Habsburgs O The Protestant Union example essay topic

Amy Reading notes PC, pages 129-141 The Civil and Religious Wars 9 civil wars in the last four decades of 16th century France The feudalistic nature of the religious wars in France, and the tensions between centralization and localism were important The Huguenots didn't fully decide to fight until Catherine de Medici had them drug from their beds and murdered on St. Bartholomew's Day They were always fighting each other until the Political decided nothing was worth the continuous death and being in a continual state of war Henry IV accepted Catholicism and the Edict of Nantes that he issued gave protestants legal actions so both religious parties were satisfie do He gradually helped the country recover and it was rebuilt and remade o But he was murdered by a crazed fanatic leaving the running of the country in the hands of his wife and son who were aided by Cardinal Richelieu o There was a renewed threat of civil war but the cardinal issued laws that regulated and constrained the people The Thirty Years' War Germany began to slowly decline and then the different religious groups began to fight again and then the different political parties began to fight as well and then country found itself in trouble again Different countries took sides and the different religious groups prepared to fight But it was a very complex war because it was a German civil war fought over the catholic protestant issue as well as being a German civil war fought over constitutional issues between the emperor striving to build up the central power of the empire and the member states struggling to maintain independence The fighting of the war actually began in Bohemia and the bohemians were afraid of loosing their Protestantism and eventually Bohemia was conquered and revolutionized by the Habsburgs o The protestant union appeared weak and seemed at the verge of falling apart If the protestant union fell apart then the whole protestant reformation would have been a waste of fighting and death People and protestants became afraid and then the king of Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus showed up with the most modern army ever seen and turned the tide in the favor of the protestants again o The war was long in its run and the tide turned back and forth between the different sides and there was increased and heavy European involvement and alliances from and with other countries Eventually peace was achieved with the Peace of Westphalia o The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and as a result of the war Germany began fragmented o Germany was greatly weakened o Many different countries were destroyed by the long war o With the end of the 30 years' war came the end of the Wars of Religion o Religion, although sometimes a factor, wasn't ever again the cause of conflicts in political affairs in Europe, as a whole Both the protestant and catholic reformation accomplished things- important things that still affect us today.