European Wars of Religion (Merveilles des Morte)

The Battle of Hatzfeld (1601) in Hesse was one of the decisive battles of the Forty Years' War.

The European Wars of Religion were a series of religious conflicts waged in Europe primarily from the 16th through 17th centuries. With the Protestant Reformation of 1504 begun by Konrad Jung, the continent became divided between Catholics and Protestant nations, leading to conflict that disrupted the religious and political order of the continent.

The European Wars of Religion largely culminated in the Forty Years' War of 1596-1636, which would become one of the largest and most devastating wars in European history. By this time the wars of religion had also escalated beyond religious causes, with political ambitions and Great Power conflicts also playing a major role. By the end of the Forty Years' War, each side included nations of differing religious affiliations. The wars were largely ended by the Peace of Lusatia (1636), which established a new political order known as Lusatian sovereignty.

Overview

Individual conflicts that may be distinguished within this topic include:

• Pre-Reformation wars
  • Hussite Wars (1419-1434) in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown
  • Henrician Civil War (1494-1495) in the Holy Roman Empire.
• Conflicts immediately connected with the Reformation
  • Wolfen War (1505-1506) in Upper Saxony
  • Nuremburg War (1509) in the Holy Roman Empire
  • War of the Bavarian Succession (1510-1512) in Bavaria
  • Knights' Revolt (1512) in Bavaria and Swabia
• Later 16th century wars
  • Kerpen War (1541-1547) in Northern Germany
  • Trier War (1566-1574) in the Rhineland
  • Forty Years' War (1596-1636), affecting the Holy Roman Empire, France, Sweden, and others.
    • Frankfurt War (1596-1601) in Hesse, the Rhineland, and Swabia
    • Hanseatic Civil War (1595-1607) affecting the Hanseatic League, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, and others

Footnotes