Henrician Civil War (Merveilles des Morte): Difference between revisions
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Henrician Civil War Merveilles des Morte | |||||||
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Part of the Proto-Reformation | |||||||
![]() " The 'Sack of Frankfurt' by the army of Hanns von Wulfestorff in 1495, as depicted by J. M. W. Turner's 18th century rendition." | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Holy League:
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Whites: Moderates: ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
Total: 20-60,000+ dead |
The Henrician Civil War refers to the brief conflict in the Holy Roman Empire around the time of the election of Henry IX as Emperor. The war was precipitated by the ongoing Adamite movement (later considered a precursor to the Reformation), which was centered around the Duchy of Thuringia. Henry IX was elected partially on a promise of opposing his grandfather, the controversial figure known as the Thin White Duke, and on combating the Adamite heresy. Ongoing at the time of the election was an inquisition in Thuringia primarily led by the Archbishop of Mainz and the famed military commander Hanns von Wulfestorff. When Mainz demanded that Henry IX allow the deposing of his grandfather, Henry refused and had Wulfestorff and Archbishop Adelbert dismissed from the government. Rather than stand down, Wulfestorff used his inquisition forces to cross the Main and attack the capital at Frankfurt, earning him the nickname "Caesar of Germany". Wulfestorff consolidated control over the government in what became known as the January Purges, creating a religiously-reactionary dictatorship from Frankfurt, and proceeded to annex Thuringia by force.
Throughout much of 1495 Henry IX struggled to defend Thuringia and central Germany from the much more prepared Wulfestorff. Even after Adelbert's untimely death and succession to the more moderate Bertrand of Villingen, it became clear that Wulfestorff had no intention of giving up power. Although the Adamite heresy in Thuringia was effectively combated, a "reign of terror" followed, in which Wulfestorff policed much of the Empire for religious dissent. At the Second Battle of Frankfurt in late 1495, Wulfestorff was defeated and killed in battle by an alliance of the Emperor and the "Whites Faction", which was itself an uneasy union between ducal Thuringian forces, various heretical groups, and anti-government forces. This allowed Henry IX to retake control over the government of the Holy Roman Empire. He effectively ended the violent inquisition of Thuringia, after the Thin White Duke was cleared of the charge of heresy by a ecclesiastical court in Frankfurt, and curtailed the influence of Mainz in government for the duration of his reign.
Although the Adamite uprising in Thuringia was effectively crushed, the Henrician Civil War would not spell the end for religious conflict in the Holy Roman Empire.