Strasbourg Bishops' War
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The Strasbourg Bishops' War (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
: ''Bischöflicher Krieg'' or ''Straßburger Kapitelstreit'';Gerhard Taddey: ''Straßburger Kapitelstreit''. In: Gerhard Taddey (ed.): ''Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte. Personen, Ereignisse, Institutionen. Von der Zeitwende bis zum Ausgang des 2. Weltkrieges.'' 2., überarbeitete Auflage. Kröner, Stuttgart 1983, , p. 1204f. ; ) (1592–1604) was a conflict between
Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
for control of the Bishopric of Strasbourg. It was one of only two sectarian or confessional conflicts, both highly localised, that occurred within the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
between the
Peace of Augsburg The Peace of Augsburg (), also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Schmalkaldic League, signed on 25 September 1555 in the German city of Augsburg. It officially ended the religious struggl ...
(1555) and the outbreak of the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
(1618). It was less bloody than the
Cologne War The Cologne War (, ''Kölnischer Krieg'', '' Truchsessischer Krieg''; 1583–1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Em ...
(1583–88). It coincided with the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
and the Spanish Winter (1598–99), and the Catholic victory caused Protestants in Germany great worry that the tide had turned decidedly against them.


Background

The emergence of the
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
and
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
doctrines following the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, soon led to the first large scale interdenominational conflict between those new creeds. The
Schmalkaldic War The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...
ended in 1555 with signing of the
Peace of Augsburg The Peace of Augsburg (), also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Schmalkaldic League, signed on 25 September 1555 in the German city of Augsburg. It officially ended the religious struggl ...
. The Free Imperial City of
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
benefited from the treaty by gaining further autonomy, now being able to pursue its own ecclesiastical policies. Strasbourg's status as an important trading hub along with the appeal of its
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, attracted radical thinkers from both sides of the religious spectrum including
Hans Denck Hans Denck ( – November 27, 1527) was a German theologian and Anabaptist leader during the Reformation. Biography Denck was born in 1495 in the Bavarian town of Habach. He entered the University of Ingolstadt on October 10, 1517, and graduate ...
, Girolamo Zanchi, and
Michael Servetus Michael Servetus (; ; ; also known as ''Michel Servetus'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance ...
to name but a few. However, by the second half of the century the city started leaning towards Lutheranism under the leadership of Johann Marbach, a former doctoral student of
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
. In his capacity as the President of the Company of Pastors, Marbach organized annual visitations to the 14 rural parishes under the city's control. The visitations included meetings during which
catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...
s were delivered, while the life and beliefs of every parishioner were publicly examined and those not in accord with the official doctrine were admonished.


Conflict

At the start of the war, Strasbourg was a Protestant-majority city and its cathedral chapter comprised twelve Protestants and seven Catholics. The immediate cause of the war was the death of Bishop Johann von Manderscheid and the disputed election to replace him. The Protestants feared the powerful Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, whom the Catholic canons had invited to join the chapter in 1585, and who stood for election as bishop. To hedge against this, the Protestants seized the episcopal offices and held their own election on 20 May to replace Manderscheid. Their choice fell upon the 15-year-old Johann Georg, son of the
Elector of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Prince-elector, Electors of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg during the time when Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the prima ...
, Joachim III Frederick. This decision was designed to unite Protestants across Germany behind them. On this occasion, Johannes Pappus, president of the ''Compagnie des Pasteurs'' (''Kirchenconvent''), delivered a sermon on the "ministry, character and election of a bishop", but only the Protestants were present to hear it. After the election, the Catholic canons had fled to
Saverne Saverne (, ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a mountain pass, pass ...
and there elected Charles bishop in opposition to Johann Georg on 9 June. At first, the Protestants purchased the support of Duke
Frederick I of Württemberg Frederick I (Frederick William Charles, ; 6 November 1754 – 30 October 1816) was the ruler of Württemberg from 1797 to his death. He was the last Duke of Württemberg from 1797 to 1803, then the first and only Elector of Württemberg from ...
by accepting from him a loan of 300,000
florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...
s. In turn Johann Georg ceded to Württemberg the district of Oberkirch, which connected the duchy to two of its enclaves in
Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
. Frederick's son, Louis Frederick, aged six, was made a canon and promised the succession to Johann Georg. In the first year of the war, locally raised troops under Christian of Anhalt halted the invasion of Charles of Lorraine. At Saverne, Charles was joined by his 20-year-old brother
Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
, who brought with him forty cavalrymen. Charles's war treasury, managed at Paris by his treasurer, Stefano del Poggio, disbursed 15,386
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s during his time at Saverne, and in 1593 another 35,392 francs were spent on military ventures in Alsace. The reclusive
Emperor Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...
refused to mediate the conflict, and so
Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
—a Protestant convert to Catholicism—intervened in 1593. In September, he secured the division of the bishopric between the contending prelates: seven districts, including Saverne, went to Charles and six, including Oberkirch, to Johann Georg. Charles felt compelled to apologise to King
Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
, whose Catholic troops were at that moment fighting the Protestant Dutch, for this compromise. This provisional state persisted until 1604, when the Duke of Württemberg offered to pension Johann Georg and pay off his debts if he would resign the bishopric to Charles. This he did, and in return Charles ceded Oberkirch to Württemberg for a term of thirty years in the Treaty of Haguenau (22 November 1604). The Bishops' War turned out to be less about confessionalism than the dynastic interests of the
House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is an uradel, ancient German nobility, German dynasty and former royal family of the Kingdom of Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors ...
.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strasbourg Bishops' War Diocesan feuds 1590s conflicts European wars of religion 1600s conflicts Wars involving the Holy Roman Empire 1590s in the Holy Roman Empire 1600s in the Holy Roman Empire Military history of Strasbourg