Everything about War Of The League Of Schmalkalden totally explained
The
Schmalkaldic League was a defensive
alliance of
Lutheran princes within the
Holy Roman Empire during the mid-
16th century. Although originally started for religious motives soon after the start of the
Protestant Reformation, its members eventually intended for the League to replace the
Holy Roman Empire as their source of political allegiance. While it wasn't the first alliance of its kind, unlike previous formations, such as the
League of Torgau, the Schmalkaldic League had a substantial military to defend its political and religious interests. It receives its name from the town of
Schmalkalden, in the
German province of
Thuringia.
Origins and members
The League was officially established on
February 27,
1531, by
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, and
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, the two most powerful Protestant rulers at the time. It originated as a defensive religious alliance, with the members pledging to defend each other should their territories be attacked by
Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The League quickly became more of a territorial political movement, as breaking from the
Catholic Church offered significant economic advantages. In December,
1535, the league admitted anyone who would subscribe to the
Augsburg Confession, thus
Anhalt,
Württemberg,
Pomerania, as well as the
free imperial cities of
Augsburg,
Hanover,
Frankfurt am Main, and
Kempten joined the alliance. In 1535
Francis I of France joined the League against the Hapsburgs, but later retracted due to religious conflicts from within. In
1538 it allied with
Denmark. In 1539 the League acquired
Brandenburg, which was under the leadership of
Joachim II Hector. In
1545 the League gained the allegiance of the
Rhenish Palinate, under the control of
Elector Frederick III. In
1544 Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire signed the
Treaty of Speyer, which stated that during the reign of
Christian III of Denmark Denmark would maintain a peaceful foreign policy towards the Holy Roman Empire.
Activities
The members of the League agreed to provide 10,000
infantry and 2,000
cavalry for their mutual protection. They rarely provoked Charles directly, but confiscated Church land, expelled bishops and
Catholic princes, and helped spread
Lutheranism throughout northern
Germany.
Martin Luther planned to present to the League the
Schmalkald Articles, a stricter Protestant confession, during a meeting in 1537. Luther attended the critical meeting in 1537, but spent most of his time suffering from kidney stones. The rulers and princes even met in the home where Luther was staying. Though Luther was asked to prepare the articles of faith that came to be known as the Smalcald Articles, they were not formally adopted at the time of the meeting, though later they were incorporated into the Lutheran Confessions, in the Book of Concord, of 1580, in German, and in Latin translation, in the official Latin edition of the Book of Concord, the Leipzig edition of 1584.
For fifteen years the League was able to exist without opposition, because Charles was busy fighting wars with
France and the
Ottoman Empire. The
Ottoman-Habsburg wars lasted from
1526 until
1571. In 1535 Charles led a
successful campaign against Tunis. Francis I of France, in an effort to limit the power of the Habsburgs, allied with Suleiman the Magnificant of the Ottoman Empire. The
Italian War of 1535-1538, between France and the Holy Roman Empire, ended in 1538 with the Truce of Nice. The final war during this period Charles fought against France, the
Italian War of 1542-1546, ended with inconclusive results and the
Treaty of Crépy. On
April 24,
1547, the imperial forces gathered by Charles and
Pope Paul III routed the League's forces at the
Battle of Mühlberg, capturing many leaders, including, most notably, Johann Frederick the Magnanimous and Philip of Hesse, and forcing residents of thirty different cities to reconvert. This battle effectively won the war for Charles; only two cities continued to resist. Many of the princes and key reformers, such as
Martin Bucer, fled to England, where they directly influenced the
English Reformation.
Aftermath
In
1548 the victorious Charles forced the Schmalkaldic League to agree to the terms set forth in the
Augsburg Interim. However, by the
1550s, Protestantism had established itself too firmly within Central Europe to be ended by brute force. A small Protestant victory in 1552 forced Charles, weary from three decades of war, to sign the
Peace of Passau, which granted some freedoms to Protestants and ended all of Charles' hopes at religious unity within his empire. Three years later, the
Peace of Augsburg granted Lutheranism official status within the Holy Roman Empire and let princes choose the official religion within the domains they controlled.
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