Peace of Augsburg
The Peace of Augsburg tianna, also called the Augsburg Settlement,[1] was a treaty between Charles V
(the predecessor of Ferdinand II) and the Schmalkaldic
League signed on September 25, 1555, at the imperial
city of Augsburg. It officially ended the religious struggle between the two groups and made the legal division of Christendom permanent within the Holy Roman
Empire, allowing rulers to choose either Lutheranism or
Roman Catholicism as the official confession of their
state. Calvinism was not allowed until the Peace of Westphalia.
The treaty, negotiated on Charles’ behalf by his brother
Ferdinand, effectively gave Lutheranism official status
within the domains of the Holy Roman Empire. According to the policy of cuius regio, eius religio (“who rules,
his religion”, or “in the Prince’s land, the Prince’s religion”), the religion (Roman Catholic or Lutheran) of a
region’s ruler determined the religion of its people. During a grace period, families could choose to move to a
region where their faith was practiced. (Article 24: “In
case our subjects, whether belonging to the old religion
or the Augsburg Confession, should intend leaving their
homes with their wives and children in order to settle
in another, they shall be hindered neither in the sale of
their estates after due payment of the local taxes nor injured in their honour.”) Knights and towns who had prac1 Overview
ticed Lutheranism for some time were exempted under
the Declaratio Ferdinandei, but the Ecclesiastical reserThe Peace established the principle Cuius regio, eius reli- vation supposedly prevented the principle of cuius regio,
gio, which allowed Holy Roman Empire’s states’ princes eius religio from being applied if an ecclesiastical ruler
to select either Lutheranism or Catholicism within the converted to Lutheranism.
domains they controlled, ultimately reaffirming the independence they had over their states. Subjects, citizens,
or residents who did not wish to conform to the prince’s
choice were given a period in which they were free to em- 2 Main Principles
igrate to different regions in which their desired religion
The Peace of Augsburg contained three main
had been accepted.
principles:[3]
Charles V had made a provisional ruling on the religious question, the Augsburg Interim of 1548; this of1. The principle of cuius regio, eius religio (“Whose
fered a temporary ruling on the legitimacy of two relirealm, his religion”) provided for internal religious
gious creeds in the empire, and codified by law on 30
unity within a state: the religion of the prince beJune 1548 upon the insistence of Charles V, who wanted
came the religion of the state and all its inhabito work out religious differences under the auspices of a
tants. Those inhabitants who could not conform to
general council of the Catholic Church. The Interim rethe prince’s religion were allowed to leave, an inflected largely Catholic principles of religious behavior in
novative idea in the sixteenth century. This princiits 26 articles, but it did allow for marriage of the clergy,
ple was discussed at length by the various delegates,
and the giving of both bread and wine to the laity. This led
who finally reached agreement on the specifics of its
to resistance by the Protestant territories, who proclaimed
[2]
wording after examining the problem and the protheir own Interim at Leipzig the following year.
posed solution from every possible angle.[4]
The Interim was overthrown in 1552 by the revolt of the
Protestant elector Maurice of Saxony and his allies. In
2. The second principle, called the reservatum ecclethe negotiations at Passau in the summer of 1552, even
siasticum (ecclesiastical reservation), covered the
the Catholic princes had called for a lasting peace, fearspecial status of the ecclesiastical state. If the
ing the religious controversy would never be settled. The
prelate of an ecclesiastic state changed his religion,
emperor, however, was unwilling to recognize the rethe men and women living in that state did not have
ligious division in Western Christendom as permanent.
to do so. Instead, the prelate was expected to resign
This document was foreshadowed by the Peace of Pasfrom his post, although this was not spelled out in
sau, which in 1552 gave Lutherans religious freedom afthe agreement.[5]
ter a victory by Protestant armies. Under the Passau doc3. The third principle, known as Declaratio Ferdiument, Charles granted a peace only until the next impenandei (Ferdinand’s Declaration), exempted knights
rial Diet. The meeting was called in early 1555.
1
2
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY
and some of the cities from the requirement of religious uniformity, if the reformed religion had been
practiced there since the mid-1520s, allowing for
a few mixed cities and towns where Catholics and
Lutherans had lived together. It also protected the
authority of the princely families, the knights and
some of the cities to determine what religious uniformity meant in their territories. Ferdinand inserted this at the last minute, on his own authority.[6]
The third principle exempted knights and some of
the cities under the jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical
prince if they had practiced Lutheranism for some time
(Lutheranism was the only branch of Protestantism recognized under the Peace). The provision was not publicized as part of the treaty, and was kept secret for almost
two decades.[7]
3
Problems
measures that led to the Thirty Years’ War. One of the
more notable measures was the Second Defenestration of
Prague (1618) in which two representatives of the fiercely
Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II were thrown
out of a castle window in Prague.
4 Aftermath
The principle of ecclesiastical reservation was tested in
the Cologne War (1583-1588), which grew out of the scenario envisioned by Ferdinand when he wrote the proviso:
the reigning Prince-Bishop converted to Protestantism;
although he did not insist that the population convert, he
placed Calvinism on a parity with Catholicism throughout the Electorate of Cologne. This in itself created a
two-fold legal problem: first, Calvinism was considered a
heresy; second, the Elector did not resign his see, which
made him eligible, at least in theory, to cast a ballot for
emperor. Finally, his marriage posed a very real potential to convert the Electorate into a dynastic principality,
shifting the balance of religious power in the Empire.
A side effect of the religious turmoil was Charles’ decision to abdicate and divide Habsburg territory into two
sections. His brother Ferdinand ruled the Austrian lands,
and Charles’ fervently Catholic son, Philip II, became administrator of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, parts of
Italy, and other overseas holdings.
5 Notes
[1] Hughes, Michael (1992). Early Modern Germany, 14771804, MacMillan Press and University of Pennsylvania
Press, Philadelphia, p. 59. ISBN 0-8122-1427-7.
[2] here
Representatives of the German estates at the Augsburg conference
discuss the possibilities of a religious peace.
The document itself had critical problems. While it
gave legal basis for the practice of the Lutheran confession, it did not accept any of the Reformed traditions,
such as Calvinism, or for Anabaptism. Although the
Peace of Augsburg was moderately successful in relieving tension in the empire and increasing tolerance, it left
important things undone. Neither the Anabaptists nor
the Calvinists were protected under the peace, so many
Protestant groups living under the rule of a Lutheran
prince still found themselves in danger of the charge of
heresy. (Article 17: “However, all such as do not belong to the two above named religions shall not be included in the present peace but be totally excluded from
it.”) These minorities did not achieve any legal recognition until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The intolerance towards Calvinists caused them to take desperate
[3] For a general discussion of the impact of the Reformation
on the Holy Roman Empire, see Holborn, chapters 6–9
(pp. 123–248).
[4] Steven Ozment, The Age of Reform 1250–1550 (1980)
p.259n13.
[5] Parker, Geoffrey. The Thirty Years’ War, p. 17. ISBN
0-415-12883-8
[6] Holborn, pp. 244–245.
[7] Parker, Geoffrey. The Thirty Years’ War, 2nd Edition. p.
17. ISBN 0-415-12883-8
6 Bibliography
• Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany, The
Reformation. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1959 [1982], ISBN 9780691007953.
3
7
Further reading
• May, Gerhard (1999), “Augsburg, Peace of”, in
Fahlbusch, Erwin, Encyclopedia of Christianity, 1,
Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 159, ISBN
0802824137
8
External links
• Partial text of the “Peace of Augsburg” at the
Wayback Machine (archived May 13, 2008)
• Full text of the “Peace of Augsburg” (German)
• Brittanica’s words on the “Peace of Augsburg”
4
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