Religious Wars
Religious Wars
The division between the Catholics and Protestants all came down to years upon years of war. The religious wars came in four waves of battle – The French Wars of Religion, Imperial Spain and Phillip II, England and Spain, and finally the longest and bloodiest of all, The Thirty Years War. All countries involved did not get out without a scratch, but some did come out of the religious wars better than others. The countries most devastated in this peril had to be Germany and France. By the end of the way every European country had become involved in this religious affair and it then turned into a war for power. The end of the war came to see a light when the Treaty of Westphalia. Germany was hit the hardest in the religious strife, by far. Germany during the second half of the 16th century was already, “an almost ungovernable land of about 360 autonomous political entities” (Kagen, Ozment, Turner, pg. 313). So Germany was already having a tough time. They had conflict all across Europe with the Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists. When the Peace of Augsburg was created, it of course was suppose to bring peace for a time being, but instead for Germany it brought chaos. Calvinism was continuing its reign throughout Germany, which raised the religious tension that already existed. More problems arose when Charles V gave up the throne. He worked to bring unity to his kingdom and religion for so many years and it came crashing down. Now, religion was not only the issue in Germany, but power had made its way into the list of problems. Because of the Peace of Augsburg was created, Calvinists and Anabaptist sought this as a free card to leave Germany and spread their religious beliefs to other countries – France, Spanish Netherlands, and England. The religious wars took turmoil on Germany, and destroyed towns and villages and left them in famine and disease. France also took a huge hit during the religious wars. Catholics and Huguenots (French
The division between the Catholics and Protestants all came down to years upon years of war. The religious wars came in four waves of battle – The French Wars of Religion, Imperial Spain and Phillip II, England and Spain, and finally the longest and bloodiest of all, The Thirty Years War. All countries involved did not get out without a scratch, but some did come out of the religious wars better than others. The countries most devastated in this peril had to be Germany and France. By the end of the way every European country had become involved in this religious affair and it then turned into a war for power. The end of the war came to see a light when the Treaty of Westphalia. Germany was hit the hardest in the religious strife, by far. Germany during the second half of the 16th century was already, “an almost ungovernable land of about 360 autonomous political entities” (Kagen, Ozment, Turner, pg. 313). So Germany was already having a tough time. They had conflict all across Europe with the Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists. When the Peace of Augsburg was created, it of course was suppose to bring peace for a time being, but instead for Germany it brought chaos. Calvinism was continuing its reign throughout Germany, which raised the religious tension that already existed. More problems arose when Charles V gave up the throne. He worked to bring unity to his kingdom and religion for so many years and it came crashing down. Now, religion was not only the issue in Germany, but power had made its way into the list of problems. Because of the Peace of Augsburg was created, Calvinists and Anabaptist sought this as a free card to leave Germany and spread their religious beliefs to other countries – France, Spanish Netherlands, and England. The religious wars took turmoil on Germany, and destroyed towns and villages and left them in famine and disease. France also took a huge hit during the religious wars. Catholics and Huguenots (French
Citations: Kagen, D, S Ozment, and F Turner. The Western Heritage. 4th Ed: Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.