Peace of Prague (1635)
Encyclopedia
The Peace of Prague of 30 May 1635 was a treaty between the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II
and the Electorate of Saxony
representing most of the Protestant
states of the Holy Roman Empire
. It effectively brought to an end the civil war
aspect of the Thirty Years' War
; however, the combat actions still carried on due to the continued intervention on German
soil by Spain
, Sweden
, and, from mid-1635, France
, until the Peace of Westphalia
was concluded in 1648.
, who whilst being a Lutheran
prince had nonetheless initially supported the Emperor against the revolting Bohemian estates and had remained neutral during the Swedish intervention in 1630. However, after continued plundering of the Saxon lands by the troops of the Catholic League, he had joined the forces of King Gustavus Adolphus
at the 1631 Battle of Breitenfeld
. Gustavus Adolphus' death at the Battle of Lützen
in 1632 and the Protestant defeat at the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen
prompted the elector to again switch sides.
Years of fighting, an inability to reimpose the Catholic confession by force, the assassination of Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein
, and the need to put an end to the intervention of foreign powers in German affairs all combined to bring Ferdinand II to the table with a degree of willingness to make concessions towards the Lutheran estates.
As well as bringing to an end the fighting between the various states, the treaty also brought to an end religion as a source of national conflict; the principle of cuius regio, eius religio
was established for good within the Empire. In return for making concessions in this area, Ferdinand II gained the alliance of the Lutheran princes both in the struggle against the Swedish intervention, and against the expected intervention of France. However, the intended restoration of the Imperial authority ultimatively failed as Emperor Ferdinand III
had to acquiesce in a much larger enfeeblement to reach a final peace in 1648.
of Lower
and Upper Lusatia
by Ferdinand II in his capacity as King of Bohemia. The Margraviate of Brandenburg
, since 1618 part of the personal union
of Brandenburg-Prussia
, had its claim to the Farther Pomerania
n possessions of the last Duke Bogislaw XIV confirmed. Even the Catholic Electorate of Bavaria
, which had supported the Emperor throughout the war, extracted some minor concessions.
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
and the Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
representing most of the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
states of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. It effectively brought to an end the civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
aspect of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
; however, the combat actions still carried on due to the continued intervention on German
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire....
soil by Spain
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
, Sweden
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
, and, from mid-1635, France
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
, until the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
was concluded in 1648.
Prelude
Negotiations towards the agreement had been instigated by the Elector John George I of SaxonyJohn George I, Elector of Saxony
John George I was Elector of Saxony from 1611 to 1656.-Biography:Born in Dresden, he was the second son of the Elector Christian I and Sophie of Brandenburg....
, who whilst being a Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
prince had nonetheless initially supported the Emperor against the revolting Bohemian estates and had remained neutral during the Swedish intervention in 1630. However, after continued plundering of the Saxon lands by the troops of the Catholic League, he had joined the forces of King Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
at the 1631 Battle of Breitenfeld
Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)
The Battle of Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld , was fought at the crossroads villages of Breitenfeld , Podelwitz , and Seehausen , approximately five miles northwest of the walled city of Leipzig on September 17 , or September 7 The Battle of Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld...
. Gustavus Adolphus' death at the Battle of Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1632)
The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...
in 1632 and the Protestant defeat at the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August or 6 September , 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies .After...
prompted the elector to again switch sides.
Years of fighting, an inability to reimpose the Catholic confession by force, the assassination of Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
, and the need to put an end to the intervention of foreign powers in German affairs all combined to bring Ferdinand II to the table with a degree of willingness to make concessions towards the Lutheran estates.
Terms
The main terms of the treaty were:- The Edict of RestitutionEdict of RestitutionThe Edict of Restitution, passed eleven years into the Thirty Years' Wars on March 6, 1629 following Catholic successes at arms, was a belated attempt by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor to impose and restore the religious and territorial situations reached in the Peace of Augsburg...
of 1629 was effectively revoked, with the terms of the Peace of AugsburgPeace of AugsburgThe Peace of Augsburg, also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the imperial city of Augsburg, now in present-day Bavaria, Germany.It officially ended the religious...
of 1555 being re-established as at 12 November 1627. However, according to the Reservatum ecclesiasticumReservatum ecclesiasticumThe reservatum ecclesiasticum was a measure inserted into the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 to balance the principal proviso of cuius regio, eius religio in ecclesiastical lands...
Protestant administrators of Prince-BishopPrince-BishopA Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
rics and Imperial abbeys still gained neither seat nor vote in the ReichstagReichstag (Holy Roman Empire)The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
. Ferdinand II continued to push the Counter-ReformationCounter-ReformationThe Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
in the lands of the Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg MonarchyThe Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. - Formal alliances of States of the Empire among themselves or with foreign powers were prohibited, which applied to both the Catholic League and the Protestant Heilbronn LeagueHeilbronn LeagueThe Heilbronn League was an alliance between Sweden, France, and the Protestant princes of Western Germany against the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War. The treaty forming the League was signed at Heilbronn in Germany on April 23, 1633....
. - The armies of the various states were to be unified under the command of the Princes as generals of the Emperor, to establish an Imperial ArmyImperial Army of the Holy Roman EmpireThe Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire was the army of the Holy Roman Empire...
for the Holy Roman Empire as a whole, which would fight against invading troops. - Amnesty was granted to those princes who had fought against Imperial troops, with the exception of the exiled descendants of the former "Winter King", Elector Palatine Frederick VFrederick V, Elector PalatineFrederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
.
As well as bringing to an end the fighting between the various states, the treaty also brought to an end religion as a source of national conflict; the principle of cuius regio, eius religio
Cuius regio, eius religio
Cuius regio, eius religio is a phrase in Latin translated as "Whose realm, his religion", meaning the religion of the ruler dictated the religion of the ruled...
was established for good within the Empire. In return for making concessions in this area, Ferdinand II gained the alliance of the Lutheran princes both in the struggle against the Swedish intervention, and against the expected intervention of France. However, the intended restoration of the Imperial authority ultimatively failed as Emperor Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
had to acquiesce in a much larger enfeeblement to reach a final peace in 1648.
Territorial changes
Ferdinand was also forced to make individual concessions to some of the major states to get them to sign the treaty: Saxony was granted the Bohemian crown landsLands of the Bohemian Crown
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown , also called the Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas or simply the Bohemian Crown or Czech Crown lands , refers to the area connected by feudal relations under the joint rule of the Bohemian kings...
of Lower
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
and Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia is a region a biggest part of which belongs to Saxony, a small eastern part belongs to Poland, the northern part to Brandenburg. In Saxony, Upper Lusatia comprises roughly the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz , in Brandenburg the southern part of district Oberspreewald-Lausitz...
by Ferdinand II in his capacity as King of Bohemia. The Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
, since 1618 part of the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
of Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
, had its claim to the Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
n possessions of the last Duke Bogislaw XIV confirmed. Even the Catholic Electorate of Bavaria
Electorate of Bavaria
The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....
, which had supported the Emperor throughout the war, extracted some minor concessions.