The Thirty Years War: The Peace Of Westphalia

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Catholicism was the universal religion of most European states until the later Renaissance which introduced new ways of thinking and produced Protestant religions, the most prominent being Lutheran. Two religions coexisting peacefully was unheard of so the Europeans naturally started fighting over differences in their beliefs. The Thirty Years’ War started out as a religious conflict between the Catholic and Protestant rulers and eventually turned into thirty years of fighting beyond religion. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War, moved Europe in a new direction by contributing to rising tolerance of Protestant religions, mainly Calvinism, which in turn weakened the Catholic Church’s authority over the state. Another consequence …show more content…
By reestablishing the points made in the Peace of Augsburg, signed in 1555, and all the while legalizing another Protestant religion, the treaty allowed people to break away from the Catholic Church and its authority. The Peace of Augsburg recognized the German princes’ right to choose the religion of their state to be either Lutheran or Catholic. In addition to the original clauses, the Peace of Westphalia made Calvinism an option. Division between northern Catholic states and southern Protestant states in Europe continued. Since the church’s institutions were often closely tied in with politics of the state, the governments of Protestant states such as the Netherlands, who officially gained …show more content…
It was a very strong Catholic power but the Peace of Westphalia gave sovereignty to the German princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The princes each ruled their own part of what is going to be known as Germany. Since the Holy Roman Empire was the one thing unifying all of the princes, they were no longer connected after gaining the ability to rule over themselves and their lands. A broken up Germany means a weakened state just like the separate Italian nation-states during the Renaissance. Germany could not go back to its former glory unless they reunited which is difficult with so many princes. The influence of the empire was no longer felt throughout Europe. France was a fellow Catholic state of the Holy Roman Empire, but was always fighting against it because of the pressure from being surrounded by the empire. Thus, with the Holy Roman Empire broken up and weakened, France prospered with the added bonus of gaining some lands such as Alsace. Despite this, the Holy Roman Empire continued on until its eventual fall in
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