Thirty Years' War
Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was a long war fought mainly in the German lands of the Holy Roman Empire. It began as a conflict between Protestant and Catholic states, a result of the split caused by the Reformation. Over time it drew in most major European powers and became a struggle for power as much as for religion. It killed a huge number of people and ruined much of Germany. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Example
Catholic France joined the war on the Protestant side against the Catholic Habsburgs. This shows that by the end, the fight between states mattered more than religion.
Don't confuse with
- Peace of Augsburg (1555): Augsburg was an earlier religious settlement in the German lands. It broke down in the decades that led to the Thirty Years' War.
Related concepts
- Christian humanism
- Thomas More
- Erasmus
- Indulgences
- Donation of Constantine
- Martin Luther
- Ninety-Five Theses
- Protestant Reformation
- John Calvin
- English Reformation