Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

had won a victory against

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

forces in the

Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (german: link=no, Schmalkaldischer Krieg) was the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (simultaneously King Charles I ...

of 1547. Many Protestant princes were unhappy with the religious terms of the

Augsburg Interim The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548 Diet ...

imposed after this victory. In January 1552, led by

Maurice of Saxony Maurice (21 March 1521 – 9 July 1553) was Duke (1541–47) and later Elector (1547–53) of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity. ...

, many formed an alliance with

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

at the Treaty of Chambord. In return for French funding and assistance, Henry was promised lands in western Germany. In the ensuing

Princes' Revolt The Second Schmalkaldic War, also known as the Princes' Revolt (German: ''Fürstenaufstand'', ''Fürstenkrieg'' or ''Fürstenverschwörung''), was an uprising of German Protestant princes led by elector Maurice of Saxony against the Catholic emp ...

, also known as the

Second Schmalkaldic War The Second Schmalkaldic War, also known as the Princes' Revolt (German: ''Fürstenaufstand'', ''Fürstenkrieg'' or ''Fürstenverschwörung''), was an uprising of German Protestant princes led by elector Maurice of Saxony against the Catholic emp ...

, Charles was driven out of Germany to his ancestral lands in Austria, Innsbruck by the Protestant alliance, while Henry captured the three Rhine Bishoprics of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

and

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul ...

. In August 1552, weary from three decades of religious civil war, Charles guaranteed

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

religious freedoms in the Peace of

Passau Passau (; bar, label= Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

. The implementation of the Augsburg Interim was cancelled. The Protestant princes taken prisoner during the Schmalkaldic War,

John Frederick of Saxony John Frederick I (30 June 1503 in Torgau – 3 March 1554 in Weimar), called the Magnanimous, was the Elector of Saxony (1532–1547) and head of the Schmalkaldic League. Early years John Frederick was the eldest son of Elector John by his firs ...

and Philip of Hesse, were released. A precursor to the Peace of Augsburg of September 1555, the Peace of Passau effectively surrendered Charles V's lifelong quest for European religious unity.Martin Jones, Clash of Empires, (CUP, 2000), p26 In August 1552 his younger brother Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria concluded the Peace of Passau, whereby he formally accepted the Lutheran Augsburg Confession, confirmed by the emperor himself in the 1555 Peace of Augsburg.

References

External links

The Peace of Passau
Treaties of the Holy Roman Empire Peace treaties Schmalkaldic War 16th century in Bavaria 1552 in the Holy Roman Empire 16th-century Christianity 1552 treaties Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor {{Europe-hist-stub