope of Christianity in Europe. A new age of Secularism had now begun, and the Catholic Church was pushed back as a mere onlooker of political affairs.