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42-579: The Declaratio Ferdinandei (English: Declaration of Ferdinand ) was a clause in the Peace of Augsburg , signed in 1555 to end conflicts between Catholics and Protestants within the Holy Roman Empire . The Peace created the principle of Cuius regio, eius religio (Latin for " whose realm, his religion "), which meant that the religion of the ruler decided the religion of the inhabitants. The Declaratio Ferdinandei exempted knights and some of

84-473: A brief ceremony in the field camp after the battle on 4 June 1547 Duke Maurice of Saxony was raised to the dignified position of elector of Saxony. The official appointment took place later, but at a high price: He had betrayed the Protestant Faith and had brought his father-in-law, Philip of Hesse, into a hopeless situation. Maurice assured him that he would not be imprisoned, if he would surrender to

126-826: A controversy between Maurice and John Frederick over the use of tax funds from this area. The intervention of the Landgrave Philip of Hesse and Martin Luther prevented the war. Due to the energetic persistence of the Elector John Frederick in establishing the Protestant Faith, the Emperor Charles V, on 20 July 1546, imposed the Imperial Ban ( Reichsacht ) on him, with the agreement of the Catholic Imperial Estates ,

168-633: A dynastic principality, shifting the balance of religious power in the empire, as Protestants could potentially hold a majority of electorates. 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. Maurice of Saxony Maurice

210-782: A strong hatred between them. With another cousin, however, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse , whom he met in Dresden , Maurice struck up a lifelong friendship. With Maurice now of age, his parents began to look for a wife for him. The favorite was Philip's eldest daughter, Agnes . The marriage plans threatened to fail, however, because of the illegal double marriage of the Landgrave. Without the knowledge of his parents, Maurice remained committed to his engagement with Agnes. The wedding, particularly disapproved of by his mother, took place in Marburg on 9 January 1541. Letters from that time illustrate

252-786: A treaty with Charles's brother King Ferdinand I, to which Charles willingly agreed. When the Peace of Passau , was signed in August 1552, the Lutheran position was provisionally guaranteed. As part of the Peace, his former opponents from the Schmalkaldic War, John Frederick I of Saxony and the Landgrave Philipp of Hesse were released. The war was terminated in 1556 by Ferdinand I; the Imperial cities remained in possession of

294-659: A war with Emperor Charles V and his brother Ferdinand , at the same time King of the Romans and his neighbour as King of Bohemia ) not to endanger the survival of the Protestant Movement. Thus he participated in the emperor's army in the war against the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire (1542), William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1543), and Francis I of France (1544). At

336-592: 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 struggle between the two groups and made the legal division of Christianity permanent within the Holy Roman Empire , allowing rulers to choose either Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism as

378-590: The Black Death broke out in Hungary, and Maurice did not dare to move up his forces. Albert Alcibiades was a former ally of Maurice, who had fought in the Schmalkaldic War on his side. But now Maurice, involved in an alliance of princes, with Ferdinand I amongst others, was compelled to fight against Albert Alcibiades. On 9 July 1553 the Battle of Sievershausen took place at Lehrte . Maurice won this battle, but

420-531: The Diet of Augsburg on 25 February 1548, where the ceremony of the formal inauguration of Maurice as elector of Saxony took place. Charles V hoped that, with Maurice's appointment as the elector of Saxony, with the signing of the agreement known as the Augsburg Interim , and with his own assistance, they could put an end to the religious strife that was splitting his empire. When commissioned to capture

462-508: The Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648. The Edict of Restitution itself was overturned in the 1635 Peace of Prague , which restored the 1555 terms of the Peace of Augsburg. Stability brought by assortative migrations under the principle were threatened by subsequent conversion of rulers. Therefore, the Peace of Westphalia preserved the essence of the principle by prohibiting converting rulers to force-convert their subjects and by determining

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504-542: The wars of the 1545–1648 Counter-Reformation . This left out Reformed Zwinglians and Anabaptists , but not Calvinists who approved of the Augsburg Confession Variata . Practices other than the two which were the most widespread in the Empire was expressly forbidden, considered by the law to be heretical , and could be punishable by death. Although "cuius regio" did not explicitly intend to allow

546-577: The French. When Maurice returned to Saxony after the Peace of Passau, he was no longer seen as a traitor; both Protestants and Catholics rendered him equal respect. In addition the emperor in correspondence to both parties exhorted them to maintain peace in his empire; shortly after, he campaigned against the Ottomans in Hungary . The Margrave Albert Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (who had rejected

588-648: The Passau armistice) soon afterwards conquered the bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg — which had been under his control for eleven years previously, after their former owner, John Frederick had ceded them to him. This was the beginning of the Second Margrave War , which only ended with the Peace of Augsburg of 1555. In 1552, Maurice, with the army of the Holy Roman Empire (11,000 men), marched into Hungary. The Ottomans besieged Eger , but

630-679: The brother of the emperor, Ferdinand I, himself wanted to initiate a campaign against the Electorate of Saxony , he had to call it off, in order not to lose the initiative in his own lands to the Habsburgs. Maurice returned to Charles's camp. After initial successes — he occupied the Electorate of Saxony nearly without a fight — Maurice with his army was driven back by the Schmalkaldic League and retreated towards Bohemia. In

672-475: The cities in those ecclesiastical states, where the question of religion was addressed under the separate principles of the reservatum ecclesiasticum and the Declaratio Ferdinandei , which also formed part of the Peace of Augsburg. This agreement marked the end of the first wave of organized military action between Protestants and Catholics; however, these principles were factors during

714-617: 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. After Catholic victories early in the Thirty Years' War , the Declaratio Ferdinandei was overturned in the Edict of Restitution of 1629, which

756-536: The clergy, and the giving of both bread and wine to the laity. This led to resistance by the Protestant territories, who proclaimed their own Interim at Leipzig the following year. The Interim was overthrown in 1552 by the revolt of the Protestant elector Maurice of Saxony and his allies. In the negotiations at Passau in the summer of 1552, even the Catholic princes had called for a lasting peace, fearing that

798-596: The crucial Battle of Mühlberg on the Elbe , the Emperor and his brother Ferdinand, as well as Maurice, were able to defeat the Schmalkaldic League by capturing Landgrave Philip and John Frederick. According to contemporary chronicles, all of this happened on the same day, 24 April 1547. In order to escape being beheaded, John Frederick ceded the electorate and sizable lands to Maurice in the Capitulation of Wittemberg . In

840-494: The emperor. However, Philip was taken prisoner and exiled, after he had fallen on his knees before Charles V. Maurice, insulted after these incidents by his compatriots and called a "Judas", was also disappointed by the emperor's attitude (because now Charles V tried to reintroduce Catholicism into the Empire's Protestant territories and continued the imprisonment of his father-in-law, Landgrave Philip of Hesse, whose freedom Charles V had guaranteed), he hid his feelings from him up to

882-420: The empire 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. Failure to secure a broader peace ultimately led to the Thirty Years' War . One precursor

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924-531: The enforcement of which was laid on Maurice after the Wurzener Feud. The emperor tried in this way to drive a still deeper wedge into the Protestant camp in order to prevent a further propagation of the Protestant Faith. In the case of a successful enforcement, Maurice hoped to be invested by the emperor with the electorship. Maurice hesitated for a long time, since by this punitive action his father-in-law Philip of Hesse would have been affected also. But when

966-543: The modern ideal of "freedom of conscience", individuals who could not subscribe to their ruler's religion were permitted to leave his territory with their possessions. Also under the Declaratio Ferdinandei , Lutheran knights were given the freedom to retain their religion wherever they lived. The revocation of the Declaratio Ferdinandei by the Catholics in the 1629 Edict of Restitution helped fuel

1008-475: The official confession of their state. Calvinism was not allowed until the Peace of Westphalia . The Peace of Augsburg has been described as "the first step on the road toward a European system of sovereign states ." The system, created on the basis of the Augsburg Peace, collapsed at the beginning of the 17th century, which was one of the reasons for the Thirty Years' War . The Peace elaborated

1050-532: The official religion of Imperial territories to the status of 1624 as a normative year. Although some dissenters emigrated, others lived as Nicodemites . Because of geographical and linguistic circumstances on the continent of Europe, emigration was more feasible for Catholics living in Protestant lands than for Protestants living in Catholic lands. As a result, there were more crypto-Protestants than crypto-Papists in continental Europe. The Peace of Augsburg contained three main principles: The third principle

1092-402: The population convert, he placed Calvinism on a parity with Catholicism throughout the Electorate of Cologne . This in itself came forth as a two-fold legal problem: first, Calvinism was considered a heresy ; second, the elector did not resign his see , which made him eligible in theory to cast a ballot for emperor. Finally, his marriage raised the possibility of convert the electorate into

1134-706: The principle Cuius regio, eius religio ("whose realm, his religion"), which allowed the princes of states within the Holy Roman Empire to adopt either Lutheranism or Catholicism within the domains they controlled, ultimately reaffirming their sovereignty over those domains. Subjects, citizens, or residents who did not wish to conform to the prince's choice were given a grace period in which they were free to emigrate to different regions in which their desired religion had been accepted. Article 24 stated: "In case our subjects, whether belonging Augsburg Confession , should intend leaving their homes with their wives and children to settle in another, they shall be hindered neither in

1176-575: The principle of cuius regio, eius religio from being applied if an ecclesiastical ruler converted to Lutheranism. In practice the principle of cuius regio had already been implemented between the time of the Nuremberg Religious Peace of 1532 and the 1546–1547 Schmalkaldic War . Now legal in the de jure sense, it was to apply to all the territories of the Empire except for the Ecclesiastical principalities and some of

1218-771: The rebellious Lutheran city of Magdeburg (1550), Maurice seized the opportunity to raise an army and signed anti- Habsburg compacts with France and Germany's Protestant princes. In the Treaty of Chambord signed with the French King Henry II in January 1552 Maurice promised the King money and weapons to assist him in his campaign against Charles V. In return, Henry was able to take four Imperial cities ( Metz , Toul , Verdun and Cambrai ) as well as their bishoprics, although Maurice had no right to them. In March 1552

1260-574: The rebels overran the southern German states, including parts of Austria , forcing the Emperor to flee and release Philip of Hesse. While Henry advanced up to the Rhine and occupied the promised Imperial lands, the emperor surprised by the attack fled over the Alps to Villach in the Austrian Duchy of Carinthia . In view of this success, Maurice abandoned his alliance with Henry II and negotiated

1302-471: The religious controversy would never be settled. The emperor, however, was unwilling to recognize the religious division in Western Christendom as permanent. This document was foreshadowed by the Peace of Passau , which in 1552 gave Lutherans religious freedom after a victory by Protestant armies. Under the Passau document, Charles granted a peace only until the next imperial Diet, whose meeting

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1344-603: The sale of their estates after due payment of the local taxes nor injured in their honor." Charles V had made an interim ruling, the Augsburg Interim of 1548, on the legitimacy of two religious creeds in the empire, and this was codified in law on 30 June 1548 upon the insistence of the emperor, who wanted to work out religious differences under the auspices of a general council of the Catholic Church. The Interim largely reflected principles of Catholic religious behavior in its 26 articles, although it allowed for marriage of

1386-578: The same time, the duke confiscated the properties of the Catholic Church in his lands. From the wealth of dissolved monasteries in his country Maurice founded the princes' schools ( Fürstenschulen ) of Schulpforta (100 places), Meissen (60 places) and Grimma (70 places). The legal basis for this was the "New National Order" ( Neue Landesordnung ) of 1543. Later, Maurice refused to join the Protestant Schmalkaldic League , although Philip of Hesse , his friend and father-in-law,

1428-528: The strong mutual devotion of the couple. Together they had two children: On 18 August 1541 Henry died, and Maurice, as the eldest son, succeeded him as duke of Saxony and head of the Albertine Line. He replaced most of his advisors, because they had been opposed to his marriage with Agnes from the very start. George von Carlowitz , one of the new confidants of the Duke, advised Maurice (in order to prevent

1470-536: The training of the future duke and educated him as a Catholic. But in 1536 Maurice's father converted to Protestantism, and when he succeeded George as Duke in 1539, he made the duchy Protestant. Henry and Catherine took the education of their son into their hands. In 1539 Maurice, now 18 years old, went to live in Torgau with his older cousin John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony , whom he despised; this led to

1512-592: Was badly wounded in the stomach by a shot from the rear and succumbed two days later in the field camp at the age of 32. He was buried in Freiberg Cathedral . In 1853, 300 years after the battle, the place of his death was commemorated by a monument erected to his memory. The 7.5 ton heavy granite monument came from his native Saxony. The original monument is now in the Rustkammer museum in Dresden, with

1554-480: Was called in early 1555. The treaty, negotiated on Charles' behalf by his brother, Ferdinand , gave Lutheranism official status within the domains of the Holy Roman Empire , according to the policy of cuius regio, eius religio . Knights and towns who had practiced Lutheranism for some time were exempted under the Declaratio Ferdinandei . Conversely, the Ecclesiastical reservation prevented

1596-737: Was its leader. The principal reason for his refusal to do so is generally regarded as his hate for his Ernestine cousin John Frederick I and the Imperial promise of the Saxon electorship, then held by John Frederick. In the Holy Week of 1542, in the process of the Wurzener Feud ( Wurzener Fehde ) it nearly came to a fratricidal war , because John Frederick occupied the jointly administered "Wurzener Country". There had previously been

1638-410: Was not publicized as part of the treaty, and was kept secret for almost two decades. The document left some unresolved problems. While it gave legal basis for the practice of the Lutheran confession, it did not Zwinglianism nor Anabaptism . Although the Peace of Augsburg was moderately successful in relieving tension in the empire and increasing tolerance, it meant that many Protestant groups living in

1680-575: Was part of Ferdinand II 's master plan to reconvert the Holy Roman Empire to Catholicism. The overturning of the Declaratio Ferdinandei and other religious persecution helped rekindle the Thirty Years' War, changing it from an internal conflict within the Holy Roman Empire into an international religious war. This article related to a treaty is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Peace of Augsburg The Peace of Augsburg ( German : Augsburger Frieden ), also called

1722-611: Was the Third Defenestration of Prague (1618) in which two representatives of the fiercely Catholic king of Bohemia, Archduke Ferdinand, were thrown out of a castle window. 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-archbishop , Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg , converted to Protestantism ; although he did not insist that

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1764-488: Was the fourth child but first son of the future Henry IV, Duke of Saxony , then a Catholic, and his Protestant wife, Catherine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . Henry was the younger brother of George, Duke of Saxony . In December 1532, Maurice, aged 11, came to live at the castle of his godfather, Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Magdeburg and Mainz . For two years, he lived a contemplative life until his uncle Duke George demanded his return to Saxony. George began

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