The Treaty of Hamburg, signed on 5 March 1638 (to "l'echange des ratifications du Traite conclu a Wismar le 20 Mars 1636) was the ratification of the important

Treaty of Wismar The Treaty of Wismar was signed on 20 March 1636 by France and Sweden at Wismar in Mecklenburg. The accord was negotiated for Sweden by Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, Count of Södermöre who was regent for Christina, Queen of Sweden. The ...

a full two years after it had been negotiated by

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

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 representatives of Queen Christina of

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 ...

. As it provided the Swedes with crucial funds to go on the offensive again, it was a major turning point of 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 batt ...

. In 1634 the Swedes/Protestants had suffered a crushing defeat at

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It wa ...

and it was clear to the French that they had to be much more active or

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...

would win the war. The half-hearted Treaty of Compiègne in April 1635 was a first attempt to support the Swedes but after their most powerful former ally Saxony had changed sides in the Peace of Prague in May and the dissolution of the Protestant

Heilbronn League The Heilbronn League was formed in the Free Imperial City of Heilbronn, on 23 April 1633, during the Thirty Years' War. Led by Sweden, it brought together various Protestant states in western and northern Germany. It was supported by Saxony a ...

which had provided the greatest share of Swedish finance the Protestant cause looked desperate. Swedish chancellor

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (; 1583–1654), Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a c ...

at the time was open to a financial offer by the Emperor but that never materialized. Also in May 1635 the French war with Spanish Habsburg broke out. In October, the highly regarded Protestant

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 formerly Swedish mercenary army were taken into French service, so basically cash-strapped Sweden had to hold on to Northern Germany only with a hand full of Northern allies. The victory at Wittstock in Brandenburg in October 1636, two years after Nördlingen, proved that Sweden was still a player but before the treaty of Hamburg

Johan Banér Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War. Early life Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four-year-old he was forced to witness how his father, the Privy Councillo ...

was chased from Saxony to Pommern by Matthias Gallas in 1637. Based on the terms of the treaty, France paid Sweden 1,000,000

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 g ...

for its military contributions against the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. Moreover, the accord confirmed their alliance set by the tenets of the

which had been negotiated in March 1636.

References

External links

Chronology of Sweden
1638 treaties Hamburg (1638) Hamburg (1638) Treaty of Hamburg (1638) 1638 in Sweden 1638 in France France–Sweden relations Bilateral treaties of Sweden Bilateral treaties of France Thirty Years' War {{Germany-hist-stub

See also

References

Related reading

External links