The Changing Relationship Between Religion And The Thirty Years War

Throughout early European History there was no separation between church and state which resulted in various conflicts. The state usually had more control than the Church which the clergy did the tolerate. Religious fervor continued to inflame European politics because each religious section of society wanted more control over the other. This could be done with wars that determined the amount of land and authority a state could occupy. Certainly, there was a changing relationship between politics and religion with both the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years War. The Dutch Revolt was a war of religion that took place between 1560 and 1600. This conflict involved the successful revolt of the Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries against the rule of King Philip II of Spain. Tensions arose between these two groups because of their beliefs and culture. Violence was the
This conflict in Central Europe resulted in millions of casualties, making it one of the longest and bloodiest wars. It was fought between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire. The war even expanded to a point where the great powers were involved. Once the armies grew, the conflict became less of a war of religion but more about politics. This war began when Ferdinand II started imposing Roman Catholicism on the people, which the Protestant states opposed. The angry Protestants came together and formed the Protestant Union. The Protestant Bohemians revolted against the king and even elected a new leader for their monarch. The Roman Catholic did not approve of this and soon formed their own Catholic League, soon crushing the rebellions. Even though this war began as religious conflict between Catholic Austria and Protestant Bohemia, it later became a political struggle for supremacy between France and the equally catholic nations of Spain and