Western Civilization Chapter 15 Europe at War,

16 th Century Europe

Rebellions Dynastic Struggles International Rivalries Religious Crusades Resulted in high human and financial costs and led up to the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618.

Consequences Disintegration of the Spanish Empire Collapse of both Muscovite and Polish power Germany’s fragmentation The rise of Holland and Sweden The persistence of the Protestant faith All this had profound consequences for the centuries to follow.

Crisis of Western States Growth of Protestantism within Catholic states of Europe provoked political crises 16 th century governments linked Church, civil, and monarchical power Religious conflict that came with the Protestant movement sapped the strength of nations and pushed them into war, both internally and with other nations

French Wars of Religion Religious wars are usually emotional and passionate Religious wars tore France apart for almost 50 years France was a Catholic country and resisted the first generation of Protestant reformers By 1560, Calvinist pastors had converted nearly 10% of the French population and over 30% of the nobility

John Calvin began Calvinism – Believed in pre-destination – Believed in the sovereignty of God and the supreme authority of the scriptures

Calvinism was very successful among middle- class city dwellers and among aristocratic women who converted their husbands and children The clash of Protestantism and Catholicism came to a head with the death of Henri II in 1559

Henri II was survived by his wife, Catherine de Medici 3 daughters 4 sons, the oldest became king and and known as Francois II. He was only 15 and sickly

Because Francois II was so young, rival aristocratic families tried to take power for themselves The fight was primarily between the Catholic Guise family and the Protestant Bourbons The Guise family was allowed to be dominant at court – They controlled the army and the Church – They worked to reduce Protestant Bourbon power

That changed when Francois II suddenly died in 1560 Francois was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX – 10 years old – Firmly guided by his mother Catherine de Medici

Protestants realized the Catholics wanted all the power, leaving the Protestants out in the cold Both sides raised armies in 1562 and civil war began and lasted almost 50 years Initially Catholic strength was in Paris and in northern areas Protestant strength was in the south and in the west

Catherine de Medici wanted to keep the throne for her sons She also wanted peace as soon as possible She tried to work with both the Guises and the Bourbons but in the end, sided with the more powerful and Catholic Guises The goal of the Guises was to eliminate the Protestants, known as the Huguenots, and their power

Goals of the Protestants: – Townsmen wanted the right to practice their religion – Clergy wanted the right to preach and to convert others – Nobility wanted to take their rightful place in government – Huguenots, in general, were fighting to keep what they had and to avoid being wiped out

Catherine had an idea for ending the conflict: a marriage between King Charles’ sister, her Catholic daughter and the Protestant, Henri of Navarre The wedding would be held on St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572 Protestants thought well of this plan and hoped it would usher in an era of peace

On the other hand, the Guises felt this was an opportunity to gather all the Protestant leaders under one roof, so they could be killed all at once Then Protestantism would collapse in France Catherine and Charles learned of the Guise plan and reluctantly went along with it hoping it would end the fighting

The Guise plan turned the marriage celebration into a massacre of Protestants on St Bartholomew’s Day Instead of ending the fighting, news of this carnage spread to the provinces and hurt religious relations in France for over a century However, not all Protestant leaders were killed Henri of Navarre, the bridegroom,escaped the carnage with a few other leaders, and the violence spread

One King, Two Faiths After the massacre, Protestants screamed for revenge against the Guise family and the monarchy that sanctioned the massacre Protestants felt God’s commandments had been broken as well as their civil rights Many Catholics, called politiques, who opposed the monarchy’s involvement in the massacre joined the Huguenots in their protest This protest was led by the Duc d’Anjou, 2 nd in line to the throne

This defection of Catholics weakened the monarchy Extreme Catholics in the Catholic League continued the killing of Protestants In 1588 the civil war escalated Henri III, Henri Guise, and Henri of Navarre each sought to establish control over both Church and State

Henri Guise

Henri III

The assassinations of Henri Guise in 1588 and Henry III in 1589 brought Henry of Navarre, a Protestant, to the throne Only his public conversion to Catholicism secured him the title of Henri IV There was some resistance to his taking the throne

Henri IV Strong, capable, and clever Declared war against Spain to unite his country against a common enemy (old tactic and a pattern of history) Reestablished a balance of factions in his court Proclaimed the Edict of Nantes in 1598 – Granted limited toleration to Huguenots (Protestants)

Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes diminished the religious passions in France enough to allow the monarchy to recover its former strength There was a semblance of peace in France – for awhile anyway

Philip II of Spain

Reigned 1556 – 1598 Spain was the greatest European power in the 16 th century It controlled the Netherlands, Milan, Naples, Portugal, and numerous territories in the New World during the reign of Philip II Philip was determined to stop the advance of the Ottoman Turks through the Mediterranean and defend Christian Europe

Battle of Lepanto, 1571 Philip combined Spanish and Italian forces in 1571 to defeat the Turks at Lepanto

Philip also supported the Catholic cause in France and in England He raised an Armada of over 130 ships in an effort to invade England in 1588 He was defeated by the English As a result, confidence in Spain’s power and prestige were seriously shaken

The Burgundian Inheritance Philip II’s pre-occupation with Spain and its power weakened his ties to his father’s Burgundian Empire – namely the Netherlands In the Netherlands Catholics co-existed with Lutherans, Anabaptists, and Calvinists The Netherlands was one of the richest regions in Europe Calvinism was the most prevalent sect in the Netherlands and had converts from all levels of society

Philip, a strong Catholic, tried to re-assert his authority and his religion in the area He met with passive resistance from both Catholic nobles who were intent upon maintaining their political autonomy and Protestant leaders like William of Orange

Revolt of the Netherlands Militant Calvinists galvanized resistance to Philip’s policies in 1566 They then initiated a campaign of destruction – Breaking stained glass windows and statues of the Virgin Mary & the Saints – Catholic churches were taken and changed into Protestant meeting houses This led to an open revolt

Philip’s half-sister, Margaret of Parma, the regent of the Netherlands, restored order However, Philip wanted to punish the rebels and enforce his heresy laws Margaret of Parma

Philip dispatched a large military force to the Netherlands under the Duke of Alba

The Duke of Alba conducted a reign of terror against Protestants and this subdued the Netherlands quickly He wanted them to live in fear – He executed Protestant noblemen in Brussels in 1568 – Other rebels were sentenced to death – Soldiers pillaged towns and slaughtered entire populations

People were subdued, but hostilities continued for another 80 years Taxes were raised again and again to pay for this warfare with the Netherlands -- so much so that even loyal Catholic provinces came to oppose Spanish policies By 1575 Protestants had secured a permanent base in Holland and Zeeland under William of Orange

To the south the Spanish army, now without Alba as their leader, ran rampant without control They sacked Antwerp in 1576 The people of the south no longer had confidence in Spain or its policies So Spain gave over its authority to the States- General (parliament) in a formal agreement called The Pacification of Ghent, 1576

Spain, however, did keep authority over a handful of Catholic provinces By 1609, Spain had for the most part, acknowledged the independence of Holland in The Twelve Years’ Truce of 1609

The Reorganization of Northeastern Europe Although Protestantism had spread to Poland- Lithuania, domestic religious tensions were only secondary factors in eastern European politics Of primary importance were the dynastic struggles for crowns and territories These struggles led Muscovy, Poland- Lithuania, and Sweden into war in the latter part of the 16 th century

Struggles in the East – Sigismund II of Poland ( r )died in 1572 leaving no heir in the Jagiellon family

Although the monarchy in Poland was an elective office, sons usually followed fathers as king But leaving no heir allowed the nobility and gentry of Poland-Lithuania to elect a succession of European princes to their joint crown The Polish Diet (parliament) limited the powers of these new kings with a variety of constitutional and religious restrictions that ensured Protestants toleration within the Catholic Polish state

Until the end of the 16 th century, Poland- Lithuania was a dominant power in Eastern Europe – Good, healthy economic system – Strong military – Central role in international commerce – Good ports on the Baltic (Gdansk) – Agricultural surplus fed Netherlands during their civil war

Polish territory was difficult to defend -- large and flat By the end of the 16 th century, it had lost lands to the Muscovy Tartars Sigismund III (r ) – Elected to throne in Poland in1587 – He was also the heir to the crown in Sweden

There was a problem – Sweden was a Lutheran stronghold – Poland was tolerant of 2 faiths – Sigismund had a Jesuit upbringing – very Catholic Sigismund knew he had to tolerate Protestants in Poland; however, he used Jesuits to try to strengthen Catholicism in Poland: set up Jesuit schools & monasteries

The number of Protestant gentry declined during his reign The Polish ruling classes supported his efforts Sigismund did not get the Polish Diet’s support for his efforts to claim his inheritance in Sweden in 1592 – He hoped to promote Catholicism there – Diet felt Sweden had little to offer Poland

So Sigismund tried to go ahead and invade Sweden using Polish money and troops It was unsuccessful The Diet did say it would support any warfare against Muscovy where they had a history of tensions The Diet did support Sigismund’s efforts to capitalize on Muscovy’s decline in their Time of Troubles

Time of Troubles was that period after the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584 Muscovy was falling apart because Ivan had killed his only son and heir in a fit of rage. – There were pretenders to the crown coming forth – The army ruled parts of Muscovy – There was anarchy and civil war – 2 ½ million died in one decade

Poland saw a chance to regain territory taken by Muscovy over the previous 100 years by Ivan the Great and by Ivan the Terrible Sigismund abandoned his efforts to take Sweden and turned toward Muscovy In 1610 Polish troops entered Moscow and Sigismund declared himself Tsar He was ultimately displaced by a native Russian as tsar: Michael Romanov (r ) Poles did gain large territorial concessions from these ventures

The Rise of Sweden Sweden was under Danish rule until 1523 when Gustavus I Vasa threw off their rule and established himself as King of Sweden He ruled from

Sweden at that time was – Poor – Sparsely populated – With few towns or developed seaports – Barter system for trade – Included Finland & Lapland -- hard to live there Gustavus Vasa and the aristocracy jointly ruled Sweden. The Council of State was called the Rad. Shared power meant the king had the backing of their money.

Sweden had an active foreign policy By 1570s, Sweden had gained strongholds on the Livonian coast when the Teutonic knights of Livonia weakened Because of this, Sweden came to control a substantial sector of Muscovite trade They wanted to extend their control to the northern Scandinavian coast

Gustavus was determined to preserve the Lutheran religion and this brought the Swedes into war with the Poles and the Danes under Charles IX – Sigismund, king of the Poles, also wanted Sweden but lost out to his uncle, Charles IX – Sigismund then became involved with Muscovy rather than continue fighting in Sweden

Danish forces, however, invaded Sweden in 1611, taking important towns and forcing the Swedes to relinquish their claim to the northern coast in 1613 Humiliating terms were then accepted by Sweden in 1613 Fear of the Danes led to an alliance of England, the Netherlands, and Sweden Fear of the Poles led Muscovy into an alliance with Sweden

With these nations behind Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus (r ) rebounded from humiliation with the Danes and he gained control of the Gulf of Finland in 1617 By mid-17 th century, Sweden was an international power

The Thirty Years’ War Although truces secured a degree of harmony on the continent of Europe in the early 17 th century, there were still religious and dynastic conflicts Warfare was the result Even before the Twelve Years’ Truce between Spain and the Netherlands was over, Europe was thrown into war again

The Bohemian Revolt The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 stated that the religion of the ruler was the religion of the state This helped bring peace to the German states after the Reformation Many of the larger German states already tolerated more than one religion By the beginning of the 17 th century, Catholicism and Protestantism had achieved a kind of equality in the German states

The Austrian Habsburgs were ruling the German states and were fairly tolerant there The fiercest enemy of the German states at that time was the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim empire Both Catholics and Protestants fought just as passionately against the Ottoman Turks The unofficial policy of toleration helped the ruling Habsburgs defend its state from the Turks

But the efforts of the childless Mathias to secure the succession of his devoutly Catholic nephew, Ferdinand Habsburg, to the crown of Bohemia and then to the title of Emperor provoked conflict in 1617 So Ferdinand agreed to toleration before he took office. Afterwards, he refused to honor his agreement

When Ferdinand violated Protestant liberties, a group of noblemen marched into his royal palace in Prague in May of 1618, found 2 of the king’s chief advisors, and threw them out of an upstairs window where they landed in a pile of manure This was called the Defenestration of Prague of 1618 It began a Protestant revolt throughout Habsburg lands (Hungary as well as Bohemia)

Protestants seized the government, deposed Ferdinand of Bohemia, but had no candidate of their own Mathias died in 1617 and Ferdinand had filled the gap as Emperor Ferdinand II (r ) The Protestant Ferdinand V became the ruler of Bohemia Frederick V was only King of Bohemia briefly He was beaten by Ferdinand II’s Catholic forces at the Battle of White Mountain, 1620

The brutal suppression of the Bohemian rebellion removed Calvinism and merged Bohemia with Habsburg lands

The War Widens The Habsburgs in the East under Ferdinand II and the Habsburgs in the West under Spain’s Philip II were seen by the rest of Europe as dangerous They were swallowing up a lot of European land Alarmed by the success of the Habsburgs Catholic policies, England, Holland, various German States, and Denmark formed A Grand Protestant Alliance against the Habsburgs

The Danes led the fight against the Habsburgs but got little support from the other allies Three years of Danish campaigns gained little territory; they suffered heavy defeats The Grand Protestant Alliance fell apart in 1629 Ferdinand was now more powerful than ever and was determined to get rid of the Peace of Augsburg

He wanted all Germans to convert to Catholicism Ferdinand’s call to convert all Germans made the Lutherans and Calvinists in the German Empire to unite The problem in the German States got the attention of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden In 1630 he decided to enter the German conflict to protect Swedish interests

Gustavus Adolphus, who was protecting his Protestants against Ferdinand’s Catholics, got Catholic France to pay for the cost of the war Sounds weird, doesn’t it? France, though, did not like the Spanish Habsburgs who tried to move in on France Gustavus then tried to get the backing of the German States

Saxony and Brandenburg were afraid to join with Gustavus – They feared Ferdinand II’s wrath – They didn’t trust Gustavus’ motives In the meantime, Ferdinand II continued to take territory: , he sacked and torched the town of Magdeburg - ¾ of the 40,000 inhabitants were tortured & slaughtered

Magdeburg became the rallying cry for the Protestants and galvanized Protestant support behind Gustavus Adolphus’ campaignAlthough the Swedish King was killed at the Battle of Lutzen in 1632, Protestant forces then occupied much of central and northern Germany

Long Quest for Peace When Gustavus was killed at Lutzen, the 30 Years’ War was barely half over The final stages of the 30 Years’ War centered on the struggle between France and Spain After the 12 Year’s Truce between Spain and the Netherlands expired in 1621, Spain again declared war on the Dutch and were successful

But the Dutch fleet took the war to Spain’s possessions all over the globe They also disrupted Spanish shipping and trade In 1628, the Dutch captured the Spanish treasure fleet on its return to the New World This was a serious blow to the Spanish The war was proving too costly for the Spanish and it declared bankruptcy in 1627

Spain’s Golden Age was falling apart Now came the outward involvement of France France had previously aided anti-Habsburg forces: the Dutch in 1624 and the Swedes in 1630 With Spain so debilitated, France knew it was time to take an official stand France declared war on Spain in 1635

The war was a stalemate; each gave as good as it got Pride kept them from backing down Spain fell first – Citizens revolted against high prices and high taxes – Economy was in a shambles – The Dutch destroyed much of its Atlantic fleet in 1639 – Portugal seceded from Spain and regained its independence, 1640

At the Battle of Recroi, the French defeated the Spanish in 1643 The original leaders of the conflict had been killed or died New leaders wanted peace Alliances and the spoils of war had to be sorted out

They were through the Treaty of Westphalia Terms: – Sweden gained the Baltic lands – France retained the Lower Palatinate – The Dutch gained statehood – Bohemia and Hungary remained under Habsburg control but the terms of the Peace of Augsburg were reaffirmed and the authority of the Emperor over his states weakened

Conclusion The end of the 30 Years’ War left N.W. Europe largely Protestant and Southern Europe largely Catholic Establishing this balance had been extremely expensive – Plague – Famine – Inflation All devastated Europe in its century of religious and dynastic warfare