The Peace of Prague (, ), signed on 30 May 1635, ended
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
's participation in the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
. Other German princes subsequently joined the treaty and although the Thirty Years War continued, it is generally agreed Prague ended it as a
war of religion
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to ...
within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. Thereafter, the conflict was largely driven by foreign powers, including
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Some scholars regard the treaty merely as a step towards the terms of the 1648
Peace of Westphalia, but others recognise it as an important treaty in its own right that marked the boundaries between two historical eras. European historians generally pay more attention to the Peace of Prague than their non-European colleagues, who are more focused on Westphalia.
Background
The Thirty Years' War began in 1618 when
Frederick, the
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 ...
ruler of the
Palatinate, accepted the crown of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
. Many Germans remained neutral and viewed it as an inheritance dispute. With
Bavarian support,
Emperor Ferdinand quickly suppressed the
Bohemian Revolt. Troops under
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria invaded the
Palatinate in 1622 and sent Frederick into exile. However, depriving a hereditary prince of his lands changed both the nature and the extent of the war.
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mona ...
invaded Northern Germany in support of his fellow Protestants until he was defeated and
forced to withdraw in 1629. Success led Ferdinand to pass the
Edict of Restitution, which required any property transferred since 1552 to be restored to its original owner, which was in nearly every case the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. By effectively undoing the 1555
Peace of Augsburg, the edict forced moderate Protestants like
John George of Saxony and
George William of Brandenburg into opposition. That increased after 1627 by having a large Imperial army based on their lands, whose rarely-paid troops simply
took what they wanted.
Conflicts in 17th-century Europe often drew in foreign participants because of the rivalry between the
Bourbon kings of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and their
Habsburg rivals in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
and the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. Habsburg territories in the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands ( Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the ...
, the
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
and the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
blocked the expnsion of France and made it vulnerable to invasion. As a result, the Catholic Bourbons supported their Habsburg opponents, irrespective of religion, including the
Ottomans, the
Dutch and the
Danishs-Norwegians.
In 1630,
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
with
money from France and support from
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
and
Brandenburg-Prussia. After his death at the
Battle of Lützen (1632), Sweden formed the
Heilbronn League. Composed of smaller Protestant states and funded by France, the League won a series of victories until it was
defeated at Nördlingen in 1634.
That re-established a military balance and highlighted differences between the Heilbronn members. Sweden sought to preserve its grip on the lucrative
Baltic trade
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
and to retain its post-1630 acquisition of
Swedish Pomerania. To strengthen its borders in the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
and the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, France supported the Dutch and Swedish competitors in the Baltic and Maximilian of Bavaria, a leader of the anti-Swedish
Catholic League. The German allies wanted to restore the territorial position of 1618, which implied reversing French and Swedish gains.
After 1632, Ferdinand accepted Catholicism could not be re-imposed by force and opened discussions on amending the Edict of Restitution in February 1633, eighteen months before Nördlingen. The execution of Imperial Commander
Albrecht von Wallenstein in February 1634 removed a major obstacle since he had become an independent agent. With the
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 ...
states of Denmark-Norway and
Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse be ...
acting as mediators, the two parties agreed a preliminary draft in November 1634, known as the Pirnaer Noteln. Although subject to many corrections and revisions, that was the basis of the 1635 agreement.
Terms
The treaty was a bilateral agreement between Ferdinand and John George, and other states joined later. Negotiations took eight days and were held in
Prague Castle, the site of the
Defenestrations of Prague, which had begun the war in 1618. Its terms included the following;
* The Edict of Restitution was effectively revoked, and the date for returning properties was established as 12 November 1627. However, under the ''
Reservatum ecclesiasticum'', Protestant administrators of formally Catholic
prince-bishoprics and
imperial abbeys
Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imp ...
were excluded from the
Imperial Diet.
* Formal alliances between states within the Empire or with outside powers were prohibited, which led to dissolution of the Catholic and Heilbronn Leagues.
* In principle, the armies of the various states were unified into the
Army of the Holy Roman Empire, but that proved almost impossible to enforce;
* A general amnesty was granted to those who had fought against Imperial troops, apart from descendants of former "Winter King"
Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596–1632).
Aftermath
Accessions
Many other states and rulers subsequently
acceded to the treaty, including:
* 31 August 1635:
George, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg
George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (17 February 1582, in Celle – 12 April 1641, in Hildesheim), ruled as Prince of Calenberg from 1635.
George was the sixth son of William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1535–1592) and Dorothea of Denmark ...
–
Principality of Calenberg and
Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
*
Electorate of Brandenburg
*
Electorate of Mainz
*
Ferdinand of Bavaria –
Electorate of Cologne,
Prince-Bishopric of Münster
The Prince-Bishopric of Münster (german: Fürstbistum Münster; Bistum Münster, Hochstift Münster) was a large ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western L ...
(the Chapter of Münster signed as a separate party), and
Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn
*
Franz von Hatzfeld –
Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg
*
George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt –
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse bet ...
*
Saxe-Weimar
*
Saxe-Gotha
*
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Ho ...
*The
princes of Anhalt
*
Countess Katharine of Lippe-Detmold
* Count of Zweibrücken-Hanau
*
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
cities such as the
Free City of Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and the
Free City of Bremen
* Several
imperial cities
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
such as
**
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
(which never achieved imperial city status)
**
Free City of Frankfurt
For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities:
*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806)
*The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...
**
Imperial City of Memmingen
**
Free Imperial City of Nuremberg
**
Free Imperial City of Ulm
*
Electorate of Bavaria
Some exceptions:
* Calvinist
William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel initially also acceded to the Peace of Prague but in 1636 concluded an alliance with France instead, which earned him an
imperial ban.
* The
Imperial City of Strasbourg did not accede to the treaty.
* The
Duchy of Württemberg
The Duchy of Württemberg (german: Herzogtum Württemberg) was a duchy located in the south-western part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1806. The dukedom's long survival for over three centuries ...
was explicitly excluded from the treaty.
Imperial restoration and territorial changes
Some of the states that later acceded to the Peace of Prague received minor concessions:
Brandenburg-Prussia was confirmed as holder of
Farther Pomerania, previously a possession of the last
Duke Bogislaw XIV.
In 1623, Saxony occupied the
Bohemian crown lands of
Lower and
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to t ...
in return for its support during the
Bohemian Revolt. Under the ''Traditionsrezess'' annex of 1636, Ferdinand ceded both territories in perpetuity, plus the towns of
Jüterbog,
Dahme and Burg Querfurt. John George also received the
Archbishopric of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.
Planned since 955 and established in 968, the R ...
and
Halberstadt
Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...
, after agreeing not to
secularise them; these were transferred to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648.
While Ferdinand continued the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
in his own lands, it is generally agreed the Peace of Prague ended it as an internal religious conflict and re-established the principle of ''
cuius regio, eius religio
() is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual ...
''. By renouncing their right to create alliances and handing over control of armed forces, the Imperial estates, in return, acknowledged the supremacy of the Emperor.
Continuation of wars
However, those principles were not universally followed and hostilities continued, including the
Hessian War
The Hessian War (german: Hessenkrieg), in its wider sense sometimes also called the Hessian Wars (''Hessenkriege''), was a drawn out conflict that took place between 1567 and 1648, sometimes pursued through diplomatic means, sometimes by military ...
(1567–1648), a bitter religious war of succession between Hesse-Darmstadt and
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the L ...
, as well as foreign intervention. On 19 May 1635, France
declared war on Spain. While his brother
William joined the Peace with the duchy of Saxe-Weimar,
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (german: Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War.
Biography
Born in Weimar within the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johan ...
and his army were employed by France against Spanish possessions in
Lorraine and in the Rhineland. In 1642, Sweden fought again
fought again at Breitenfeld, won decisively and overran Saxony. That prompted many German states to shift towards neutrality and to negiotate independently from the Emperor. The different war parties fought on in the hope of improving their position, and peace was not finally achieved until the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Notes
References
Sources
*
**
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Scan of the Imperial-Saxon treaty at IEG Mainz, 81 pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prague, Peace Of
1635 in Europe
Prague (1635)
Prague (1635)
Prague (1635)
1635 treaties
Treaties of the Electorate of Saxony
Treaties of the Electorate of Bavaria
1635 in the Holy Roman Empire
17th century in Saxony
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor