The Schmalkaldic war

An engraving of twelve members of The Schmalkaldic League.

The Schmalkaldic war

The Holy Roman Empire has a lot to answer for. Before it defined modern international relations, the Empire was going through the Reformation. This led to the tongue-twisting Schmalkaldic war.

This article explains what this was and how it affected European history.

Early 16th century

The Reformation is a key part of European history. It started on 31 October 1517 with Martin Luther’s famous Ninety-Five Theses1.

The reformation was a religious issue but there were political undertones to it too. Some states within the Holy Roman Empire wished to be Lutheran rather than Roman Catholic. The Catholic House of Hapsburg felt threatened by this request for greater autonomy. If granted, it meant the Hapsburgs would lose central control.

The Catholic and non-Catholic parts of Bohemia later fought for pretty much the same reasons. It’s why there was a defenestration of Prague.

An engraving of twelve members of The Schmalkaldic League.
Engraving of twelve members of The Schmalkaldic League by Peter Troschel (1620-1667)

In Feb 15312, some Lutheran states met in the town of Schmalkalden in Thuringia3 4, Germany. They agreed to support one another if the Holy Roman Emperor attacked either one of them5 6.

They called themselves the Schmalkaldic League7 8.

Ferdinand of Austria felt threatened by this. He wasn’t in a position to do much because he was fighting the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent at the time. As a result, he signed the Religious Peace of Nuremberg with the League on 23 July 15329.

By 1544, things changed10 11.

Ferdinand had signed peace treaties with his enemies in Italy and started to ally himself with some non-League Lutheran princes12 13 14. The Schmalkaldics felt threatened and readied themselves for war. They realised that if they attacked first, they would have the advantage of speed15.

War

The war started on 10 May 1546 when the League occupied the Catholic town of Fussen in modern-day Bavaria16.

The Imperial army retreated north to Ingolstadt17. Had they done so, they would have stopped Ferdinand from bringing Italian reinforcements. The Schmalkaldics couldn’t agree on tactics and didn’t take up this line of attack18.

Sensing an opportunity, some neutral Lutheran princes invaded territories belonging to the League to expand their own influence19 20.

On 24 April 1547, after only 10 months of war, the Imperial forces won the war at the Battle of Muhlberg21 22. On 19 May, the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League capitulated23.

By the mid-1500s, the reformation has spread so much it was impossible to contain it by military force. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V prepared to reintegrate Protestants into the Empire. Protestant princes revolted in 1552 over this, leading Charles to sign the Peace of Augsburg in 155524. The key point in this treaty was to made the legal divisions of Christianity permanent. This treaty was the first permanent legal basis for Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism to live side-by-side in the Empire25.

The beginning of the next war

The peace of Augsburg remained until a new Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, decided he didn’t like the terms.

His actions led to the Thirty Years’ War which continues to affect Central Europe to this day.

I’ve explained the Thirty Years’ war in a separate article.

References

  1. Reformation; Encyclopedia Britannica; 2019-11-05[↩]
  2. Schmalkaldic League; Encyclopedia Britannica; 2020-05-06[↩]
  3. The Schmalkaldic War, 1546-1547; World History at KMLA; 2004-11-17[↩]
  4. The Schmalkaldic League; Royal Collection Trust; (Retrieved 2020-09-15) [↩]
  5. Schmalkaldic League; Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, The; 2012[↩]
  6. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  7. Schmalkaldic League; Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, The; 2012[↩]
  8. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  9. Nuremberg, Peace of; Gordon Campbell; Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance; 2003[↩]
  10. Schmalkaldic League; Encyclopedia Britannica; 2020-05-06[↩]
  11. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  12. The Schmalkaldic War, 1546-1547; World History at KMLA; 2004-11-17[↩]
  13. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  14. The Age of the Reformation; Preserved Smith; 2006-07-20[↩]
  15. The Age of the Reformation; Preserved Smith; 2006-07-20[↩]
  16. Schmalkaldic War, The; History in 5; (Retrieved 2020-09-15) [↩]
  17. The Age of the Reformation; Preserved Smith; 2006-07-20[↩]
  18. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  19. The Schmalkaldic League: Reformation War; Robert Wilde; Thought Co; 2019-04-19[↩]
  20. The Age of the Reformation; Preserved Smith; 2006-07-20[↩]
  21. The Schmalkaldic War, 1546-1547; World History at KMLA; 2004-11-17[↩]
  22. Schmalkaldic League; Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, The; 2012[↩]
  23. The Age of the Reformation; Preserved Smith; 2006-07-20[↩]
  24. Peace of Augsburg; Encyclopedia Britannica; 2019-09-18[↩]
  25. Peace of Augsburg; Encyclopedia Britannica; 2019-09-18[↩]
Remember: links were correct at time of publication.

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