Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Thirty Years War

While the Thirty Years War ultimately began in 1618, this was not the beginning of religious tension and conflict within Europe. In 1555 the Peace of Augsburg was signed stating “Cuius Regno, Eius Religio” meaning whoever is in ruling gets to dictate the religion of their territory. This became an issue when a Catholic leader began ruling over a primarily Protestant population. So if the Thirty Years War was simply a religious war, then why was so much of the political system affected by the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants? In this essay, I hope to explore other factors that influenced the Thirty Years War.

The Bohemians elected Fredrick V as their new king. Ferdinand then called upon his cousin, King Philip II of Spain for help. Ferdinand formed an army to oppose the Bohemians. Count Bucquoy, an Austrian Catholic, won a huge battle against the Protestants at Sablat in June of 1619. The battle caused the Protestant to loose an ally in Savoy. The Spanish sent an army under the command of Ambrosio Spinola to aid Ferdinand. In the fall of 1620, the Spanish and Holy Roman Empire's army advanced on the Protestant forces in Bohemia. On November 8, 1620, the Protestants were defeated at the Battle of the White Mountain. Fredrick's defeat earned him the nickname the Winter King . Tilly, commander of a Catholic force caught up with the reminder of the Bohemian protestant force, and defeated them at the Battle of Stadtlohn in 1623. The Catholics were victorious in the first phase. This battle was the last major battle of the Bohemian phase of the Thirty Years War .

In document seven, Martin Luther criticizes the pope and the Church for their use of indulgences. Luther claims that people are falsely being forgiven for their sins with the use of money. He thinks this is teaching the false doctrine of money being more important than ethics. People should be forgiven by God, not by money, and should do so through helping the needy instead of buying the indulgences.

Martin Luther was a German professor of theology at Wittensberg. He later left his studies to peruse monkhood. In doing this, Luther had a lot of time to think about his relationship with God and realize the flaws in the church. Luther disagreed with many teachings/ ideas of the Roman Church, which he than acted upon. He strongly disputed the idea that one can obtain freedom from God 's punishment for committing sin by purchasing an expensive piece of paper from the church called an Indulgence. He wrote all about the usefulness of indulgences in community in a very sarcastic tone in Theses Ninety-Five in 1517. Although demanded, Luther refused to rid of his writings at the request of Pope Charles V.

With indulgences, evil people may be able to buy indulgences and believe themselves to be forgiven, while poor people may not afford indulgences and believe they are cursed with sin, despite their behavior. Bishops are more obligated to selling indulgences, while their sole purpose should be to prevent men from teaching their personal dreams. Indulgences were a way for the rich to become more wealthy, while the poor may be swapping the purchase of necessities for the purchase of indulgences, believing this would save them and their loved ones from condemnation. Luther stated both that “Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences,” and that “Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.” Luther emphasized that good people were better than people who sought to purchase indulgences. In many of his thesis, Luther affirmed that indulgences are not neccessary for forgiveness and that forgiveness is not granted with the purchase of indulgences. He shares his fear that those who buy indulgences would neglect to repent and fear God. These people would be convicted. As for the dead, Luther believed that your debts were erased. Those in Purgatory needed to find love, and this would reduce their sins and punishments. Luther also disapproved of priests who “act ignorantly

Martin Luther poked at the Church practice of the sale of indulgences, which was the full or partial grant of the forgiveness and pardoning of the penalties of sin. He did this with the 95 Theses. The 95 Theses were ideas that Luther posted on the Church doors in Wittenburg, Germany stating that he wanted the Catholic Church to change their current corrupted ways. “To Luther, the sale of indulgences made a mockery of God’s gifts, so he took a stance against the abuses of the Church with his work.” The situation surrounding the theses were the activities of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was highly criticized by Luther in his work because it became too powerful and there was corruption in the system. The Church became less religious and became more of a political entry, making the Church ruthless. Luther believed that the Church should become concerned about the general well-being of the Catholic people and that salvation should be for everybody, not for the people who buy their way in using indulgences. In Concerning Christian Liberty, he discussed the wrongs, like corruption, of the Catholic Church to Pope Leo X. “You see, however, which is called the Court of Rome, and which neither you nor any man can deny to be more corrupt than Babylon or

The Bohemian Phase, the first part of the war lasted from 1618 to 1625.  Prior to the war the king of Bohemia, Ferdinand of Styria who was the Holy Roman Emperor, he had ordered a decree which would have centralized the kingdom in an attempt of having the Protestant churches be closed or only give Catholic services as a result it uproars within the estates one of the uproars led to the Defenestration of Prague. The Defenestration of Prague was one of the revolts of the Bohemian Estates against the King. The main act of rebellion that took place in the Defenestration of Prague was when the people of the estates threw two of the King’s governors out a window. Due to the actions of Ferdinand the empire had elected the Elector of Palatinate Frederick V as the next king. Since Frederick was a student of the Protestant Prince Anhalt, there was a better chance of him as the next king. In the war Frederick’s adversary in both religious and political rule was Maximilian I of Bavaria. Maximilian was the leader of the League of Catholic Princes. On June 1, 1620 by the League, Frederick was told to leave Bohemia it was not long after that Frederick was unable to settle the most simple of

One thing that Luther did not like about the church was that the church officials were selling Indulgences to people so that they would not have to go to Hell and pay for what that had done. Indulgences were also for people to pay for loved ones that had passed so that they would have less time in Purgatory. Purgatory is a place between Heaven and Hell that catholic’s believed was known as a holding place for people that weren’t suppose to go to heaven yet. It was where you done all you’re forgiving before going to heaven. Purgatory isn’t a place but a state of existence.

With Europe entering the 17th century, its citizens were still undergoing the prosperity that coincided with the emergence of the Renaissance. Economic growth, newly-structured capitalistic movements as well as trans-Atlantic expansion, became the successes of Europe and, as a result, its citizens overcame the overwhelming death toll (due to previous wars and the notorious Black Plague ). This led to an explicit reevaluation of life, the importance of religion, and prospects of power—which all soared to an all-time high. One example of a reevaluation of the “prospects of power” would be the decrees and regulations undertaken by monarchs of the 17th century in response to the Church. Often times, secular rulers would amass power and favorability

As Protestantism began to spread in Europe, tension arose between Catholics and Protestants. The tension caused war between monarchs, nobles, and common people over religion. However, the many wars evolved into being about much more than religion; they became about politics and specifically, a struggle for power. Many people throughout Europe saw religion as a perfect pretext for the real reason of war: power. Through the seemingly infinite wars of religion, politics and religion came hand in hand. As exemplified by the Dutch Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War, religion was the starting cause of both wars, but political power was the true justification in the end.

Albert of Mainz, the Archbishop of Mainz in Germany, had borrowed heavily to pay for his high church rank and was deeply in debt. He agreed to allow the sale of the indulgences in his territory in exchange for a cut of the proceeds. Luther was apparently not aware of this. Even though Luther's prince, Frederick III, and the prince of the neighboring territory, George, Duke of Saxony, forbade the sale thereof in their respective lands, people in Wittenberg traveled to purchase them. When these people came to confession, they presented their plenary indulgences for which they paid, claiming they no longer had to repent of their sins, since the document promised to forgive all their sins. Luther was outraged that they had paid money for what was theirs by right as a free gift from God. He felt compelled to expose the fraud that was being sold to the people. This exposure was to take place in the form of a public scholarly debate at the University of Wittenberg. The Ninety-Five Theses outlined the items to be discussed and issued the challenge to any and all

This fundamental difference from the Catholic dogma that one could buy salvation to Luther’s new ideas as way to Heaven began to transform many people’s beliefs. Supporters of Luther adopted the concept of faith and knowledge of God as a way to repent their sins, and eventually, it reshaped the Christian culture. As Luther personally struggled to be a “perfect” monk, he discovered that faith in the gospel was the only way to be “made righteous by God”(roper 78). In response to his distress for his laity’s desire to buy indulgences, Luther wrote the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” He knew he was attacking the pope and the values of the church, but records show that he felt “...not fully in control of his actions, but handed over responsibility to a higher power”(84 roper). Cleary, Luther felt a spiritual connection with God and indulgences were in direct opposition to faith. His revolutionary claims in the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” caused a conflict that would eventually be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Furthermore, while watching the video, “Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther” it’s clear that there was a lack of equality in the Catholic church between the leaders and the church. Martin Luther was a leader of the Protestant Reformation who believed that followers weren’t receiving equal treatment, so he decided to come up with 95 theses: “Luther was arguing against the sale of indulgences, and that kind of monetary transaction for getting into heaven… there was a perception that the church, at times, was a rather corrupt institution” (Khan academy video). This quote from the video explains that the Catholic church was acting in a corrupt matter and seemed more concerned about political power than the salvation of souls. Indulgences were give and take, a free passage into heaven when once bought.

Lutheranism developed in lieu of the Roman Catholic Church’s high use of indulgences. During the 16th century, indulgences were often used as “offering[s of] forgiveness of sins in exchange for certain payments” (Hillerbrand 7657). This often included paying sums of money to or for the Roman Catholic Church to save the soul from Purgatory. This sparked Luther’s famous 95 Theses in which he questions the use of indulgences and names some of the issues seen with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Swedes were directly involved in the Thirty Years War. Their Lutheran king, Gustavus Adolphus, was one of the most significant leaders during the time of these religious wars. He was known as the "Father of Modern Warfare" due to his actions and contributions towards the Battle of Breitenfeld.