Charles V. and Luther. Sickin gen's rising. Luther had confronted the cardinal legate Cajetan, had passed | Ritterschaft or knights of the Empire. This class was subject through his famous controversy at Leipzig with Johann Eck, and only to the emperor, but its members lacked the territorial was about to burn the bull of excommunication. possessions which gave power to the princes; they were After this daring step retreat was impossible, and with partly deprived of their employment owing to the keen excitement both the reformer's followers and suppression of private wars, and they had suffered his enemies waited for the new sovereign to declare through the substitution of Roman law for the ancient himself on one side or on the other. Charles soon made feudal laws and customs. They had no place in the conup his mind about the general lines of his policy, although stitution or in the government of Germany, and they had he was completely ignorant of the strength of the feeling which already paralysed the administration by refusing to pay the taxes. had been aroused. He fancied that he had to deal with a mere They were intensely jealous of the princes, and it occurred to monkish quarrel; at one time he even imagined that a little | Hutten and Sickingen that the Reformation might be used to money would set the difficulty at rest. It was not likely, however, improve the condition of the knights and to effect a total in any case that he would turn against the Roman Church, change in the constitution of the Empire. No general reform, and that for various reasons. He was by far the most important they maintained, either in church or state, could be secured ruler of the time, and the peoples under his direct sway were still while the country was divided into a number of principalities, adherents of the old faith. He was king of Spain, of Sicily, and their plan was to combine with all those who were disof Naples and of Sardinia; he was lord of the Netherlands, of contented with the existing order to attack the princes and to the free county of Burgundy and of the Austrian archduchies; place the emperor at the head of a united nation. Sickingen, he had at his command the immense resources of the New World; who has been compared to Wallenstein, and who doubtless hoped and he had been chosen king of Germany, thus gaining a title to secure a great position for himself, had already collected to the imperial crown. Following the example set by Maxi- a large army, which by its very presence had contributed somemilian he called himself emperor without waiting for the formality what to the election of Charles at Frankfort in 1519. He had of a coronation at Rome. Now the protection of the Church also earned renown by carrying on feuds with the citizens of had always been regarded as one of the chief functions of the Worms and of Metz, and now, with a view to realizing his larger emperors; Charles could not, therefore, desert it when it was ambitions, he opened the campaign (August 1522) by attacking so greatly in need of his services. Like his predecessors he the elector of Trier, who, as a spiritual prince, would not, it reserved to himself the right to resist it in the realm of politics; was hoped, receive any help from the religious reformers. For in the realm of faith he considered that he owed to it his entire a moment it seemed as if Hutten's dream would be realized, allegiance. Moreover, he intended to undertake the subjugation but it was soon evident that it was too late to make so great a of northern Italy, a task which had baffled his imperial grand- change. Luther and other persons of influence stood aloof father, and in order to realize this scheme it was of the highest from the movement; on the other hand, several princes, includimportance that he should do nothing to offend the pope. Thus ing Philip, landgrave of Hesse, united their forces against the it came about that at the diet of Worms, which met in January knights, and in May 1523 Sickingen was defeated and slain. 1521, without any thorough examination of Luther's position, A few weeks later Hutten died on an island in the lake of Zürich. Charles issued the famous edict, drawn up by Cardinal Aleandro, This war was followed by another of a much more serious which denounced the reformer and his followers. This was nature. The German peasants had grievances compared with accepted by the diet and Luther was placed under the imperial which those of the knights and lesser barons were The imaginary. For about a century several causes had tended to make their condition worse and worse. of the While taxes and other burdens were increasing the War. power of the king to protect them was decreasing; with or without the forms of law they were plundered by every other class in the community; their traditional privileges were withdrawn and, as in the case of the knights, their position had suffered owing to the introduction of Roman law into Germany. In the west and south-west of the country especially, opportunities of migration and of expansion had been gradually reduced, and to provide for their increasing numbers they were compelled to divide their holdings again and again until these patches of land became too small for the support of a household. Thus, solely under the influence of social and economic conditions, various risings of the peasants had taken place during the latter part of the 15th century, the first one being in 1461, and at times the insurgents had combined their forces with those of the lower classes in the towns, men whose condition was hardly more satisfactory than their own. In the last decade of the 15th and the first decade of the 16th century there were several insurrections in the south-west of Germany, each of which was called a Bundschuh, a shoe fastened upon a pole serving as the standard of revolt. In 1514 Württemberg was disturbed by the rising of "poor Conrad," but these and other similar revolts in the neighbourhood were suppressed by the princes. These movements, however, were only preludes to the great revolution, which is usually known as the Peasants' War (Bauernkrieg). ban. Charles and the movement for reform. When Charles was chosen German king he was obliged to make certain promises to the electors. Embodied in a Wahlkapitulation, as it was called, these were practically the conditions on which the new sovereign was allowed to take the crown, and the precedent was followed at subsequent elections. At the diet of Worms steps were taken to carry these promises into effect. By his Wahlkapitulation Charles had promised to respect the freedom of Germany, for the princes looked upon him as a foreigner. He was neither to introduce foreign troops into the country, nor to allow a foreigner to command German soldiers; he must use the German language and every diet must meet on German soil. An administrative council, a new Reichsregiment, must be established, and other reforms were to be set on foot. The constitution and powers of this Reichsregiment were the chief subject of difference between Charles and the princes at the diet. Eventually it was decided that this council should consist of twenty-two members with a president named by the emperor; but it was only to govern Germany during the absence of the sovereign, at other times its functions were merely advisory. The imperial chamber was restored on the lines laid down by Bertold of Mainz in 1495 (it survived until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806), and the estates undertook to aid the emperor by raising and paying an army. In April 1521 Charles invested his brother Ferdinand, afterwards the emperor Ferdinand I., with the Austrian archduchies, and soon afterwards he left Germany to renew his long struggle with Francis I. of France. While the emperor was thus absent great disturbances took place in Germany. Among Luther's friends was one, Ulrich von Hutten, at once penetrated with the spirit of the Renaissance and emphatically a man of action. The class to which Hutten and his friend, Franz von Sickingen, a daring and ambitious Rhenish baron, belonged, was that of the small feudal tenants in chief, the causes Peasants' but to economic causes. The Peasants' War, properly so called, | broke out at Stühlingen in June 1522. The insurgents found a leader in Hans Müller of Bulgenbach, who gained some support in the surrounding towns, and soon all Swabia was in revolt. Quickly the insurrection became general all over central and southern Germany. In the absence of the emperor and of his brother, the archduke Ferdinand, the authorities in these parts of the country were unable to check the movement and, aided by many knights, prominent among whom was Götz von Berlichingen, the peasants were everywhere victorious, while another influential recruit, Ulrich, the dispossessed duke of Württemberg, joined them in the hope of recovering his duchy. Ulrich's attempt, which was made early in 1525, was, however, a failure, and about the same time the peasants drew up twelve articles embodying their demands. These were sufficiently moderate. They asked for a renewal of their ancient rights of fishing and hunting freely, for a speedier method of obtaining justice, and for the removal of new and heavy burdens. In many places the lords yielded to these demands, among those who granted concessions being the elector palatine of the Rhine, the bishops of Bamberg and of Spires, and the abbots of Fulda and of Hersfeld. But meanwhile the movement was spreading through Franconia to northern Germany and was especially formidable in Thuringia, where it was led by Thomas Münzer. Here again success attended the rebel standards. But soon the victorious peasants became so violent and so destructive that Luther himself urged that they should be sternly punished, and a number of princes, prominent among whom was Philip of Hesse, banded themselves together to crush the rising. Münzer and his followers were defeated at Frankenhausen in May, the Swabian League gained victories in the area under its control, successes were gained elsewhere by the princes, and with much cruelty the revolt of the peasants was suppressed. The general result was that the power of the territorial lords became greater than ever, although in some cases, especially in Tirol and in Baden, the condition of the peasants was somewhat improved. Elsewhere, however, this was not the case; many of the peasants suffered still greater oppression and some of the immediate nobles were forced to submit to a detested yoke. The Reichs Before the suppression of this rising the Reichsregiment had met with very indifferent success in its efforts to govern Germany. Meeting at Nuremberg early in 1522 it voted some slight assistance for the campaign against the invading regiment. Turks, but the proposals put forward for raising the necessary funds aroused much opposition, an opposition which came mainly from the large and important cities. The citizens appealed to Charles V., who was in Spain, and after some hesitation the emperor decided against the Reichsregiment. Under such disheartening conditions it is not surprising that this body was totally unable to cope with Sickingen's insurrection, and that a few weeks after its meeting at Nuremberg in 1524 it succumbed to a series of attacks and disappeared from the history of Germany. But the Reichsregiment had taken one step, although this was of a negative character. It had shown some sympathy with the reformers and had declined to put the edict of Worms into immediate execution. Hardly less lukewarm, the imperial diet ordered the edict to be enforced, but only as far as possible, and meanwhile the possibilities of accommodation between the two great religious parties were becoming more and more remote. A national assembly to decide the questions at issue was announced to meet at Spires, but the emperor forbade this gathering. Then the Romanists, under the guidance of Cardinal Campeggio and the archduke Ferdinand, met at Regensburg and decided to take strong and aggressive measures to destroy Lutheranism, while, on the other hand, representatives of the cities met at Spires and at Ulm, and asserted their intention of forwarding and protecting the teaching of the reformed doctrines. All over the country and through all classes of the people men were falling into line on one side or the other, and everything was thus ready for a long and bitter religious war. During these years the religious and political ideas of the Reformation were rapidly gaining ground, and, aided by a vigorous and violent polemic literature, opposition to Rome was growing on every side. Instigated by George of Saxony the Romanist princes formed a defensive league at Dessau in 1525; the reforming princes took a similar step at Progress Gotha in 1526. Such were the prevailing conditions of the when the diet met at Spires in June 1526 and those Reforma who were still loyal to the Roman Church clamoured tion. for repressive measures. But on this occasion the reformers were decidedly in the ascendant. Important ecclesiastical reforms were approved, and instructions forbidding all innovations and calling upon the diet to execute the edict of Worms, sent by the emperor from Spain, were brushed aside on the ground that in the preceding March when this letter was written Charles and the pope were at peace, while now they were at war. Before its dissolution the diet promulgated a decree providing that, pending the assembly of a national council, each prince should order the ecclesiastical affairs of his own state in accordance with his own conscience, a striking victory for the reformers and incidentally for separatist ideas. The three years which elapsed between this diet and another important diet which met in the same city are full of incident. Guided by Luther and Melanchthon, the principal states and cities in which the ideas of the reformers prevailed-electoral Saxony, Brandenburg, Hesse and the Rhenish Palatinate, Strassburg, Nuremberg, Ulm and Augsburg-began to carry out measures of church reform. The Romanists saw the significance of this movement and, fortunately for them, were able to profit by the dissensions which were breaking out in the ranks of their opponents, especially the doctrinal differences between the followers of Luther and those of Zwingli. Persecutions for heresy had begun, the feeling between the two great religious parties being further embittered by some revelations made by Otto von Pack (q.v.) to Philip of Hesse. Pack's stories, which concerned the existence of a powerful league for the purpose of making war upon the reformers, were proved to be false, but the soreness occasioned thereby remained. The diet met in February 1529 and soon received orders from the emperor to repeal the decree of 1526. The supporters of the older faith were now predominant and, although they were inclined to adopt a somewhat haughty attitude towards Charles, they were not averse from taking strong measures against the reformers. The decree of the diet, formulated in April, forbade the reformers to make further religious changes, while the toleration which was conceded to Romanists in Lutheran states was withheld from Lutherans in Romanist states. This decree was strongly resented by the reforming princes and cities. They drew up a formal protest against it (hence the name " Protestant "), which they presented to the archduke Ferdinand, setting forward the somewhat novel theory that the decree of 1526 could not be annulled by a succeed. ing diet unless both the parties concerned assented thereto. By this decree they declared their firm intention to abide. The diet of Augs. burg. The untiring efforts of Philip of Hesse to unite the two wings of the Protestant forces met with very little success, and the famous conference at Marburg in the autumn of 1529, for which he was responsible, revealed the fact that it was practically impossible for the Lutherans and the Zwinglians to act together even when threatened by a common danger, while a little later the alliance between the Lutheran states of north Germany and the Zwinglian cities of the south was destroyed by differences upon points of doctrine. In 1530 the emperor, flushed with success in Italy and at peace with his foreign foes, came to Germany with the express intention of putting an end to heresy. In June he opened the diet at Augsburg, and here the Lutherans submitted a summary of their doctrines, afterwards called the Augsburg Confession. Drawn up by Melanchthon, this pronouncement was intended to widen the breach between the Lutherans and the Zwinglians, and to narrow that between the Lutherans and the Romanists; from this time it was regarded as the chief standard of the Lutheran faith. Four Zwinglian cities, Strassburg, Constance, Lindau and Memmingen, replied with a confession of their own and the Romanists also drew up an answer. The period of negotiation which followed served only to show that no accom- | enough to declare that they did not regard the decisions of the modation was possible. Charles himself made no serious effort to understand the controversy; he was resolved, whether the Lutherans had right on their side or not, that they should submit, and he did not doubt but that he would be able to awe them into submission by an unwonted display of power. But to his surprise the Lutheran princes who attended the diet refused to give way. They were, however, outnumbered by their enemies, and it was the Romanist majority which dictated the terms of the decree, which was laid before the diet in September, enjoining a return to religious conformity within seven months. The Protestant princes could only present a formal protest and leave Augsburg. Finally the decree of the diet, promulgated in November, ordered the execution of the edict of Worms, the restoration of all church property, and the maintenance of the jurisdiction of the bishops. The duty of enforcing the decree was especially entrusted to the Reichskammergericht; thus by the processes of law the Protestant princes were to be deprived of much of their property, and it seemed probable that if they did not submit the emperor would have recourse to arms. For the present, however, fresh difficulties with France and an invasion by the Turks, who had besieged Vienna with an The immense army in the autumn of 1529, forced Charles league of to mask his designs. Meanwhile some of the Lutherans, Schmalangered and alarmed by the decisions of the Reichskalden. kammergericht, abandoned the idea that resistance to the imperial authority was unlawful and, meeting in December 1530, laid the foundation of the important league of Schmalkalden, among the first members of the confederation being the rulers of Saxony and Hesse and the cities of Bremen and Magdeburg. The league was soon joined by other strong cities, among them Strassburg, Ulm, Constance, Lübeck and Goslar; but it was not until after the defeat and death of Zwingli at Kappel in October 1531 that it was further strengthened by the adhesion of those towns which had hitherto looked for leadership to the Swiss reformer. About this time the military forces of the league were organized, their heads being the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse. But the league had a political as well as a religious aspect. It was an alliance between the enemies of the house of Habsburg, and on this side it gained the support of the duke of Bavaria and treated with Francis I. of France. To this its rapid growth was partly due, but more perhaps to the fact that the Reformation in Germany was above all things a popular movement, and thus many princes who would not have seceded from the Roman Church of their own accord were compelled to do so from political motives. They had been strong enough to undermine the imperial power; they were not strong enough to resist the pressure put upon them by a majority of their subjects. It was early in 1532, when faced with the necessity of resisting the Turkish advance, that Charles met the diet at Regensburg. He must have men and money for this purpose even at the price of an arrangement with the Protestants. But the Lutherans were absent from the diet, and the Romanists, although they voted help, displayed a very uncompromising temper towards their religious foes. Under these circumstances the emperor took the matter into his own hands, and his negotiations with the Protestants resulted in July 1532 in the religious peace of Nuremberg, a measure which granted temporary toleration to the Lutherans and which was repeatedly confirmed in the following years. Charles's reward was substantial and immediate. His subjects vied with each other in hurrying soldiers to his standard, and in a few weeks the great Turkish host was in full retreat. Reichskammergericht as binding upon them. About this time Germany witnessed three events of some importance. Through the energy of Philip of Hesse, who was aided by Francis I., Ulrich of Württemberg was forcibly restored to his duchy. The members of the Romanist league recently founded at Halle would not help the Habsburgs, and in June 1534, by the treaty of Cadan, King Ferdinand was forced to recognize the restoration as a fait accompli; at the same time he was compelled to promise that he would stop all proceedings of the Reichskammergericht against the members of the league of Schmalkalden. The two other events were less favourable for the new religion, or rather for its orthodox manifestations. After a struggle, the Anabaptists obtained control of Münster and for a short time governed the town in accordance with their own peculiar ideas, while at Lübeck, under the burgomaster Jürgen Wullenweber, a democratic government was also established. But the bishop of Münster and his friends crushed the one movement, and after interfering in the affairs of Denmark the Lübeckers were compelled to revert to their former mode of government. The outbreak of the war between the Empire and France in 1536 almost coincided with the enlargement of the league of Schmalkalden, the existence of which was prolonged for ten years. All the states and cities which subscribed to the confession of Augsburg were admitted to it, and thus a large number of Protestants, including the duchies of Württemberg and Pomerania and the cities of Augsburg and Frankfort, secured a needful protection against the decrees of the Reichskammergericht, which the league again repudiated. Among the new members of the confederation was Christian III., king of Denmark. About the same time (May 1536) an agreement between the Lutherans and the Zwinglians was arranged by Martin Bucer, and was embodied in a document called the Concord of Wittenberg, and for the present the growing dissensions between the heads of the league, John Frederick, elector of Saxony, and Philip of Hesse, were checked. Thus strengthened the Protestant princes declared against the proposed general council at Mantua, while as a counterpoise to the league of Schmalkalden the imperial envoy, Mathias Held (d. 1563), persuaded the Romanist princes in June 1538 to form the league of Nuremberg. But, although he had made a truce with France at Nice in this very month, Charles V. was more conciliatory than some of his representatives, and at Frankfort in April 1539 he came to terms with the Protestants, not, however, granting to them all their demands. In 1539, too, the Protestants received a great accession of strength, the Lutheran prince Henry succeeding his Romanist brother George as duke of Saxony. Ducal Saxony was thus completely won for the reformed faith, and under the politic elector Joachim II. the same doctrines made rapid advances in Brandenburg. Thus practically all North Germany was united in supporting the Protestant cause. Protestants. In 1542, when Charles V. was again involved in war with France and Turkey, who were helped by Sweden, Denmark and Scotland, the league of Schmalkalden took advantage Successes of his occupations to drive its stubborn foe, Henry, of the duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, from his duchy and to enthrone Protestantism completely therein. But this was not the only victory gained by the Protestants about this time. The citizens of Regensburg accepted their doctrines, which also made considerable progress in the Palatinate and in Austria, while the archbishop of Cologne, Hermann von Wied, and William, duke of Gelderland, Cleves and Juliers, announced their secession from the Roman religion. The Protestants were now at the height of their power, but their ascendancy was about to be destroyed, and that rather by the folly and imprudence of their leaders than by the skill and valour of their foes. The unity and the power of the league of Schmalkalden were being undermined by two important events, the bigamy of Philip of Hesse, which for political reasons was condoned by the Lutheran divines, and the dissensions between John Frederick, the ruler of electoral, and Maurice, the new ruler of ducal Saxony. To save himself from the Their defeats. consequences of his double marriage, which had provided him with powerful enemies, Philip in June 1541 came to terms with the emperor, who thus managed to spike the guns of the league of Schmalkalden, although the strength of this confederation did not fail until after the campaign against Henry of Brunswick. But while on the whole the fortunes of the European war, both in the east and in the west, were unfavourable to the imperialists, Charles V. found time in 1543 to lead a powerful force against William of Gelderland, who had joined the circle of his foreign foes. William was completely crushed; Gelderland was added to the hereditary lands of the Habsburgs, while the league of Schmalkalden impotently watched the proceedings. This happened about a year after war between the two branches of the Saxon house had only been averted by the mediation of Luther and of Philip of Hesse. The emperor, however, was unable, or unwilling, to make a more general attack on the Protestants. In accordance with the promises made to them at Frankfort in 1539, conferences between the leaders of the two religious parties were held at Hagenau, at Worms and at Regensburg, but they were practically futile. The diets at Regensburg and at Nuremberg gave very little aid for the wars, and did nothing to solve the religious difficulties which were growing more acute with repeated delays. At the dict of Spires in 1544 Charles purchased military assistance from the Protestants by making lavish promises to them. With a new army he marched against the French, but suddenly in September 1544 he concluded the treaty of Crépy with Francis I. and left himself free to begin a new chapter in the history of Germany. Schmalkalden. The "interim." Unable to shake the allegiance of John Frederick to the Lutheran faith, Charles kept him and Philip of Hesse in captivity and began to take advantage of his triumph, although Magdeburg was still offering a stubborn resistance to his allies. By the capitulation of Wittenberg the electorate of Saxony was transferred to Maurice, and in the mood of a conqueror the emperor met the diet at Augsburg in September 1547. His proposals to strengthen and reform the administration of Germany were, however, not acceptable to the princes, and the main one was not pressed; but the Netherlands were brought under the protection of the Empire and some minor reforms were carried through. A serious quarrel with the pope, who had moved the council from Trent to Bologna, only increased the determination of Charles to establish religious conformity. In consultation with both Romanist and Lutheran divines a confession of faith called the Interim was drawn up; this was in the nature of a compromise and was issued as an edict in May 1548, but owing to the opposition of the Romanist princes it was not made binding upon them, only upon the Lutherans. There was some resistance to the Interim, but force was employed against Augsburg and other recalcitrant cities, and soon it was generally accepted. Thus all Germany seemed to lie at the emperor's feet. The Reformation had enabled him to deal with the princes and the imperial cities in a fashion such as no sovereign had dealt with them for three centuries. The imperial succes sion. Saxony. Charles was now nearly ready to crush the Protestants, whose influence and teaching had divided Germany and weakened Being now at the height of his power Charles wished to secure the imperial power, and were now endangering the the succession to the imperial throne to his son Philip, afterVictory of Charles supremacy of the Habsburgs in the Netherlands and wards Philip II. of Spain. This intention produced over the in Alsace. His plan was to bring about the meeting dissensions among the Habsburgs, especially between league of of a general council to make the necessary reforms in the emperor and his brother Ferdinand, and other the church, and then at whatever cost to compel the causes were at work, moreover, to undermine the Protestants to abide by its decisions. While Pope former's position. The Romanist princes were becoming alarmed Paul III., somewhat reluctantly, summoned the council which at his predominance, the Protestant princes resented his arbitrary ultimately met at Trent, Charles made vigorous preparations measures and disliked the harsh treatment meted out to John for war. Having made peace with the Turks in October 1545 Frederick and to Philip of Hesse; all alike, irritated by the he began to secure allies. Assistance was promised by the pope; presence of Spanish soldiers in their midst, objected strongly the emperor purchased the neutrality of Duke William of Bavaria, to take Philip for their king and to any extension of Spanish and at a high price the active aid of Maurice of Saxony; he influence in Germany. Turkey and France were again threatenmanaged to detach from the league of Schmalkalden those ing war, and although the council had returned to Trent it members who were without any enthusiasm for the Protestant seemed less likely than ever to satisfy the Protestants. The cause and also those who were too timid to enter upon a serious general discontent found expression in the person of The struggle. Meanwhile the league was inactive. Its chiefs differed Maurice of Saxony, a son-in-law of Philip of Hesse, revolt of on questions of policy, one section believing that the emperor whose services to Charles against the league of Schmal- Maurice of did not intend to proceed to extremities, and for some time no kalden had made him very unpopular in his own measures were taken to meet the coming peril. At last, in June country. Caring little or nothing about doctrinal disputes, but 1546, during the meeting of the diet at Regensburg, Philip and a great deal about increasing his own importance, Maurice now John Frederick of Saxony realized the extent of the danger and took the lead in plotting against the emperor. He entered into began to muster their forces. They were still much more powerful an alliance with John, margrave of Brandenburg-Cüstrin, with than the emperor, but they did not work well together, or with another Hohenzollern prince, Albert Alcibiades of Bayreuth, Sebastian Schärtlin von Burtenbach, who led their troops in and with other Lutheran leaders, and also with Henry II. of South Germany. In July 1546 they were placed under the France, who eagerly seized this opportunity of profiting by the imperial ban, and the war began in the valley of the Danube. dissensions in the Empire and who stipulated for a definite Charles was aided by soldiers hurried from Italy and the Nether- reward. Charles knew something of these proceedings, but his lands, but he did not gain any substantial successes until after recent victory had thrown him partly off his guard. The treaty October 1546, when his ally Maurice invaded electoral Saxony with France was signed in January 1552; in March Henry II. and forced John Frederick to march northwards to its defence. invaded Germany as the protector of her liberties, while Maurice The Lutheran cities of southern and central Germany, among seized Augsburg and marched towards Innsbruck, where theemthem Strassburg, Augsburg, Ulm and Frankfort, now submitted peror was residing, with the intention of making him a prisoner. to the emperor, while Ulrich of Württemberg and the elector An attempt at accommodation failed; Charles fled into palatine of the Rhine, Frederick II., followed their example. Carinthia; and at one stroke all the advantages which he had Having restored Roman Catholicism in the archbishopric of gained by his triumph at Mühlberg were lost. Masters of the Cologne and seen Henry of Brunswick settled in his duchy early situation, Maurice and his associates met their opponents at in 1547, Charles led his men against his principal enemies, Philip Passau in May 1552 and arranged terms of peace, although the of Hesse and John Frederick, who had quickly succeeded in emperor did not assent to them until July. The two captive driving Maurice from his electorate. At Mühlberg in April 1547 princes were released, but the main point agreed upon was that he overtook the army of the Saxon elector. His victory was a diet should be called for the purpose of settling the religious complete. John Frederick was taken prisoner, and a little later | difficulty, and that in the meantime the Lutherans were to enjoy Philip of Hesse, after vainly prolonging the struggle, was induced | full religious liberty. The peace of Delayed by the war with France and Turkey, the diet for the settlement of the religious difficulty did not meet at Augsburg until February 1555. Ferdinand represented his brother, and after a prolonged discussion conditions Augsburg. of peace were arranged. Romanists and Lutherans were placed upon an equal footing, but the toleration which was granted to them was not extended to the Calvinists. Each secular prince had the right to eject from his land all those who would not accept the form of religion established therein; thus the principle of cujus regio ejus religio was set up. Although the Lutherans did not gain all their demands, they won solid advantages and were allowed to keep all ecclesiastical property secularized before the peace of Passau. A source of trouble, however, was the clause in the treaty usually called the ecclesiastical reservation. This required an ecclesiastical prince, if he accepted the teaching of the confession of Augsburg, or in other words became a Lutheran, forthwith to resign his principality. The Lutherans denied the validity of this clause, and notwithstanding the protests of the Roman Catholics several prelates became Lutheran and kept their territories as secular possessions. The peace of Augsburg can hardly be described as a satisfactory settlement. Individual toleration was not allowed, or only allowed in unison with exile, and in the treaty there was abundant material for future discord. changes the imperial diet was becoming more useless and unwieldy, and the electors were gaining power, owing partly to the Wahlkapitulation, by which on election they circumscribed the power of each occupant of the imperial throne. Maxi Ferdinand's son and successor, the emperor Maximilian II., was a man of tolerant views; in fact at one time he was suspected of being a Lutheran, a circumstance which greatly annoyed the Habsburgs and delayed his own milias ll. election as king of the Romans. However, having given to the electors assurances of his fidelity to the Roman Church, he was chosen king in November 1562, and became ruler of Germany on his father's death nearly two years later. Like other German sovereigns Maximilian pursued the phantom of religious union. His first diet, which met at Augsburg in 1566, was, however, unable, or unwilling, to take any steps in this direction, and while the Roman Catholics urged the enforcement of the decrees of the council of Trent the serious differences among the Protestants received fresh proof from the attempt made to exclude the Calvinist prince Frederick III., elector palatine of the Rhine, from the benefits of the peace of Augsburg, After this Frederick and the Calvinists looked for sympathy more and more to the Protestants in France and the Netherlands, whom they assisted with troops, while the Lutherans, whose chief prince was Augustus, elector of Saxony, adopted a more After Maurice of Saxony had made terms with Charles at cautious policy and were anxious not to offend the emperor. Passau he went to help Ferdinand against the Turks, but one | There were, moreover, troubles of a personal and private nature of his allies, Henry II. of France, continued the war between these two electors and their families, and these embittered End of the in Germany while another, Albert Alcibiades, entered their religious differences. But these divergences of opinion reign. upon a wild campaign of plunder in Franconia. The were not only between Roman Catholic and Lutheran or between French king seized Metz, which was part of the spoil promised Lutheran and Calvinist, they were, in electoral and ducal to him by his allies, and Charles made an attempt to regain the Saxony at least, between Lutheran and Lutheran. Thus the city. For this purpose he took Albert Alcibiades into his Protestant cause was weakened just when it needed strengthenservice, but after a stubborn fight his troops were compelleding, as, on the other side, the Roman Catholics, especially Albert, to retreat in January 1553. Albert then renewed his raids, and these became so terrible that a league of princes, under Maurice of Saxony, was formed to crush him; although Maurice lost his life at Sievershausen in July 1553, this purpose was accomplished, and Albert was driven from Germany. After the peace of Augsburg, which was published in September 1555, the emperor carried out his intention of abdicating. He entrusted Spain and the Netherlands to Philip, while Ferdinand took over the conduct of affairs in Germany, although it was not until 1558 that he was formally installed as his brother's successor. Ferdinand I., who like all the German sovereigns after him was recognized as emperor without being crowned by the pope, made it a prime object of his short reign to defend and enforce the religious peace of Augsburg for which he was largely responsible. Although in all probability numerically superior at this time to the Romanists, the Protestants were weakened by divisions, which were becoming daily more pronounced and more serious, and partly owing to this fact the emperor was able to resist the demands of each party and to moderate their excesses. He was continually harassed by the Turks until peace was made in 1562, and connected therewith were troubles in Bohemia and especially in Hungary, two countries which he had acquired through marriage, while North Germany was disturbed by the wild schemes of Wilhelm von Grumbach (q.v.) and his associate John Frederick, duke of Saxony. With regard to the religious question efforts were made to compose the differences among the Protestants; but while these ended in failure the Roman Catholics were gaining ground. Ferdinand sought earnestly to reform the church from within, and before he died in July 1564 the CounterReformation, fortified by the entrance of the Jesuits into Germany and by the issue of the decrees of the council of Trent, had begus. Ferdinand I. Adminis Under Ferdinand's rule there were some changes in the administration of the Empire. Lutherans sat among the judges of the Reichskammergericht, and the Aulic Council, or Hofrat, established by Maximilian I. for the Austrian lands, extended its authority over the Empire and was known as the Reichshofrat. Side by side with these trative changes. duke of Bavaria, were eagerly forwarding the progress of the older faith, which towards the end of this reign was restored in the important abbey of Fulda. In secular affairs Maximilian had, just after his accession, to face a renewal of the Turkish war. Although his first diet voted liberal assistance for the defence of the country, and a large and splendid army was collected, he had gained no advantage when the campaign ended. The diet of Spires, which met in 1570, was mainly occupied in discussing measures for preventing the abuses caused by the enlistment by foreigners of German mercenary troops, but nothing was done to redress this grievance, as the estates were unwilling to accept proposals which placed more power in the emperor's hands. Maximilian found time to make earnest but unavailing efforts to mediate between his cousin, Philip II. of Spain, and the revolted Netherlands, and also to interfere in the affairs of Poland, where a faction elected him as their king. He was still dealing with this matter and hoping to gain support for it from the diet of Regensburg when he died (October 1576). Maximilian's successor was his son, Rudolph II., who had been chosen king of the Romans in October 1575, and who in his later years showed marked traces of insanity. The new emperor had little of his father's tolerant spirit, Rudolph and under his feeble and erratic rule religious and political considerations alike tended to increase the disorder in Germany. The death of the Calvinist leader, the elector palatine Frederick III., in October 1576 and the accession of his son Louis, a prince who held Lutheran opinions, obviously afforded a favourable opportunity for making another attempt to unite the Protestants. Under the guidance of Augustus of Saxony a Lutheran confession of faith, the Formula concordiae, was drawn up; but, although this was accepted by 51 princes and 35 towns, others-like the landgraves of Hesse and the cities of Madgeburg and Strassburg-refused to sign it, and thus it served only to emphasize the divisions among the Protestants. Moreover, the friendship between the Saxon and the Palatine houses was soon destroyed; for, when the elector Louis died in 1583, he was succeeded by a minor, his son Frederick IV., who was under the guardianship of his uncle John Casimir |